1 week out. Almost every sip hurts.

[JackieOMonroe 123]

I am taking the tiniest sips imaginable and it hurts! I'm having such a hard time getting fluids in and I'm a week out of surgery. Each time I take a sip, I have pain in my chest right below my rib cage and straight through to my back. It feels like it's probably gas pain, but I'm not positive. It makes taking my daily meds and Vitamins an all day event and it sucks. Is this normal? I'm terrified that this is some kind of sign of a leak. I've tried room temperature, refrigerated, and warm liquids. I've tried Water, Gatorade G2, apple juice, drinkable yogurt, DanActive, veggie broth, Tomato Soup, and Oh Yeah (which is like Muscle Milk). Popsicles hurt too, but not as much. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know how I'm supposed to get anything in when each sip hurts. It's like extreme aversion therapy. By the time I'm finally healed, I won't be able to look at liquids again.

Can you guys tell me how you were doing a week out from surgery and if what I have going on is abnormal?

[june13sleever 223]

I am taking the tiniest sips imaginable and it hurts! I'm having such a hard time getting fluids in and I'm a week out of surgery. Each time I take a sip, I have pain in my chest right below my rib cage and straight through to my back. It feels like it's probably gas pain, but I'm not positive. It makes taking my daily meds and Vitamins an all day event and it sucks. Is this normal? I'm terrified that this is some kind of sign of a leak. I've tried room temperature, refrigerated, and warm liquids. I've tried Water, Gatorade G2, apple juice, drinkable yogurt, DanActive, veggie broth, Tomato Soup, and Oh Yeah (which is like Muscle Milk). Popsicles hurt too, but not as much. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know how I'm supposed to get anything in when each sip hurts. It's like extreme aversion therapy. By the time I'm finally healed, I won't be able to look at liquids again.

Can you guys tell me how you were doing a week out from surgery and if what I have going on is abnormal?

I am having my own set of issues right now that are freaking me out, but I can't imagine what you must be going through. I can drink ok. I just hope you call your doctor.

[Adri 40]

Not only did I have that painful lump feeling when drinking Water but at around day 7 I started getting heartburn too. I thought it was so strange that swallowing yogurt was easier than swallowing water. And yes, that made getting pills down hard too, I think that's why the NUT had me buy as many chewables as possible. The doctor is letting me take Prilosec for the heartburn and it has gone away. Well, I got much better by day 11. The lump in my throat was completely gone by day 15. I started pureed food today and have had no problems thus far. It will get better with time, don't worry!!

[NJMOMof2 17]

I had pain when swallowing for about 4 weeks BUT it does get better. Remember you had a tube down your throat and 80% of your stomach dissected, so your body has to adjust to the new anatomy.

Keep sipping, the pain gets better from one day to the next. Once you are fine with fluids, soft foods will have the same effect, and so on. The good news is that it doesn't last forever and the weight will start melting off. I can tell you IT SO WORTH IT AND TRY TO REMAIN POSITIVE AND :rolleyes:FOCUSED ON THE END RESULT.

Take care

[imawhodat 3]

My doctor has put me on Levsin (an antispasmodic) and it has done wonders for the spasms. I take it under my tongue four times a day. I hope you get relief soon.

[KathyD49 2]

I am taking the tiniest sips imaginable and it hurts! I'm having such a hard time getting fluids in and I'm a week out of surgery. Each time I take a sip, I have pain in my chest right below my rib cage and straight through to my back. It feels like it's probably gas pain, but I'm not positive. It makes taking my daily meds and Vitamins an all day event and it sucks. Is this normal? I'm terrified that this is some kind of sign of a leak. I've tried room temperature, refrigerated, and warm liquids. I've tried Water, Gatorade G2, apple juice, drinkable yogurt, DanActive, veggie broth, Tomato Soup, and Oh Yeah (which is like Muscle Milk). Popsicles hurt too, but not as much. I'm at my wit's end. I don't know how I'm supposed to get anything in when each sip hurts. It's like extreme aversion therapy. By the time I'm finally healed, I won't be able to look at liquids again.

Can you guys tell me how you were doing a week out from surgery and if what I have going on is abnormal?

Gosh Jackie, I am SO glad you posted! I am four days out and have almost exactly the same symptoms. I am almost pain free till I start to drink my liquids, and then I get these "spasms". It doesn't seem to matter what I drink, the spasms come. I went outside the US to have my surgery done, since my insurance wouldn't pay one dime towards it, and haven't told my primary care physician yet. (I am sure he will disapprove) But I was on the verge of calling him to see if I was having some type of serious complication. Reading all the responses to your post reasured me a lot. Thanks for posting! KathyD49

[StacyS 20]

What's happening is that your esophogus is trying to squeeze the liquid into a swollen stomach, which causes a back-up in your esophogus and it begins to contract! That's what the spasms are. Like a contraction when giving birth but in your esophogus. I had this pain for almost 5 weeks b/c I was so swollen. Everything hurt!! Water, juice, pops, Soup, etc. I wasnt able to get a full 64oz of liquid in until a few weeks ago and I'm 9wks out! But... I can honestly say it does get better! As soon as your stomach starts to heal, you will be able to drink and eat normally, without the pain! It's perfectly normal and will go away! My advice is to take smaller sips and breathe, relax, and take your time!

