i'm bandednow..and inPAIN! Hiatal Hernia anyone???

[karen8376 0]

Omg...you just described everything I have been thinking and going through! I am in so much pain post hiatal hernia and lap band. Very nauseous today and I haven't even had anything. Had my surgery on 7/20. Don't know how to feel better. Barely slept in 2 days. Help!

Thanks y'all for all the information. I wasn't even told what to expect after surgery.... How to care for wounds etc or anything.

I hurts when i breathe... my throat is very sore. neck is sore as well. When i breathe a bit toomuch i feel a sharp pain under my left breast.

I too have a bulge in my tummy area. I actually weight more now then going into surgery.

I just want the pain to go away! I want to feel normal again!!! :thumbup:

[Jodi_620 37]

Ditto neighbor. Thankfully my "burp spasms" ended last week. I guess I just needed to let the hernia sutures "loosen up" a bit? I'm now able to burp without pain. I had the trouble breathing deep for a few days, and then the spasms. I would take a combo of xanax and lortab and would relax the spasms and me (since they were painful and freakin' me out!). The pain (for me) was bad enough to make me regret having surgery! You never believe it while it's happening to you but it will get better! Try to walk or get out. I did circles in my house just to move some.

Also, the surgeon told my husband that I may not even notice the hernia repair. I think if you have suffered with the hernia prior to surgery, you just may well feel great after it's repaired. I didn't know I had one and wasn't suffering other than controlled heartburn.

My midsection muscle soreness went away last Wednesday. My only pain now is incision tenderness. Other than that, I don't feel like I've really had anything done to me. :thumbup: I'm able to sleep on my belly just fine too for the last few days.

Sounds like you are doing pretty well , neighbor :thumbup:

I know for the first several days I kept asking "What have I done to myself????" But in the end I'd do it all again.

Unfortunately a year later and I still don't burp, and I really miss it. I do get an occasional pfft of air but not a good, manly belch.

[IrBaileyzMa 0]

I did and had pain too. Mine was mostly intermittent pain that would travel from my abdominal area up my esophagus (the center of my chest). Due to Lap Band surgery we get a lot of gas and due to hernia repair, belching can be painful or impossible. For me, it was impossible which lead to excrutiating pain. Each episode would last a few seconds. I also had shortness of breath related to the hernia repair. I couldn't walk across the room or speak a whole sentence without getting winded. All of this lasted a week and 1/2

Otherwise I had incision pain which would pretty much be the same with or without the hernia repair. I had to sleep propped up for nearly two weeks. Bending and getting up from the sitting or lying positions was painful for about the same amount of time.

I had a hiatal hernia repair as well. I experienced similar problems with the pain in the chest while the gas. Otherwise, mine was fairly mild. I found that liquid tylenol helped quite a bit. Don't worry, it definately gets easier, just give it a few days.

[justmel1957 1]

From a nursing perspective, most likely your pain is from gas, not the xtra repair. You would have been under and open a little bit longer than a traditional LB.

From a personal experience, I also had a very large HH which I knew going in, and he reapired. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I used to have the worst reflux while sleeping and would aspirate the bile into my lungs...I would wake up choking/gasping for air and then develop an aspiration pneumonia afterwards. It was one of the co-morbidiities that helped get me qualified for the LB.

Give it time........I think you will be pleased

[Jodi_620 37]

From a nursing perspective, most likely your pain is from gas, not the xtra repair. You would have been under and open a little bit longer than a traditional LB.

From a personal experience, I also had a very large HH which I knew going in, and he reapired. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I used to have the worst reflux while sleeping and would aspirate the bile into my lungs...I would wake up choking/gasping for air and then develop an aspiration pneumonia afterwards. It was one of the co-morbidiities that helped get me qualified for the LB.

Give it time........I think you will be pleased

Mine was definitely not from the gas pumped in to the cavity during surgery. It was directly related to the need to belch. I would feel the air bubble in my stomach, feel it release and it would be followed by pain moving up my esophagus, pain so bad that would make me see stars then I would leave out a little pfft of air. It all lasted a second or two then completely stop until I needed to belch again. When I called my surgeon he told me that both the pain and the breathlessness was related to the Hernia repair.

