Left Shoulder Pain After Lap Band Surgery

[NurseMelly 0]

Wow! I had no idea this was a problem a lot of people were having. I just got my first fill last Wednesday (4.5cc in a 10 cc band). I felt fine after the fill until I woke up the next morning. My left shoulder blade was killing me. It's been unrelenting since then. I'm wondering if I should call my doc and see what he has to say or tough it out for a while. I'm losing again since the fill so I hesitate to get an unfill. I can live with the pain for a couple more days but if it doesn't let up, I'll have to do something.

So for those of you that experienced this shoulder pain after fills, did the pain ease up after a few weeks and the band loosened?

Edited March 14, 2009 by NurseMelly
Forgot to add something

[BLG0977 0]

I was banded in Oct. 2007. I've always suffered from the left shoulder pain as well as left cramp like feeling under my left breast. I am like others that have posted...I feel this when I am hungery and always 24 hours after a fill. I have learned to expect it. I told my surgeon...he said there isn't any explaination for it, but he has heard about it. I assume the nerves surrounding the band. The cramp under my breast is after eating...assuming gas and digestion. I am not to worried since I know it's from the band.

[gdf18 2]

NurseMelly,

Just spoke to my surgeon about it and there's not much to do. I haven't heard of anyone getting it after the first fill.....it's very common to start right after surgery but perhaps you've been eating enough to not get it. It's usually associated with gas that fills up the stomach and it then pushes on a nerve. Some people have it when they're too full, same reason. Pushing against some nerve that's affected once you're banded.

I had it today because I was out and didn't eat/drink enough. The minute I hit the house I grabbed a tablespoon of hummus and that's all I needed for it to stop. I just can't be on "empty".

Best to do is small meals and if you're back on mushies it's the same. Several times a day. ANd hot liquids.

Good luck

[NurseMelly 0]

NurseMelly,

Just spoke to my surgeon about it and there's not much to do. I haven't heard of anyone getting it after the first fill.....it's very common to start right after surgery but perhaps you've been eating enough to not get it. It's usually associated with gas that fills up the stomach and it then pushes on a nerve. Some people have it when they're too full, same reason. Pushing against some nerve that's affected once you're banded.

I had it today because I was out and didn't eat/drink enough. The minute I hit the house I grabbed a tablespoon of hummus and that's all I needed for it to stop. I just can't be on "empty".

Best to do is small meals and if you're back on mushies it's the same. Several times a day. ANd hot liquids.< /p>

Good luck

Thanks for the insight but I don't really think mine has to do with gas or what I've eaten. It's there constantly. It doesn't matter if I'm eating or not. I think I'm gonna call today because it's just really bothersome.

I'll let everyone know what they say:thumbup:

[fergwood 0]

I just had my surgery on March 11, 2009. I too am having the left shoulder pain. I thought it was the gas. But I see people still having way after having the surgery. I dont see my surgeon till the 26th but when I go I will ask him. He'll probably will just tell me it is gas. Thanks for all the posting about this.

gail

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

My surgeon told me it had nothing to do with banding.I told him he was crazy. I know someone who had her band removed because it was so bad.

Mine comes and goes. I definitely have it after I eat but it does go away. After banding, I had it for months. At first I thought it was bursitis but then I realized it had to do with banding. I never had it after surgery, it started a few months after.

It was gone for a long time, but it's back since I had a new fill.

If it's really bad, you can get some fill taken out, but I would say my experience has been that it will go away when you lose a little and the band loosens.

[NurseMelly 0]

Thanks Oregondaisy!

I did call my surgeon and I told him everything I read online and he agreed that it was from the pouch swelling and pressing against the diaphragm. Maybe he knows he can't bullshit me because I'm a nurse. At any rate, he said it will just take time to go away =(

It's still painful and this is a week and 1 day post fill. I think I might go back on liquids for a couple of days to see if I can drop some pounds and relieve this shoulder pain.

Good luck with your upcoming surgery! I plan on saving for a revision somewhere down the road as well.

[gdf18 2]

I wish you luck with having it disappear. Most people who get it (not everyone does), tend to have it now and then. I think what your doctor said (or agreed to) mirrors what everyone else says as well. I doubt everyone's surgeon is "bullshitting" them! It's caused by pressure on the diaphragm. But what seems to differ is the trigger. Some get it only on empty (mine), others when too full, and some either exteme. It's a matter of knowing your own body and how to control the triggers. Again, good luck.

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I can hardly wait for my revision surgery. I will never have left shoulder pain again.

