Pain from hernia and twisted bowel

Hi, I am a newbie and this is my first post. I am from Manchester, UK. I had a Gastric bypass in 2005 over the years had pain on and off from acid reflux. I managed my pain and put it down to one of the side effects of having the surgery. Last August i collapsed in work with extreme pain in my stomach, back and chest.The right side just under my bust was swollen. I could eat or drink it made the pain worse. This pain was what i had in the past,however, it was more painful and would not go away. An ambulance was called and the paramedic gave me morphine and this made the pain ten times worse. 

The hospital said it was a virus and gave me Buscopan and I was sent home. The next morning my husband rushed me to my local hospital where i was admitted. Test and Xrays showed my gall bladder was inflamed. I had it removed was losing weight fast not eating and still in the same pain after being sent home with pain killers. 2 days later i was back in hospital in severe pain. I had a c t scan and it showed a twisted bowel and a Petersen Hernia. I was operated on and my pain went. In all i was hopitalised for 7 weeks 2 operation rapid weigh loss i was being fed by a line in my neck and so I was so weak. 

I am afraid this will happen again I was fighting for my life and too much weight. Does anyone know what the chances are of it happening again? 

Thank you 

Josy 

Do you have a lot of excess skin in your abdominal area?   The WLS surgeon said I need to have excess skin removed to help prevent another hernia/bowel obstruction event like I had surgery to repair less than six months ago.  My understanding is skin tightening would help corral and prevent so much free space for my intestines to twist, shake, rattle and roll (clearly not medical jargon).   The request has been submitted, however, insurance stamped their denial.  I don't know the exact percentage of a recurrence, but I do know anyone that has had abdominal surgery is at risk; we just have a greater chance than the norm.  Seven weeks is a long time to be in the hospital--bet it felt like a year? I got booted out within 24 hours still stumbling around under the influence.  In a WLS support group I attend, one guy has had one recurrence and one gal has had two recurrences.  Let's bank on none.  

Thank you for your reply I will be asking my doctor as I do have excess skin, however, it is not a lot but still there.  

Xx

I have heard of that before.  What is a Peterson hernia?  Where is is located?

There are a lot of oh threads on peterson hernias

I have read those threads and googled, but never find a description of where it is located and how it is treated;

My understanding is this condition is a twisted bowel. It's caused specifically by the RNY surgery. Telltale sign is intermittent abdominal pain, the bowel can get twisted in   a space created  by the surgery, but tends free itself, relieving the pain. This is an excerpt from the American journal of laparoscopic surgery that specifically explains the location of the hernia:

In this surgical procedure, 2 possible internal hernia sites arise: (1) the opening in the mesentery of the jejunojejunostomy and (2) the opening between the mesentery of the alimentary loop and the mesocolon of the colon transversum. The latter is called Petersen's space (Figure 1).

early out I was having intermittent pain so my doc warned me about this.

I can send you to whole study of you like. 

I started having pain in my chest after every meal back in November.  My doctor gave me prescriptions for Zantac and for a muscle relaxer.  I have another appointment the end of February.  When I try to eat without taking the Zantac and muscle relaxer an hour before eating, I get incredible pain.

I am just reading everything I can find and  nowhere do I find my symptoms.  It is the first time I ever had pain since having surgery in 2007.  I know it will take medical help to get to the bottom of this.  It might not be Peterson's hernia, but I am just researching to prepare myself for different possibilities.

I would appreciate the study.

You may have hernia or adhesions... It is not normal to have to take muscle relaxant before every meal. 

When I was in pain due to twisted bowels - it was never detected on any CT scans. My doc decided to do surgery based on my symptoms... 

My symptoms were: when I ate food - the pain would start 15- e0 min after I ate.  It would intensify...dobling me in half.. Sometimes even to a point of crying... Would last 15 min to 2 hours...then suddenly the pain was gone... Only to comeback after another "solid food " meal..  I had weeks when I would graze during the day then risk one meal only ... Alcohol typically helped with the pain - it was sadly not a solution ...but I think alcohol acted as muscle relaxer... 

I do hope your doc can help you... It does not need to be hernia - my friend had adhesions that caused "small intestine strangulation" her symptoms were similar to mine.  

For me it is happening when I eat anything.  A serving of yogurt did it to me last week.  I am eating two meals a day and taking the muscle relaxer and Zantac an hour before.  I still have some pain after eating but not as severe as when I do not take the medicine.  When I don't take the medicine, I sometimes lie on the bed with a heating pad and often fall asleep.

The pain happens an hour after eating and starts in my hands, then my arms and then my chest.  At first I thought it was a heart attack, then realized it has to do with eating.  I expected the doctor to order tests but he just prescribed the muscle relaxers and antacid.  I hoped it would just go away on its own but that did not happen.  The attacks are over in ten minutes and then I feel fine.  My appointment is Feb 26. 

I keep wondering if I did something to cause a hernia or twisted bowel, if that is what it is.

I also read something about the muscles being to tight to move food through the system and wonder if that is why I need a muscle relaxer.