[LilMissDiva Irene 3,282]

I'm also one of the former painful swallowers post op. It was extremely painful for me for the first two weeks, but it continued to get better every week after. I think it lasted about 4-6 weeks before it was completely gone. I now have zero pain when swallowing (unless I take too big a bite or go over my full stop).

It will continue to get better all the time, for now rest and work through the pain. You must do your very best to get all your fluids in! Hang in there, all this will be *so* worth it in time.

ETA: if it gets too bad, I would urge you to seek medical advice. Good luck!

[KellyL 173]

This sounds horrible! I'm sorry you're going through this, I did not experience it but have read others did. I hope you feel better soon!!

[Peacock's Point 2]

My doctor has put me on Levsin (an antispasmodic) and it has done wonders for the spasms. I take it under my tongue four times a day. I hope you get relief soon.

Are you serious? Were you constantly getting the tight throat, quivering stomach when you would drink your Water or Protein drink? I wonder if I could ask my doctor for this to try and help. I'm feeling awful, not being able to get any liquids down.

[DivaDee84 12]

I'm getting sleeved on the 29th and this post is scary...so y don't u go to the ER to get iv fluids??

[meggiep 57]

Are you serious? Were you constantly getting the tight throat, quivering stomach when you would drink your Water or Protein drink? I wonder if I could ask my doctor for this to try and help. I'm feeling awful, not being able to get any liquids down.

Relax and don;t stress this- you are only two days out! My turnaround day was day 5- get what you can in and don't beat yourself up over it. The other people posting here are much further out than you.

One tip is to have a very small container- I had little plastic one ounce cups from the hospital- and set your photne time for every 15 minutes and try to drink two ounces. Just two ounces. Don't push for more. If you do that all day you will get more in than you thought you could! I marked my little cups off on a pad of paper for the first week or ten days until I was assured I could start with a liter bottle of Water and drink the whole thing. I still use my timer- every 8 minutes now.But now I know I can drink two liters- yesterday I drank 3.

It WILL get better!

[LissaD 1]

Oh my goodness! I made myself get on here today to see if anyone else was having this issue. I was sleeved on June 20th and everything I sip is painful and It feels like spasms. I remember telling my nurse that it felt like contractions from child birth just higher! It is impossible to get in the amount of fluids needed. Its even a job to take my elixir pain med. I pray that this gets better quickly because I am truly feeling a little sorry for myself and upset that I did this to me. Prayers needed.

Melissa

[Bryn Dawson 9]

I'm still pre-op and this post is somewhat scary and also enlightening. Just another thing to prepare for, I guess. But I am sending good thoughts and energies out for those of you having this trouble right now, and hoping that you reach the turning point soon.

[JackieOMonroe 123]

I'm getting sleeved on the 29th and this post is scary...so y don't u go to the ER to get iv fluids??

Funny you should ask this, because that's exactly what I did!

I started to feel dizzy and light-headed on Tuesday (right after making this post), so I went to Urgent Care to get help. They weren't able to help me and sent me to the ER. The ER kept me overnight and gave me 2 bags of IV fluids and tried to control my pain with morphine. I was then admitted to the hospital and kept there until this morning. While in the hospital, I was steadily hydrated via IV and given morphine, dilaudid, norco, and percocet to manage pain. I was given a CT scan, a broad spectrum antibiotic, placed on a bowel program, anti-nausea meds, antacids, and told to walk walk walk! I was fed a clear liquid diet and visited by the staff dietician in addition to my doctor and the nursing staff.

The doctor and radiology declared my surgery a resounding success. They said that my incisions were perfect, I had no leaks and my organs all looked fine. The antibiotics were given as a precaution in case any bacteria from my stomach was floating around in my abdomen causing trouble and because of my UTI. I was released this morning and I'm doing much better. I have been ordered to do a clear liquid diet for another week, then 2 weeks of a full liquid diet, then 2 weeks of a soft diet, then back to regular foods. I can't tolerate much except popsicles, juice, and tea, but my pain is GREATLY reduced. I'm going to try broth today to see how that goes. I'm also going to discontinue my Vitamins until I'm eating more substantial foods because I think they were hard on my tummy. I'm much happier now that I've been since the surgery. Thanks to the steady flow of saline from my IV, I've gained 3 lbs since being admitted and I feel sooooo muuuuuch better.

The Sharp staff dietician gave me a very detailed diet plan to follow during recovery. If anyone thinks they might like to see it, let me know and I'll scan the pages for you guys.

Sorry if I scared anyone, but I'm glad to have put this episode out there. I hope it helps someone!