It's bad when I work out. I do a weight lifting class and my left shoulder just kills me during that class. I think the band has definitely made my shoulder weaker than the right shoulder.

[gdf18 2]

Hi. I would like to understand this better. I only know the one reason for the shoulder pain- the pressure against the diaphragm. In what way is your lapband "revised" and what about the revision corrects the shoulder pain?

Curious minds want to know.

Thanks

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

I am having my band removed. It's not because of shoulder pain.

If I had known about the sleeve surgery before now, I would have never gotten the band. I feel it will be a better surgery for me. There are no fills or unfills, and I am tired of not having restriction, but if I get a fill, I start having all sorts of problems.

[la38 0]

i had surgery 9 days ago and have had NONSTOP left shoulder pain! At first i thought it was from the Co2 gas, but i still have it probably 18 out of 24 hours a day. It doesn't seem to have a pattern, some say when they eat too much, etc..... mine is triggered by nothing. whether i eat or don't eat, drink or don't drink, it doesn't matter...... i would be feeling pretty good right now, except i can't get rid of this STUPID ASS shoulder pain! My fingers and hand goes numb sometimes..... i have read several different opinions on what this may be....... i personally believe it is nerve pain and that something that has to do with the lapband is either pressing or irritating the phrenic nerve. I have no solution for what is going to fix this except a prayer that it may stop. It seems that no one is coming up with a straight answer by their doctors on what this is, or how to fix it! I haven't been to my postop checkup, but i intend to find out what my dr. has to say about this shoulder pain and what to do to fix it. i wasn't that worried about it, until i read all of the postings on here from different patients that are STILL having pain, months and months and even years after surgery! My shoulder pain gets so bad that i can barely move my arm at all, and if it does not stop or is not fixed within the next 2 months, i will remove my lapband!

[Oregondaisy 2,021]

My left shoulder is hurting me right now, and I am post surgery over 2 years.

I do know someone who had their band removed because it was so bad that they just couldn't take anymore. Mine is not that severe but it's definitely annoying.

[gdf18 2]

Dear LA38,

Don't be hasty. The left shoulder pain after the surgery is very very common and will start to subside. Walking does help it a lot and so does heat.

Some of us- and of course numbers are hard to determine and here you get the folks that HAVE the problem, not those who don't (like my brother in law) do have a problem with left shoulder pain. Mine went away for months and then reappeared and now it seems to be a balance of keeping a little food in my stomach to keep it at bay.

With almost 85 gone, it's a small price. I do worry about the future....will I have this always...how will I stand it when I'm old...etc etc. But I'm not there yet, and it's very possible they'll figure this out.

Most important is patients telling the doctors so that it becomes an challenge they feel they should overcome.

What price beauty (and health)?

Good luck with your band. Does the LA stand for Los Angeles? If so, me too.

[blackeyedmelluns 0]

Heres how its happened to me... The left shoulder pain right after surgery is due to it being laproscopic (sp?), so the docs said. But after 4 years of having the band now, every time I eat I get intense shoulder pain, along with pain in the upper portion of my stomach on the left side (right under the bottom 3 ribs). I've had test after test! CT Scan, X-Ray, HIDA Scan, 2 Berrium Swallows, and an Upper Endoscopy. (All normal, NO problem with Gallbladder, etc.) The gastro doctor saw in the endoscopy that my band has no pouch over it... meaning it has either slipped up, or was placed to high to begin with. Ive gone through hell and back with this pain. Just like many others Ive read, it all started off not too bad, not frequently, only when I did or didnt do certain things... now its pretty much constant. Ive lost about 40 pounds from the band, which for that I am SO grateful for. But I think since I got the band at 16, was still maturing, and have had it for so long now; the ultimate result is not one of a good one. On top of all this I have it completely loosened for 2 years now, and have kept the weight off on my own. I have no trouble eating, its what happens after. Hopefully the answer I have now, about it being placed to high, is the solution to all this... I hopefully also will be having the band removed here soon. I just cant live like this any longer. Maybe this will help somebody with any problem they may be having... I just have to remember that it is NOT normal to be in pain... However or Whenever. My lap band surgeon has constantly blamed it on eating habits. But there is no way thats the issue. Ive tried the bland diet, liquids, slow eating, small eating... some of it worked for a bit, but it has steadily progressed to constant. Once I find out more, I will be sure to post on here again. Thank yall for posting as well... Its REALLY GOOD TO KNOW IM NOT ALONE IN THIS... AND THAT IM NOT CRAZY... Lol