Hello,

I wonder if anyone can help me. When I eat anything, I am getting a significant pain in my left shoulder. I am able to drink without a problem. Does anyone know what this means? It's painful to eat, but not like something is getting stuck or anything-just the shoulder. Thoughts? Thank you!

If you were just recently banded it could still be from the gas used during surgery. You didn't really give us enough info. to draw from. Hope you are doing better today.

Ahh--good point. I was banded in September 09; have been eating everything without a problem and had a fill several weeks ago without a problem. This is out of nowhere. As I think about it, over the past couple of days, I have not had enough Water. It does feel similar to the pain I had after surgery in my shoulder. Hope that additional info is helpful.

Thank you!!

Here's a post from LBT that someone's explains their take on left shoulder pain not related to surgery. It sounds very similar to what you're describing.

I had my surgery 1 year and 5 months ago. I suffered with left shoulder pain a lot. It was the worst intense pain I ever had. I could not function at work or anywhere when I had this pain. The good news it is almost gone now. I get "attacks" every now and then but if I lay down and I fine within seconds.

I did a lot of research I believe it is caused by the pain in the band area. From what I have found out (I am not a medical person - so this is just from research and living with this pain), the nerve ending in your stomach/diaphragm are closely related. So when there is a problem, the nerves signal the brain to produce the pain response. But since you brain can’t tell where the signal is coming from, it sends the pain to the shoulder. Thus it is not really your shoulder that is hurting but your band area. So to relieve the pain you have to relieve the band area. That is why you get the pain after a fill, or after the initial surgery, or I get it when I am sitting down hunched over a desk (press on the band). I tried everything – heat, gas medicine, pain pills, etc. Nothing worked. The only thing that worked was laying flat on my left side.

As I said the good news is it gets few and far between, I am still glad I got the surgery. But I wish the doctor or someone would have told me this might happen. My surgeon gave me the same answers and what you all got (from reading this tread), that it is from the gas from the surgery. But I really believe it had nothing to do with this. The LAP-BAND® community needs to educate the medical professionals on this side effect and better prepare new patients.

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http://www.lapbandtalk.com/631145-post63.html

Here's a post from LBT that someone's explains their take on left shoulder pain not related to surgery. It sounds very similar to what you're describing.

http://www.lapbandtalk.com/631145-post63.html

Very interesting. Perhaps this is what is going on with the OP.

I suffered horribly with the same symptoms till about 6 months post-op, so much so that it often reduced me to tears. My dr. explained that it's "referred pain" from the nerves in the band area, the brain interprets it incorrectly and triggers the pain response in your shoulder area. I only have trouble sporadically now, not nearly as often as in the beginning. I hope that this passes for you as well.

I am one of those few people who have the left shoulder pain, I had it worse after my surgery especially since I had the Hiatal Hernia Repair, and most of my recovery was faced with that pain being the worse, well now that I have healed I have episodes every time I am close to getting full, it is like a little barameter to tell me I have had enough.

Thank you all very much! Very helpful...and Abingdon, I had a hiatal hernia repair, too, so maybe that plus the referred pain is what it is.

Thanks again, and hope you all have a great holiday!!

i sometimes will feel slight pain in, and/or going up to my left shoulder when my band is getting full. Sometimes my pouch won't register the feeling BEOFRE my shoulder...took me about a week to figure that out...so now i listen to my little signs..it's interesting what our bodies do with the band...