I'm curious to know...

sassaay · October 27, 2004

When I was first banded, I got the shoulder pain that every talks about post surgery. You know the one where the cure is to walk, walk, walk and some suggest Gas-X. But it went away by week 6 or 7. I have also heard some mention that they get this pain when they have reached their 'soft stop' at meals. Well, with my second banding (first removed due to a leak) I never got the shoulder pain post surgery... Then all of a sudden around week 8 I began getting the shoulder pain. Nothing seems to help except to eat!!! It appears that it happens when I let myself get too hungry.

Has anyone else experienced this? I heard that the shoulder pain is associated with the Co2 they use to pump us up for lap surgery and that if some gets trapped it can rise and press on our diaphragms causing deferred pain in the shoulder area. In my case, I start to get hungry and then the shoulder pain begins... the hungrier I get the worse the pain in my shoulder becomes. If my stomach churns and growls, the pain in my shoulder increases at the same time as the discomfort in my stomach. Do you think it is possible that my hunger pains are moving my stomach around and essentially causing the band to push on my diaphragm thus the deferred pain in my shoulder until I eat and my stomach stops growling?

I am trying to figure out if this will get worse or better as I get more fills and hopefully reached my supposed sweet spot.

Anyway, sorry for babbling... but I would love to know if anyone else has experienced this same phenomenon. ;-)

Marimaru · October 27, 2004

I read somewhere that the shoulder pain that occurs way after surgery has nothing to do with the gas. It has to do with our body feeling the band n' stuff. The stomach is more on the left of your body, so the band is on the left side... and for some reason the brain picks it up as shoulder pain.

So maybe when your tummy is rumbling your band is moving with it a little and your brain is pickin' up the signals?

sassaay · October 27, 2004

Thanks Sarah, I think you might be right. Now the key is to not let myself get too hungry. I tend to do this a lot and then I eat way too fast when I finally do sit down for a meal.

I appreciate your response.

La_madam · October 27, 2004

Sassay..

If I go to long in between meal I get exremely gassy, is your pain in the shoulder gas related? I do not get the gas pain in my shoulder but my tummy is a rumbling volcano if I wait to long between meal so maybe there is some coralation( sp?) there .

DeLarla · October 27, 2004

Maybe they accidentally banded your shoulder? Sorry, but I felt like responding but didn't have anything intelligent to say. I only had the shoulder pain after the surgery, and a heating pad was my cure. We should start a freak thread for all these unexplained problems - a place for my port problems to call home.

Iluvharleys · October 27, 2004

I heard it is caused by the diaphram. Whenever you have surgery and it involves moving or anything at all of the diaphram, it has a nerve that is related to the shoulder which causes the pain. I heard this from a nurse and a medical student.

sassaay · October 27, 2004

Thanks for all the feedback! I am going to ask my doctor about it when I go in 2 weeks... for now, I get rid of it by eating... I just wish I could remember to eat before I get it because... OUCH! IT HURTS!!!

Michelle, I get the gassy stomach too sometimes. This band in a fickle thing.

Lisa, I agree... we do need a new topic for 'Wierd Phenomonons'

Betty, I have heard the same thing and I actually think that when my stomach growls and 'rolls over' it may cause my band to push against my diaphragm (don't even know if that is possible) and causes the deferred pain in my shoulder. Maybe if I was more up on my human anatomy I could have a more logical guess. :knockedou

Thanks everyone! :cheeky