Is the gas pain really as bad?

[KRod6 18]

I am scheduled to have my surgery on October 11th. I've been hearing the gas pain is the worst and only pain. Worse than the scar pain. This makes me nervous being close to my heart. I heard it feels as if you may be experiencing a heart attack. How bad is the pain? Do you feel pain in stomach from the staples? Do you feel more pain from the incisions? I am really nervous!

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

I didn’t have ANY gas pain. Of course I had very little pain overall. I have heard a few others like me that didn’t have it. I even asked the NP at a follow up if they did something different on me so I didn’t get my stomach filled up with the air or whatever and she said they use it on everyone but it doesn’t always get trapped. A friend of my aunt who told me about the surgery had the same dr and had horrible gas pain so it’s not the doctor.

Edited October 5, 2022 by ShoppGirl

[liveaboard15 1,293]

gas pain can suck. issue is pain medication does not help with that. Just walking and walking. that was my most painful part. The scars barely felt anything. The big scar where they remove your stomach hurt a bit for me after the gas pains went away. other than that not a real big deal. I was given a big bottle of liquid hydrocodone and i only ever used it once.

[SuziDavis 546]

I had severe pain in my chest from air the first night. I made myself burp a lot and it went away. I am glad that wasn't in my stomach area, I feel like that could have been worse than in my chest. The paid after that was not bad at all.

[SpartanMaker 767]

I had very little actual "pain" from the carbon dioxide. I'd classify it more as "discomfort"?

I just took tylenol as far as pain meds and was fine. (I didn't even take all the tylenol I was prescribed.) Also, as has been said here already, walking really helps, so I was walking multiple times a day.

I think compared to the many other surgeries I've had, this one was actually one of the least painful.

[Elidh 239]

I had no gas pain, either.

[omrhsn 621]

I had no gas pain and my doctor insisted that I get up and walk every now and then which I did. My brother set a timer and would wake me up to take a walk around the hospital ward every 30 mins or so which helped a lot. My sister who had her surgery three weeks before me didn't walk that much and had some gas pain. The doctor gave her some suppositories which helped a lot. Good luck and I hope all goes well with the surgery.

[Arabesque 7,240]

I had no gas pain with my sleeve but after my gall i did. But it wasn’t a throbbing aching pain more discomfort. A bit like strained muscles after a hard workout. My back hurts way more when it goes out. The gas pain took about a week to disappear. Really had no surgical pain after three/four days with either surgery.

But of course everyone is different & we tolerate different levels of pain. For gas pain, walking is best. You don’t have to walk miles - even lapping your yard a few times a day helps as does going up & down steps, marching on the spot & lifting your arms up & down. A heating pad can alleviate pain too.

The gas is used to fill your abdominal cavity not your tummy so very little escapes through your digestive system (burping & farting). The gas is actually absorbed by Water in your blood stream & is breathed out. Which is why walking, marching in the spot, etc. helps as you breathe more heavily with the activity. The excess gas rises & often gets caught under your upper lungs which causes the upper shoulder pain.

Edited October 6, 2022 by Arabesque

[KRod6 18]

4 hours ago, omrhsn said:

I had no gas pain and my doctor insisted that I get up and walk every now and then which I did. My brother set a timer and would wake me up to take a walk around the hospital ward every 30 mins or so which helped a lot. My sister who had her surgery three weeks before me didn't walk that much and had some gas pain. The doctor gave her some suppositories which helped a lot. Good luck and I hope all goes well with the surgery.

Thanks for your response! Good luck on your journey as well💪🏽

[Wrenna 11]

18 hours ago, liveaboard15 said:

gas pain can suck. issue is pain medication does not help with that. Just walking and walking.

Exactly. I had pretty severe gas pain - it felt like a knife under my ribs, and the drugs did NOTHING. The nurse said that the only thing that would help was walking and time. Fortunately, it was only bad the first day. Sitting up helped, as well as taking deep breaths. Aside from the gas pain, it wasn't that bad. I never bothered filling my prescription pain meds, and had stopped taking anything by the fourth day.

[Sd14810 41]

I didnt have hardly any das pain, but my doctor had me get simethicone, witch is pretty much just gas-x but make sure you get a brand that has very small pills (size of a regular m&m or smaller) or chewable, she had them give me one in the hospital shortly after I got to my room, and I was told I could have them every 4 or 6 hours I can't remember..... but I'm thinking that must have helped me because I only had pain in my stomache from the incision line.... but the hospital was very good at keeping me at a low pain level...

If your doctor offers a nerve block.... take it! Better to be safe then sorry.... alot of doctors have it standard and don't ask just include it in the paperwork you sign to authorize for surgery, and you have to say you dont want it, some specifically ask if you want one.... the only people I've heard say they wished they'd have chosen different are the ones that opted not to have it ....

Sent from my SM-G996U using BariatricPal mobile app

[SpartanMaker 767]

There seems to be some confusion in this thread. As @Arabesque mentioned, when we talk about "gas pain" immediately post surgery, this is not from gas in your intestines, which is what most people think of when we talk about gas pain.

"Gas pain" post abdominal surgery is literally from the gas the surgeon used to expand your abdomen. They do this to be able to see and have room to work. Carbon Dioxide is the most commonly used gas for this, but I have heard of other gases like nitrous oxide also being used. This gas is eventually absorbed into your tissues and carried away by your bloodstream. It does NOT end up in your intestines.

This gas causes pain primarily by pressing on your diaphragm. This is one of the reasons it can be a bit painful to breathe, along with residual effects of the anesthesia. By pressing on your diaphragm, it irritates the phrenic nerve. This sometimes causes "referred pain" in your shoulder. It's not that the gas has escaped and settled in your shoulder region, it's just due to the nerve irritation. The phrenic nerve runs from your diaphragm, up into your shoulder region, and up your neck to your brain.

[TheLosingGame 10]

i had bad gas pain and it felt like none of the meds eased the pain for me. the only relief i had was in my room the night of surgery sleeping on my side with my knees bended. the nurse gave me that tip. something about that position helped release a little of the gas and sleep more comfortably

[klove13 3]

I had gas pain and it was very uncomfortable. I was able to take chewable gas relief medication and it helped a lot. Walking/moving even in short bursts helped me drastically. I had surgery 08/29 and gas pain discomfort lasted for about a month.

[MyDogsLoveMe 27]

I am scheduled to have my surgery on October 11th. I've been hearing the gas pain is the worst and only pain. Worse than the scar pain. This makes me nervous being close to my heart. I heard it feels as if you may be experiencing a heart attack. How bad is the pain? Do you feel pain in stomach from the staples? Do you feel more pain from the incisions? I am really nervous!

My surgery is also Oct 11!!!

My friends sister just had the surgery in Mexico and she said WALK, WALK, WALK!! That helps get the gas out and she said she burped her sister like a baby.

We got this!! We will do great! We have already put in a lot of work!

Scared but excited.