burping and hiccups

tellie · November 8, 2003

Hi, I had my lap band surgery 7 days ago, and I am sooooo confused. First, with the liquids. I am just finding out I was supposed to have Clear Liquids only for 2 weeks, since I gotback from hospital I have been having yogurt, Soup ( with no lumps), custard, and ice cream. Then again, I was given capsules for the pain 2 hours after waking up....

My other concern is the burping, so strong, so excruciatingly painful, is it normal? called the nurse who had no idea. Am i drinking too much? too fast? too thick? Will i make my band move by following the written instructions ( burping was not in the instructions of course). And today, after some clear broth, hiccups. I paniked!

Comments, thoughts, suggestions, I am terrified of going under the knife again. I have a 2 year old who needs me.

thank you....

tellie

Alexandra · November 8, 2003

Hi Tellie,

First off, relax. There has been a change made to the shape of the tubing in your inside--your esophagus and stomach have new bottlenecks that weren't there before. Drinking or eating too quickly can easily create bubbles of air that have to come out. You're probably still a little swollen from the surgery, which means this burping can hurt.

I suggest TAKING IT SLOWLY. When I first started increasing the thickness of what I was drinking, the same sort of thing happened to me. Your body may not be ready to handle thick liquids just yet. So give it a few more days--you won't starve--and the next time you try I'm sure it will be better. Your membranes and tissues will be less swollen, and liquids will have more room to trickle down without causing you any discomfort.

Good luck!

donali · November 8, 2003

Hi Tellie -

I had extremely painful burping as well, and that was just on real liquids (meaning broth, Water, gatorade, EAS CarbSolution Protein drinks - somehow I missed the "clear" part when I went through - lol). Anyway, I wasn't doing Jello or creamy Soups, no ice cream, etc. The painful burps went away after my second week.

Now I just have lots of burps, no pain... lol

Recovery is the hardest part, because you are so super tuned in to every little thing.

Hang in there, and keep us posted!

Lulu · November 8, 2003

,,,,,,,,your esophagus and stomach have new bottlenecks that weren't there before,,,,,,,,,

Alexandra, you brought up something that I've been wondering about..... what my innards look like right now. I was under the impression that not much has changed because there is no fill in the band yet. But swallowing IS slower, and I thought the lack of hunger was just because the stomach is swollen from surgery. Can you enlighten me further??? Thanks!

Alexandra · November 8, 2003

Well, if you look at any diagram of how the band is positioned, you'll see that there is a distinct narrowing of the stomach near its top created by the band itself. The opening within that narrowing is called the stoma, and is what I mean by a bottleneck. It's what's adjusted by fills. Directly after surgery, even though there's no fill in the band, the mere addition of this mechanical device definitely changes the shape of your stomach. Add to that the post-op swelling, and what you get is restriction.

As the post-op swelling fades, you'll find that your restriction does too. Hunger will return and you will find that you can eat almost normally. This takes different amounts of time for different people, and I've heard stories that are all over the map. Some people are famished three days later and can't wait to eat, others still aren't hungry enough for solid food even when they're given the go-ahead after two or three weeks.

I think this extremely wide range of experience is because of the vary different ways our bodies react to having the band placed. After 5 or 6 weeks, though, I think it's safe to say you'll be completely healed and will know what it really feels like to have an empty band. For me it took about 4 weeks before my stomach reacted in a consistent way when I ate. Before that point I couldn't reliably predict whether I'd have burping, pain, or discomfort while eating.

The same process holds when we have a fill, although to a much lesser extent. The changing itself can result in irritation and swelling, and it takes a while (as much as several days with a fill) for things to settle down. Once it does, though we still have restriction (which is, of course, the point) it's not due to some termporary post-procedure swelling.

All of this is just my interpretation of what's going on--it is not based on serious medical study or anything. Take it for what it's worth.

Lulu · November 8, 2003

Thanks much for the explanation - it's worth a lot - and makes perfect sense!!! I was under a misguided notion that the band was sitting loose around the top part of the stomach until the first fill. Duh!