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Pain on left side, sometimes under my ribs



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I had a revision from band to bypass on 2/25, so just over 3 weeks ago. I find that throughout the day I'll get this sharp pain (similar to the feeling of a muscle spasm) on my left side, just under my ribs. Sometimes it even kicks in when I start eating (still on soft /pureed foods). Doesn't usually last long. At night, I can't lay on my back in bed! I get these horrible sharp pains. As soon as I move to my side, it ends. I'm trying to convince myself it's from healing and my body is just trippin' while trying to heal LOL. My doctor did tell me my pain in the left side would be worse and take longer to heal. Anybody else have a similar situation?

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What was yours I get these but only when I move wrong and usually when standing

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I hope this message isn't too late to be helpful, but I had those. It turned out to be a serious kidney and bladder infection. I had to really push all of my doctors and visit the ER three times to find out. The cause of the infection was gross and TMI:

I'm overjoyed with my surgery results, but I have to be truthful and admit ultimately the gastric bypass surgery was behind the infection. As you know GBS requires you to eat in a way that makes you vulnerable to Constipation. As a result I became very constipated. My stools became dense, hard, round, grayish and heavy like large smooth stones, around jawbreaker size. When these plopped down into the toilet bowl, toilet Water containing stool and thus BACTERIA splashed upwards into my underparts. Over time, despite proper hygiene, this created a bad UTI. Moving to a new apartment with a taller toilet bowl helped, as did liquid Keflex, increased water drinking and cranberry juice.

But the infection announced itself with sharp, stabbing bedtime pain worse than shingles, under my left ribcage. Later the pain traveled down my back and spine, then to my right side, then back again. It was a very stubborn infection. If you still are experiencing this pain, check for a UTI and kidney infection and make sure that isn't what it is!

This was my experience and it started with pain identical in type, severity and location to yours.

Edited by beautifuldaymonster
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fresh out of surgery I ended up in the ER and back in hospital with aspiration pneumonia, an acute UTI and critically low potassium. I’m pretty sure the uti was due to the catheter being in place so long after surgery. I don’t know why they kept it in to monitor my output until the day I was to be discharged. They kept telling me my chest pain was gas, I kept saying no it’s not. It wasn’t. Any liquids I sipped were being aspirated into my lungs. It was pneumonia. I just don’t get fevers like normal people do. Maybe my immunodeficiency. I don’t know. I went home to intermittent fevers. It would spike really high at night and go down by morning. My body doesn’t fight what it needs to. So then doctors don’t think I’m sick if my body doesn’t maintain a consistent fever. The ER did a chest X-ray, bloodwork etc. and admitted me. I hate hospitals. I got stuck there three days with IV potassium and antibiotics. The hard part was I could barely move. After my surgery I was basically bed bound, when the nurse tried to get me up to walk I made it to the hall and had to hurry back to bed before I passed out. Every chronic pain in my body screamed bloody murder all at once. This round in hospital wasn’t much better. I waited for tests, they kept trying to give me regular food so I wasn’t getting Protein. Long story short, they did a swallow study which showed dysphasia and every time I drank thinner liquids, ie. Water, thinner shakes. It puts me at risk of aspiration. I’m still struggling to find the cause. It’s esophageal Dysphasia. So my gastroenterologist said it’s not his area, my ent said it’s not his area it’s neurological but so far the neurologist doesn’t know and is sending me to another neurologist. I had a bad reaction to the antibiotic I was sent home with. And ended up with severe oral thrush.

Im getting those chest pains that extend down under my ribs again. I had a upper gi fluoroscopy and endoscopy. I was told I have a sliding hiatal hernia, Schatzki ring, ulcers, and a stoma stricture (severely narrow stoma)

Nothing as of yet is resolved. I see my surgeon next month. I don’t regret fighting for the surgery. It was my last hope to fight against metabolic disorders and inability to exercise, to lose weight. It was eating me alive. I am having a hard time of things but most people even with complications do very well.

For me it’s hard to separate out all my other medical issues from recovery.

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Could be gas or backed up poop in the splenic flexure which is right under your bottom left rib.

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1 hour ago, froufrou said:

Could be gas or backed up poop in the splenic flexure which is right under your bottom left rib.

Tell us more about this splenic flexure, Mommy! :D What is it? Inquiring minds and all!

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1 hour ago, froufrou said:

Could be gas or backed up poop in the splenic flexure which is right under your bottom left rib.

Tell us more about this splenic flexure, Mommy! :D What is it? Inquiring minds and all!

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@FluffyChix - I will quote what the internet says "Splenic flexure syndrome occurs when gas builds up or becomes trapped in your colon. Thought to be the primary cause of this condition, gas accumulation causes trapped air to push on the inner lining of your stomach and digestive tract. As a result, pressure can build on surrounding organs causing pain and discomfort."

On wikipedia it comes under the heading of IBS. I get a lot of trapped gas in that area that backs up and pushes on my spleen, giving me pain right under my left rib.

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Oh wow! Thanks for that! Sounds so painful!! ((hugs))

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2 minutes ago, FluffyChix said:

Oh wow! Thanks for that! Sounds so painful!! ((hugs))

You're welcome! Here's a picture - I tried to link it earlier but my computer's being sooooo slooooow.

parts-of-the-colon.jpg

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(I can see uranus from here...)

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😳

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9 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Tell us more about this splenic flexure, Mommy! :D What is it? Inquiring minds and all!

Me too! I want to know too! Edit: thanks for the picture and explanation! I wouldn't doubt that this was part of my problem too...

Edited by beautifuldaymonster
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