My surgery is tomorrow, yea! So my question is, do most people have gas pain that is severe enough to need to take an OTC medicine? I've never had to before, but I want to know if I should go buy some if it's something that most Lapband pts go through. Thanks.

Hmm.. Lets see.. HELL YES its that bad.

Not to scare you or anything, but the better prepared you are the better. The Gas-X strips work, but I had to take twice the recommended dosage. Its been 15 months since my surgery, and I can clearly remember the dreaded gas.

Also figured out after a couple of days it was good to lay on the bed and roll around to get the gas to move out. Although there was no real smell involved, It was still something better done in private.

Yes....be prepared i was told by the dr's office to take milk of mag...right after for the first 48 hours this also helped i didnt have gas near as bad..good luck

Yeah, just about everybody has some gas pain. Gas-X will help alot. A heating pad over an area that hurts from trapped gas is really good too. And, please don't just sit in the chair or lay in the bed! Moving around will help soooo much! Walk to the mailbox and back, more than once even, the day of surgery. Then the next day, walk to the end of the block and back, more than once if you can. It makes a huge difference.

I just had my surgery yesterday and am pain free from gas. The only associated gas pain was a headache in the middle of the night but today its gone. Best of luck to you.

I am going through terrible gas pain right now! My surgery was yesterday.

I have been taking the gas-x strips, but I can't tell if they are helping or not.

I was NOT prepared for how bad it would feel... the gas feels like it's right in my back so it makes it hurt to lay on my back. I have been walking today though, and it might be a tiny bit better... The pain comes and goes.

It is very much second to the sore stomach, which was shocking to me.

For those of you that had bad gas pain, how long did it take for it to go away?

I had very bad gas pains about 2 days after surgery. Get some Gas-X strips before surgery. They will help a lot!!! My wife has LapBand surgery June 3 and we are already stocked up!

I am so sorry about your pain. I was wondering since I didn't have any if it waited to start days later. I hope it gets better soon.

I was banded on Tuesday and had no gas pains until last night! I thought I was going to be one of the lucky ones but that is not the case. It is horrible now. I am bloated and feel like I have terrible, terrible heart burn. It is sitting right in the middle of my chest and back. I've tried walking, Gas X, heating pad. I am not sure what else to do but it's driving me crazy. So, yes it comes and it is not pleasant! Good luck!

It depends! A very good surgeon can and will remove most of the gas that is put in during surgery. And honestly if your doc can't or won't remove it before he "closes you up" then Gax-X (and other meds) will NOT touch it, because it isn't in your gut, it's outside your organs. The other type of gas is produced by us and it depends on you partly. If you don't swallow a lot of air and stick to your doc's diet, you may not have issues. If you do, though, Gas-X can be a god send. (You will have abdominal surgery. Your stomach and digestive system will be "upset"...so you may do everything "right" to prevent gas and still have some, anyway)

So I say yes get some Gas X for just in case, but I used tylenol more than Gas X