I was banded on 10/17/08. The doc said everything went well. He said there are 2 sizes of bands and he put the larger one on me. But ever since I woke up from surgery I have bad pain either in my shoulder and now my stomach. I have had upper GI studies, a CT scan and xrays to make sure everything is in place. Went back to the doc on Friday and he said it was still gas and that there was a lot of swelling in there. I have not been able to eat anything since Sunday. Everytime I eat something my stomach kills me. I don't know what to do!!! I am miserable. Does anyone have any suggestions or help? I am eating gas x chewables and drinking milk of mag.

Sharty

I'm sorry you are feeling bad still. I agree with your doctor taht it sounds like gas. The shoulder pain is a give away on that. Your abdomen is full of gas, so the GasX you are taking won't do anything, since it can only target gas in the stomach. That gas can cause stomach pains because it causes pressure on your organs, your stitches, and the tender area around your band. It isn't dangerous at all, just very painful for some people. IT WILL GO AWAY SOON! I know you are probably thinking that will never happen, but you are in the home stretch now. One morning, you will wake up and feel great! You said when you eat it hurts, but can you drink? If so, keep chugging the Carnation Instant Breakfast to keep your energy levels up. I know this feels awful, but you are going to have an awesome initial weight loss due to this discomfort. Hope you feel better soon!

Hi Sharty,

I know you probably don't feel like it but you need to walk, walk, walk:cursing:. You need to work that gas out of your system. If you know a good massage therapist (that's what I do) have them work on your abdomen. You don't need much pressure so it should not hurt the incisions. You can even massage yourself, start with small clockwise circles around the navel and gradually get larger. This is very good for constipation as well. If you were close, you could come in and I could work on you. Get you fixed up in a jiffy!:thumbup: It is true, one day you will wake up and feel fine, you will be able to eat and oh boy, will you appreciate it. In the meantime appreciate how much weight you are loosing in the process.

Good luck on your journey.

Sally

In regards to the eating...if your swollen, it is going to be like you have a really tight fill. Nothing going down. I usually try to start a meal with something hot...tea is usually my choice. I make sure that I drink it hot and that tends to loosen things up a bit.

Everyone is right. Walking is going to help a ton, even if you don't feel like it. I would say at day 10, I was feeling great. It is true, one day you wake up and feel great.

You will be there soon. Promise!

I am walking alot, but literally when I try to eat anything after it hits my stomach I am in pain. I have tried milkshakes, Protein shakes, broth. The pain isn in my stomach when I try to eat. When it starts hurting I have to go lay down to try and get relief. I wonder what I can do to help the swelling & inflamation go away?

I'm sorry you are feeling bad still. I agree with your doctor taht it sounds like gas. The shoulder pain is a give away on that. Your abdomen is full of gas, so the GasX you are taking won't do anything, since it can only target gas in the stomach. That gas can cause stomach pains because it causes pressure on your organs, your stitches, and the tender area around your band. It isn't dangerous at all, just very painful for some people. IT WILL GO AWAY SOON! I know you are probably thinking that will never happen, but you are in the home stretch now. One morning, you will wake up and feel great! You said when you eat it hurts, but can you drink? If so, keep chugging the Carnation Instant Breakfast to keep your energy levels up. I know this feels awful, but you are going to have an awesome initial weight loss due to this discomfort. Hope you feel better soon!

Gas X is a lifesaver. I always used Phazyme cause it is a bit stronger. Do you eat yogurt? That will help with gas too...

Walk around, get moving. The more you move, the quicker that gas will dissipate. Promise.

Hi Sharty,

I am sorry that you cannot eat and I hope that it goes away soon for you. I had my surgery on the 17th too. They were going to let me leave after the surgery if my pain was below a 5 - needless to say they kept me until the next morning. The pain was terrible after surgery and they gave me Morphine. I realized that it was not the incisions that hurt, that is was the pressure of the gas that hurt. 7 days out, my incisions look good and don't hurt much but my tummy area is swollen and weird (like I couldn't suck in if I tried) and I have been having pains in my lower tummy area on the right side - I can't figure out what is even down there that is related to surgery, I think it may be gas too. I wish you well, keep us posted.

Well it is almost 11:00 am and this morning I tried eating a cooked egg, over medium of course, I could only eat half of it and so far so goob but the next couple of hours will tell, it sounds like a volcano that is fixing to errupt in my belly, so we will see, I'll let you know, you folks have been so helpful!!!!

Oh Yea, I did have a glass of wine last night and oddly enough I think it helped me, is that weird???

I know doctor's orders differ, but it is best if you don't eat solids for several weeks after surgery anyway. The surgeons who have been doing this the longest require their patients to stick to liquids only for several weeks after surgery. If you have pain when you try to eat, DON'T TRY TO EAT!

There is a nerve called the vagus nerve ( you can google it) that runs from the stomach or abdomen up to the left shoulder. This is why we get pain in the left shoulder and not the right. The gas or the surgery or the band can affect this nerve in the beginning and for me it would sometimes happen after a fill, too.

I used to work for an MD and that's how he explained the shoulder pain to me. Gas x did nothing for me.

I had lots of rumbling and noise coming from my belly the first few months after surgery. It got better.

I would stay away from solid food until you feel better overall. Your stomach is not ready to work hard at digesting your food yet. That's the work of the stomach to digest our food and right now you should make that job easy for your stomach and stick to liquids. Drink slow and as long as you stay hydrated, you'll be fine.

There is a nerve called the vagus nerve ( you can google it) that runs from the stomach or abdomen up to the left shoulder. This is why we get pain in the left shoulder and not the right. The gas or the surgery or the band can affect this nerve in the beginning and for me it would sometimes happen after a fill, too.

I used to work for an MD and that's how he explained the shoulder pain to me. Gas x did nothing for me.

I had lots of rumbling and noise coming from my belly the first few months after surgery. It got better.

I would stay away from solid food until you feel better overall. Your stomach is not ready to work hard at digesting your food yet. That's the work of the stomach to digest our food and right now you should make that job easy for your stomach and stick to liquids. Drink slow and as long as you stay hydrated, you'll be fine.

why did you have your band removed?:eek:

I had an ok day yesterday, tried yogerut for dinner and done real good, so lets see what today holds.

I am still sick and have a lot of gas, cant belch, i even tried a little chicken noodle soup, nothing but hurting and freaking gas, I am so sick of this, I had my surgery on 10/13 should I not be doing better?

PLEASE call your doc just to check in. Maybe they will have suggestions... Are you drinking a lot? I don't want you to be dehydrated...

hi,

my son had lap-band surgery and has gone the other way. he has lost weight...i can see that, but he weighed 460 lbs and still eats A LOT. my mother policed my food intake for years, so i know that only makes an eating disorder worse. he had his first fill a couple of weeks ago and told the doctor to put just a little saline in the ring. i paid 300.00 for the shot and it appears that he put such a little amount in, my son can eat all he wants.

i hope it doesnt appear that i am concerned about the money; im not, but i am concerned about his health. he was banded in august. please help me so i wont turn into a co-dependent (of which i already am but am fighting it).

as far as not being able to eat, i would ask your doctor to determine if he made the esophagal have too much stricture. my son complains of not being able to swallow, but that is a thought about your condition.

please let me know how you are doing.