Severe Left Shoulder Pain 1 Week Out--Anyone Else?

[Texarkolina 201]

I was sleeved on the 30th and I have severe stabbing left shoulder pain. I have had a leak test and CT--all are fine.

There was a tremendous amount of drama with my surgery--scheduled on the 23 first time--heart stopped on table--chest compressions for a minute--surgery rescheduled after cardiologist oked me--difficulty keeping heart rate up during second surgery so they gave me extremely high doses of meds to speed up my heart rate---caused nausea--lots of post-op pain, etc.

Anyone else have severe pain a week out and, if so, what did you do. I am worn out with this.

[zenoosh 112]

I've heard/read about this in other posts...Id search it on the site, and see what you come up with. Im gonna look it up right now, actually!

[zenoosh 112]

Ok, so here's what I found: people are saying its gas pain from the surgery itself. Someone mentioned that they kinda blow up your insides with C02 to work around everything, and sometimes gas gets stuck and you have to walk it out of your system. Others mentioned that this pain was their trigger/signal that they're full or ate too much. Only a few mentioned that it could be stricture or leak, but these peeps were further out than you. And btw, I found all this by punching in "left shoulder pain post op" into the forum/post search. Seems like its pretty common, but definitely keep your eye on it. Good luck! I hope you find relief very soon :-)

[Janedeaux3 70]

Most likely what is called "Referred Shoulder Pain", caused by gas. Very common after surgery. Your best treatment is walking, to get things moving. The body will reabsorb and pass the gas. Try drinking warm tea (soothing to the bowels), warm showers and Gas X. I found peppermint tea to be very soothing and helpful.

Best wishes to you!!

[newmrsL 9]

My doc explained to me that when they do the final cuts on the stomach near the splene, that a portion of your splene actually dies off ( about 1/3) and you can actually have phantom pains from your splene in your shoulder. It can also be trapped gas. Walking actually did more for me than anything else to get rid of the gas! Hope this might help!

[Rootman 1,101]

Hmm, I've never heard the "spleen thing" before and to be honest it doesn't sound very reasonable. I can't imagine 1/3 of your spleen dying and it not causing a lot of other issues.

I believe it is due to the EFFECT of the gas, but NOT the gas itself. When they do laproscopic surgery they need room to work, so they blow up your abdomen like a balloon in order the get adequate work space. This CO2 gas is mostly removed upon closure and what it left is rapidly absorbed by the body in a matter of hours (at most). What DOES last is the trauma of being blown up like a balloon and it stretching and slightly tearing things up. This can cause the mysterious "phantom" or referred pain. Pain relievers help SOME but time and exercise to help alleviate the inflammation is what helps.

Stuff like GasX does NOT help with this, it simply relieves the stomach gas that you might ALSO be suffering from. Your traumatized stomach is swollen about shut and what little gas is produced is too much for the limited space - and hence gas pains.

[DeedyD 1]

I am 3.5 weeks post op and I too have severe left shoulder pain. I didn't always have this. I noticed it about a week ago. In fact, 2 days last week I thought I was suffering with an ear infection in my left ear, called my primary care physician and asked her to call in a Rx to the pharmacy. After 2 days of the antibiotics, somethng just told me to google ear pain, neck pain and shoulder pain post vsg. I found that it is probably due to gas. In my case, I get the ear pain, left shoulder pain when I have gotten full from eating. I burp a time or two & in the process of burping, I feel the pain in my shoulder/ neck area and in my left ear. So it could be digestion or gas in my opinion.

[Wheetsin 714]

It's most likely a referred pain from your vagus or phrenic nerve, which can be irritated when your abdominal cavity is inflated with CO2. My money is on phrenic.

newmrsL - that's a good example of not believing everything you're told. There's no such thing as surgery that unintentionally kills 1/3 of your spleen, and that's OK because it's just what happens.

The shoulder pai is exceptionally common. I've made a few other posts with more detail. You can search for phrases like "shoulder pain" and find a LOT of info.

Gas-X will not help it. Why do people recommend Gas-X? Gas-X is Simethicone. It's more or less something that breaks surface tension, i.e. it is not something that gets into your blood stream and works systemically. I think I posted once that using Gas-X for referred nerve pain is like putting a band-aid on your knee because your spleen is bleeding. Appropriately enough, in this thread!

