Chronis pain - Repost from RNY forum

I had some pain issues prior to my RNY in Nov09, first my lower back then my shoulder.  Post surgery, I felt better for a couple months but now my shoulder has gotten much worse.  It's spreading to my other shoulder, my mid-back and back down to lower back.  For the past several months, I've been in pain every single day. 

A couple things that HAVE changed.  I went vegetarian (except fish) for lent.  I've been really aware of my protein levels, lots of legumes, lots of albacore tuna and protein-dense bars.  I noticed this made my GI issues go away completely. 

They tested my TSH and CBC a couple weeks ago to see if that could explain the fatiuge.  I also went to a pain clinic to see if they can figure out why my whole back hurts from one end to the other (MRI of shoulder and neck is inconclusive). After a series of questionnaires and physical exam they think I may have fibromyalgia.  I also have neuropathy in my feet (decreased sensation).  They said that it's mostly caused from diabetic complications.  The only problem is I was never diabetic.

I'll be doing quite a few more tests to rule this in or out (the fibromyalgia), but they are wanting me to do a fasting glucose tolerance test.  It just occured to me that this would likely cause a lot of issues for me.  I don't dump on sugars( I eat very little of them, every once in a while though after a meal).  I DID once grab a handful of jelly beans on my way out the door one morning and about 10 jelly beans in realized I was feeling really crappy.  Definitely not dumping, but I think it had potential.  I just felt REALLY disgusting and worn down. I can't imagine drinking 12 ounces of a sugary soda drink in 5 minutes on an empty stomach. 

I know he's wanting to rule out some things, but should this be necessary if I wasn't diabetic before? 

And last, has anyone else had pain issues post surgery?  My eating is fine, my tummy feels fine (especially since I went veggie) .  I'm not ruling out the idea of fibro, I'm just not ruling out that it's a complication of the surgery either. 

I had back pain pre and post but post I chalked it up to the shifting of my weight.  It finally went away and I have not had any pain problems in about 3 months. 

I hope it is nothing serious, good luck.

I have arthritis in my back, bulging disks in my neck and lower back, missing cartilage in my spine,  DDD,  bone spurs and a host of othe ailments.  My pain has gotten significantly worse with every pound that I lose.  That being said, it is very possible to get this pain after surgery.  My weight loss has flared up my body something fierce and I had surgery almost 2 years ago and it is not getting any better.  I had to fast for my test, but I did not have to drink the sugary orange stuff.  There is no way I would have been able to get it down.  Good luck and keep us posted.

Infections dont always show up on blood tests , i once had a sinus and bladder infection and really bad body pain  at same time and neather one showed up in blood or urin tests but the doctor gave me antibiotics anyway anthe medicine made all my body pain go away along with the infection , so you might consider giving them a try ...also if you have a swayed low back it can put the rest of the spine out of wack including aspecialy the neck ..just some idias for you hope it helps

I had shoulder and hip pain pre op.  

Post op it has flared into full blown fibro - complete with fibro fog, crying jags, intense pain in my back/shoulder and arms now.

Good luck, I also have some neuropathy in my feet from when I was diabetic.

Candy

Well after all that, it turned out that I had a vitamin B6 toxicity.  After stopping my B complex for the pat 3 weeks, i'm almost 100% better.  Energy through the roof compared to the last 3 months, almost all my back pain is gone.  Shoulder still has issues, but I had a shoulder injury before. 

Crazy how good I feel now!  Thank you to everyone for your advice and kind words. 

Hi JenKitty,

I've had my RNY surgery in Texas on December 12, 2009. I felt great and then when I came back home to Hawaii about a month later I started feeling pain. It started spreading and I thought I was coming down with the flu. But I didn't have the rest of the symptoms. Did a Mac truck run over me in the middle of the night???

What I want to know is Did I develop Fibromyalgia from having the surgery? I'm taking Lyrica and percocet for the pain which really isn't helping. How soon after your surgery did you start experiencing your pain?

Pukalani
aka
Lani Girl

I HAVE HAD FIBRO> SINCE I WAS 10 OR 12 IM 32 NOW ITS A PAIN IN THE ASS... I WAS TOLD THE WEIGHT LOSS WOULD HELP BUT IT HASNT I HAD WLS. IN JAN2010 IVE LOST 85 LBS AND IM IN MORE PAIN NOW THEN IVE EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE, TO TOP IT OFF I WAS TOLD THE SAME THING AS U ABOUT MY FEET, IT DOES NOT MAKE SENCE IM NOT DIEBETIC EITHER BUT I HAVE ALL THE PROBLEMS THAT DIEBETICS HAVE..SORRY U HAVE TO DRINK THAT HORRID DRINK...I DONT KNOW IF IT IS A COMPLICATION TO SURGERY BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE HAVE FIBRO BUT IT DOES GET WORSE  IF U ASK MY OPPINION ALTHOUGH THERE ARE OTHERS WHO WILL BE INCLINED TO DISAGREE..GOOD LUCK..