Fistula, stricture, gastric ulcer, or?

Hi All, 

I am five and a bit years out from RNY. It has been quite a struggle.  My weight never really stabilized at a low point and I felt that my doc was too conservative in his RNY limb reduction. In speaking with several other of his patients, they feel the same.  My weight went down and immediately began to climb again in spite of intense physical activity ( running, swimming, downhill mountain biking, downhill skiing). In any event, about January 2014, I began having mild to moderate pain in my lower left  front quadrant of my tummy. It never really dissipated, but did decrease from time to time. In the last six months, I've noticed it is more intense. It doesn't matter what I eat or drink, it's painful as it digests. Carrots, peppers, and fruit are real killers. Even water can be painful. My pcp gave me a stronger ppi to decrease acid reflux but frankly, it's not helping. I'd really like to do a barium test to make sure my staple line is intact but she is not concerned. I have an appointment in September to see my surgeon but would like to do the swallow sooner. Am I on the right track? What else might be an issue here? 

If you are talking about raw carrots, peppers or fruits -  I can tell you from experience that raw veggies are big :-no-no for me. My body can't digest that, and over the years I developed  IBS- and SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, so my diet have to be very limited to low carbs, low FODMAP diet (Google that), no raw veggies... 

Add food allergies... And it gets interesting. 

Goggle elimination diet. 

I was living in pain, cramps, bloated, then I used elimination diet (chicken with some cooked mild veggies) for 2 weeks. Then I slowly introduced new foods to see what could cause the pain. 

Even small amount of dried onions (in my spice mix) could cause bloat and pain. 

My diet is rather limited ... But living pain free... Is worth the effort. 

And when I stray... (i am human, no?) the pain reminds me why I am on a strict protocol...

Hope you find what is going on with you. 

 BTW - I also dealt with pain from twisted guts - due to hernia, adhesions, but the pain was very different than the one from digestive distress..  The pain from twisted guts would come on gradually, intensify to a very sharp point. Then once the food pased the narrowed section... The pain was gone in almost an instant, leaving tenderness in that area.  Until I would eat again ...then the pain would return... Liquids were no problem... So if I liqiefied my food - the pain was not there or much, much less....

The pain due to IBS- SIBO is there kind on all the time, if I eat food that affects it... And lasts and lasts... Until that food leaves my gut for good.. 

It could be many things of course.  HALA has some good points above.  I had extreme pain and then constant pain brought on by an internal hernia (not in the Petersens' Space but still a rare RNY complication) along with adhesions that were causing me pain, weakness, nausea, inflamed pouch etc.  CTscan and MRI showed something fishy, but not conclusive.  Barium swallow and gastro scope showed all was well.  

Only a very detailed diary of my symptoms (times, position I was in, what I ate and drank, the area the pain was in, etc) coupled with the tests allowed my surgeon to suspect an internal hernia.  I had exploratory surgery and it solved the problems.  But it was a long, drawn out process.  If you think something is wrong, then be your own best advocate.  Insist and be pushy.  It is not normal to be in pain.

I really hope you get some help and that your surgeon has good plan for helping you eel better.