[Texarkolina 201]

I was put under and had my abdomen inflated twice. The first time it caused a vagal response that resulted in my heart stopping and them having to do chest compressions to start it. Surgery was canceled and rescheduled for the next week. Perhaps being put under/inflated twice caused more irritation/damage than normal. I am so frustrated. I have walked and walked--tried to "work the pain out" with light exercise, etc. None of this even touches it. I am miserable.

[anndemstng 7]

I have in fact it started this

Morning day 7 post opp just got told I'm being admitted for internal bleeding that is coming out the whole where my drain is located. I will be going back into surgery, guess that means no going back to work tomorrow, yuck!

[zenoosh 112]

I have in fact it started this

Morning day 7 post opp just got told I'm being admitted for internal bleeding that is coming out the whole where my drain is located. I will be going back into surgery, guess that means no going back to work tomorrow, yuck!

I wish you the best, I'm so sorry you've had troubles...PLEASE keep us posted, I would bet others have had this issue, so keep in touch and search the boards. Good luck with the next surgery...I'm sure they'll fix you up nicely....

Just out of curiosity:

Did you have your surgery here in the States or Mexico?

[anndemstng 7]

I wish you the best' date=' I'm so sorry you've had troubles...PLEASE keep us posted, I would bet others have had this issue, so keep in touch and search the boards. Good luck with the next surgery...I'm sure they'll fix you up nicely....

Just out of curiosity:

Did you have your surgery here in the States or Mexico?[/quote']

I had my surgery in the States, the doctor has removed my drain and we are waiting to see if the bleeding stops on its own he believes the bleeding is coming from the muscle itself so have to wait for him to review blood work and such to see if he needs to go back in

Laparoscopically

[Janedeaux3 70]

In response to Gas-X not helping: Most will agree that the referred shoulder pain is likely caused by the inflation w gases during surgery and physical manipulation involved. Let us not forget that anesthesia, narcotics, and abdominal surgery cause decrease in peristalsis (natural movement of the intestines). That decrease can allow the build up or collection of gas in the bowel. We go home with more narcotics for pain and very little oral intake. The bowels may not be very quick to resume normal activity under these circumstances. While I agree Simethicone will not address nerve pain, it may address other sources of gas that can also cause referred shoulder pain. And please.... I mean no disrespect to anyone, with or without medical background. We all have opinions and most only want to offer our experiences to try and help others. I can't speak for everyone, but sometimes all it takes is a really cool looking bandaid to make some feel better.

[newmrsL 9]

It's most likely a referred pain from your vagus or phrenic nerve, which can be irritated when your abdominal cavity is inflated with CO2. My money is on phrenic.

newmrsL - that's a good example of not believing everything you're told. There's no such thing as surgery that unintentionally kills 1/3 of your spleen, and that's OK because it's just what happens.

The shoulder pai is exceptionally common. I've made a few other posts with more detail. You can search for phrases like "shoulder pain" and find a LOT of info.

Gas-X will not help it. Why do people recommend Gas-X? Gas-X is Simethicone. It's more or less something that breaks surface tension, i.e. it is not something that gets into your blood stream and works systemically. I think I posted once that using Gas-X for referred nerve pain is like putting a band-aid on your knee because your spleen is bleeding. Appropriately enough, in this thread!

just telling you what my Dr. said........who happens to be very trustwothy. And yes if you look it up it clearly tells says that 10 (or less) percent of your spleen dies off because it provided filtration to the part of your stomach that is cut away. which of coarse is not enough to worry about it not doing it's job. Are you a Dr? Or do you just know everything? the stomach shares a blood supply with a small portion of the spleen and stapling off the stomach cuts the blood supply to that part of the spleen as well; the spleen will scar and shrink down at that part, the rest works and not a big deal. But it can cause shoulder and back pain. It will also make your white cell count high and liver enzymes high. Look it up for yourself.

[Rootman 1,101]

Well newmrsl, sorry if we offended you but I have never heard of this, and a (admittedly quick) Google search didn't turn up anything either, perhaps I'm not using the right search words.

I for one would appreciate it If you would kindly point us to some online information about this happening.