Pain Under Ribcage On Right Side

Hello everyone.  I've already called the hospital, I'm just waiting for a call back.  In the meanwhile, I was curious if anyone has had anything like this due to the RNY surgery.  I am 2 months out from surgery and just this Sunday I've started getting a strange pain under my rib-cage on my right side.  I don't feel it at all until I begin walking. Within 5 minutes of walking, the pain begins and grows increasingly worse until I stop walking.  The pain remains and slowly fades over an hour or two if I do not walk again.  The pain begins as a dull throb, like something under my rib is being punched or squished.  Then if I continue the activity, the pain becomes sharp and sudden.  Massaging the area does help, but the pain will not go away entirely unless I'm completely immobile for an hour or two.

My activity since surgery was solely walking.  I started doing weights three weeks ago (6 weeks post-surgery, as advised) on machines only with supervision on my form.

Update: Thanks everyone for your responses.  The hospital nurse I spoke to is inclined to think this is a pulled abdominal muscle and not a gallbladder issue, as the pain is not associated while eating and is not present when I am at rest.  The hospital does not think it is an emergency.  They would like me to follow up with my doctor so he can palpate the area.  I am seeing him Monday.

Update 2: Saw the doctor.  He palpated the area and discussed the symptoms with me.  It looks to him as though scar tissue around my incisions are causing muscle pain around my abdomen.  When he palpated the area, the spot that hurt the worst was right next to an incision.  So it's kind of like when you get a tension headache and you feel pain, but the actual cause of the pain isn't right where you're experiencing the pain.  All I have to do is walk less and a little slower, then work my way back up to my previous level of activity and slow down again if I have pain.  The doctor thinks the scar tissue will heal and eventually I will be back to normal.

Do you still have your gallbladder? If you do, it could be your gallbladder. I had my gallbladder out at 3 months post op. The pain I experienced was similar, and it would come and go in waves. My pain was about the same place yours was, and it would start off a mild discomfort but then ramped up to "Oh my God, kill me now" level quickly. I thought natural child birth was the most pain I'd ever be in, but the gallbladder pain was EPIC, and made child birth seem like a walk in the park.

It might also be an ulcer. ( Had one of those too. I felt severe, gnawing hunger-like pangs. 'Twas not fun. )

Hope you can get in to see your surgeon ASAP and they find out what's going on.

I still have my gallbladder.  The pain doesn't really come and go in waves though.  It's persistent when I start walking and slowly fades as I rest.  Also, it's very mild pain compared to what you describe.  It gets only very irritating if I continue to walk at a fast pace.  If I slow down or take rests, it doesn't get much worse.  I can massage it to ease the pain a bit if I'm a little way away from where I need to be so it doesn't get too bad.

I hope it's not gallbladder.  I really don't want to have another surgery =[

Gall bladder issue if I had to guess... or bile duct blockage if you don't have your GB (both are common post-RNY)... but don't go by my guess... go to the ER and get it checked out...

Audrey

I"m not sure if this warrants an ER visit.  The pain is not present as long as I stay rested and don't walk for more than 5 -10 minutes.  What do you think?

I didn't think abdominal pain warranted an ER visit either.  I blamed it all on post-RNY annoyances. 

Ends up I exploded my appendix and bought myself a week in the hospital. 

I'm not sayin'... I'm just sayin'...

Audrey

I concur with gall bladder,  it's the first thing that popped into my head.  

I remember having some pain like that from walking and it was a pulled muscle that went away on its own.  It could be gallbladder so worth checking into.

I hope you are feeling better now. I had the same pain you are describing yesterday. I didnt go to or call the doctor though. I had my gallbladder out in March so i knew it wasnt that. If it was the same, that pain you had was a stitch like pain? Like when you walked it felt like was pulling. When you pushed on it did you feel it too? 

I am betting its a pulled muscle too(i think mine is too). You are right around the same stage as I am. I had my RNY Feburary. I am working my butt off trying to get this weight off. We just gotta be careful cause we can over do it and make sure we drink lots of water. 

> Like when you walked it felt like was pulling. When you pushed on it did you feel it too? 

now that you mention it, yeah it was kind of like a pulling.  When I push on it, it feels sore and when I massage the area, I get some relief.

The pain was nonexistant for the last two days, so I'm thinking it was a pulled muscle.  I'm going to have the doctor palpate the area today anyway, just to be on the safe side.