It was a good thing though, DH says it was the best thing that came out of the surgery. Because I could only take breaths in in tiny spirts, I didn't have enough strength to pull in enough air to talk more than a couple words or walk more than a few steps AND I also did not have the strength to inhale cigarette smoke for 5 days. Thanks in part to the hernia repair, I am now almost 14 months smoke free . The tradeoff is that I still can't really burp very successfully.

Edited July 22, 2009 by Jodi_620

[a6a6 0]

not alone..

i had my surgery on 7-20 in NYU

i was told afterwards i had hieatal hernia and it was repaired also , wwwwwwwoooooooooooowwwwww

talk about pain.

i cant burp , and the gas is painful as well.

i also have thorat and neck pain from breathing tube..

how long is this going to lastttttt.

im dying over here.

i have two incisions, one in my belly button and one in mid chest ..

[felkatz 3]

i am feeling a little bit better today.. throat pain is not bad anymore... sore arms.. and neck.. WHY ARMS?? hmmm don't now maybe because i'm lifting myself up with my arms trying to avoid usingmy stomach muscles.

I coughed up a lot of plegm this morning.. hurt like HELL!! My stomoch is very bloated!! don't know what to do about that.. I"m actually hungry today.

I can't drink anything sugarfree the aspartame makes my stomach feel nausated..

Just hurts a bit when i breath in and out..d on't want to take the meds he gives me.. makes me crash out!

Trying to find a good sleeping position.. my back is killing me.. i'm sleeping upright... blah!

Ok.. enough of that... hope everyone is feeling a bit better.

kat

[Jodi_620 37]

I had a hiatal hernia repair as well. I experienced similar problems with the pain in the chest while the gas. Otherwise, mine was fairly mild. I found that liquid tylenol helped quite a bit. Don't worry, it definately gets easier, just give it a few days.

I am over a year post-op now so no problems anymore...just relaying my past experience.

[nicb1318 0]

I was banded on 7/13, and I also had a hiatal hernia that was repaired. I experienced pains from shoulder to shoulder and found it hard to breath. Like most people said, it was from the gas. This lasted for only a few days and my pain meds helped me sleep, which in turn helped me not feel the pain. I am 9 days post surgery and don't have any chest pain. I only have slight incision pain.

Some Dr.'s perform a test prior to the surgery to determine if their is a hernia, others repair it if it is spotted during surgey. I'm glad that it was caught and repaired because I already experienced heartburn and acid reflux, and I didn't want it to be any worse with the band.

Good Luck!

[talkalot1981 5]

I have had heartburn for a long time. But when I had my chest x-ray they saw that I actually had acid reflux and it was most likely cause by the hiatal hernia I have... Hopefully I will be one who suffers little to no extra pain from having it repaired......

[Venus1969 0]

I had similar pain for about 3 weeks after my surgery, as well. I also had very bad pain in my port area. My doctor acted likely the pain would not be that bad, etc., but it was much worse than I thought it would be. Hang it there, it does get much better!

[slpcat 0]

I had surgery today with a HH repair. I also had no idea that I had a HH. I am not taking pain meds except for tylenol b/c they always make my nauseous/vomit, I am on phenergren and gas x strips as well. I do have pretty bad shoulder pain and pain when I get up and move and such. I am definately in pain but not crying or writhing or anything like that (hopefully that won't come ). I am lying propped up on my side with an ice pack on my stomach, drinking ice Water and walking every 30 minutes or so for 4 - 5 minutes.

Just glad the surgery is over! :thumbup:

[Rutiglius 0]

I also had a hiatal hernia. My surgeon said they are fairly common within overweight people. I did have some pain with mine, but it was pretty mild.

[jtrda 0]

Hi everyone, I also had a hiatal hernia repaired while being banded. I don't think my pain was all that bad. I only took my Vicodin for the first 2 days and since then. I have been taking tylenol. I returned to work yesterday on day 4 and around 2pm, I was extremely tired but I did make it through the whole day. I think all of the walking around helped because today I feel sooo much better. I had a hard time breathing as well, but today, I haven't had any problems. All of the pain you all are talking about makes me feel soo much better. Now I know that I was lucky to not be in a lot of pain. Just walk around alot and use your spirometer and hopefully everything will work out.

[Elzinga2005 0]

I also had my hernia repaired during surgery and was in quit a bit of pain and found it impossible to burp! In the long run, it is soooo worth it!! I had really bad heartburn and a lot of it prior to surgery and I have not had it once since! Good luck with everything and just know that things will be better soon!! :thumbup:)))