Severe pain in my chest every time I drink anything! Really painful!

I am 5 days post op and every time I take a drink of water, protein shake, strained soup, broth etc I have the most extreme pain in the center of my chest! It is excruciating! I have tried cold, warm, on the verge of hot and almost iced. Nothing helps. I am having a really hard time getting in my Protein and water. I'm so scared. Has anyone else been through this exact thing? Please help! I am already down 17 lbs since my surgery.

How much are you drinking at a time? Are you taking tiny sips and it still causes this? Swallowing too much at once right now can definitely cause pain and discomfort.

No, very little sips. I can't handle much more than that. It hurts so bad that I just don't want to drink anything. My surgeons office said it will pass but continue to take tiny sips all day. It makes me feel horrible. I just want to sleep all day so I don't feel the pain. I'm not hungry or thirsty at all. It is just pain. I'm so worried because I'm definitely not getting the water I need or the protein. I'm really scared.

Same thing happened to me, I'm now 5 weeks post-op. Sip, sip, sip. I found warm decaf tea went down the best for me. I got concerned too and went and saw my doc. They gave it 2 more weeks and if it wasn't better they were going to do some tests...upper GI. But, each day it got a litle better and soon dissipated. They had even kept me an extra day in hospital due to that same problem. I think for most it does get better daily. However, if it doesn't please contact your Dr. Good luck!

I think you are going to have to slow WAY down. Try sipping on one of those plastic medicine cups, the ones that come with children's liquid medicines.

Fill it and take 15 minutes to sip it. Do this continually every 15 minutes, set a timer.

Dehydrayionis the most serious complication, at your stage, and can be deadly.

Do this religiously like it is your job, cause it is. It is most important right now, more important even than protein or vitamins.

Thank you. I will do what you suggested. I'm feeling really weak. I need to do something.

You need to call your doctor!

I've heard this could happen. Could be a lot of swelling occurring. I agree, try and sip sip sip. If you are unable to get the recommended fluids in then this is a problem, and worth mentioning to your surgical team.

I have not been able to drink straight up water since I had my surgery. Caused terrible pain. I finally switched over to SF drink mixes (Hawaiian Punch) and was able to get my water in by sipping small amounts. Had to be cool but not ice cold.

As others said a little at a time.

5 days is pretty far out, but the first 3 days I had stabbing pains in my chest and back when I drank, which my nurses attributed to displacing gas (from surgery) that had moved into my stomach. Walking also caused extreme gas pain, but I powered thru it and by the 4th day it was much more manageable. In case you are not getting in all your walking, maybe also focus on that as a way to help dissipate the gas? Good luck!