Left Shoulder pain, heartburn, indigestion ?

Becca920 · February 27, 2008

I have had an awful time since Saturday around 6pm. I truly, honestly can not describe how I felt other than it was like someone literally kicked me between the shoulders as hard as they could.:eek: My surgery was December 27th, 2007. I had 2 fills up until all this which the last of was removed today. I have lost 28 pounds so far!:thumbup:

I have had horrible indigestion and felt like if I didnt burp I was going to explode. I have been miserable! my husband said he never thought he'd have a 200 pound wife that he had to try burping before. :lol:

Sunday I went to quik care they really didnt know what to do with me since I have this lapband & their Doctors are not familiar with it. They did an EKG and it was ok, but my chest x-ray showed a huge gas bubble in my upper abdomen. I thought after talking to the nurse there that it could be cardiac and that they may send me to the hospital but the didnt.

That night I got worse, I called the hospital line for Dr Richard another was on call he called me back and told me to come to the office first thing Monday morning. I did, They took out half of my band Fluid. The pain got a little better. I came back home and slept the rest of the afternoon. I havent had a goodnights sleep since all this started. Today I called my doctors office back and they had me come back to remove the rest of my fluid, all of it. THen they had me go to the hopsital for an upper GI and a Barium swallow. YUM ! NOT !

Then I had to go back to the Dr office and give them the CD. Well Dr Richard had to leave the office between the time I went there and the time I got back with the CD of my test. SO....................I do feel better with all the fluid gone but I am still waiting on the results of the tests. The nurse practioner said that he didnt see anything alarming on the films. he also said that Reflux and heartburn usually get better with the band not worse. :confused:Seems like I have seen the left shoulder pain and heartburn thing on this blog more than once. I think my doctors need to check out these blogs to see whats going on with others. I have to see Dr Richard tomorrow at 10:30 for a follow up since he had left the office to go to the hospital.

OH, the nurse practioner also said it could be residual gas left over from my surgery. Saturday afternoon was the first real work out I had, had since my surgery. All the symptoms started right after that.:glare:

I am still having severe heartburn and burping but its not stuck in there hurting me like it was the past 3 days. I am taking RX zantac 300mg and phazyme (simethicon) 120mg. :tt2:

Anyone else had anything like this?

Thanks so much! :smile:

becca~bandster

HeatherO · February 27, 2008

I was just banded on 1/25/2008 so i am not that far in yet. I can say that shoulder pain for me started . . . and was really really bad one week out. It felt like I had pulled something. Even if I wasnt moving the pain could sometimes be terrible. It was always the worst after eating of if I had a lot of gas.

It took about two weeks to get back to normal. Tylenol did not help it but hot baths (not submerging my stomach of course because of the healing incisions) and my husband's massage helped a lot.

I read that it was normal to have a little shoulder pain after surgery, but I never knew it could go weeks out. Thank goodness I am feeling better now.

GasX is wonderful. They have strips that melt on your tounge. Even now I take them sometimes. My gas is not as uncomfortable as it once was, but I still have no lack of it. :0)