Saw the doctor today

I still don't have an answer on what is causing me this pain. The sonographer at the docs office is on vacation until after New Years. So I have an appt for a sono of the liver, gallbladder and kidneys scheduled for the 29th. From what I gather, it's around three hours of very thorough testing. Nothing to eat or drink after midnight the night before and when we get to the kidney testing, I have to drink 20 oz of water for the test. The doc wanted to do a urinalysis but I started my period this morning so it was pointless cuz blood cells would probably show up from that. She did do a stool sample for blood - 2 spots - one was negative and one was positive. She thinks that maybe because of my period too - despite the fact that she cleaned the area very well before going in for the sample. BUT just in case it is an ulcer - she put me on Prevacid as a precaution. She was just as confused as I am. She's wondering if I have a Kidney stone or if this is my gallbladder. She's leaning towards the gallbladder though because of my history. I got three prescriptions filled: Prevacid, Darvocet-N, and Dicyclomine. (an acid reducer, a pain reliever, and something to relax my GI tract). The Darvocet is HUGE - I'm afraid to take it. And in this case, I'm not sure it's wise to mask the pain. I think I need to be aware. She said if I get severe pain again, to where I can't stand up straight, to go to the ER and not wait for the sono appt. So that's where I'm at. Still nauseated. Still hurting, although not as bad today as yesterday. It still goes in cycles as far as the intensity. And I weighed 122 this morning - so I'm really wanting to get this "thing" figured out and fixed. I can't afford to lose much more. Does anyone know if any of these medications are no-no's for RNY patients? Or if they are constipating? I sure don't want to add THAT to the mix! Pam

Usually pain meds do tend to constipate, just take a colace to keep things "smooth"...good luck with it,,,

Hi Pam, I posted to your original post, but wanted to add.... I can't do darvocet or percoset so the doc put me on hydrocodone and told me to take a stool softner - over the counter Wallymart brand works fine. I do know that if I don't take both I do have problems. Please make sure they check if the gallbladder is functioning - ultrasounds can show they look fine (as was my case for 3 years) but sometimes aren't fuctioning. I hope you get an answer really soon... ~hugs~ Val~

Dear fellow WLS friends; I have had pain off and on for the last 2.5 years; started about 2 years post RNY surgery. To make a long story short, they originally thought it was my gallbladder in Sept 2004, 2 years after my WLS. The surgeon did a cholycystectomy (removal of the gallbladder) and all was fine for one month. Then I had the excrutiating, bend me over, bring tears to my eyes, make me wish for labor pains because they hurt less kind of pain. I went to the ER and they did the urinalysis to see if I was passing a kidney stone, did an ultrasound to see if it was my appendix, did a CT scan to see if it was my liver, pancreas, bladder, kidneys or anything else they could think of. They drew blood to see if maybe I had retained a gallstone in my common bile duct even though I had the gallbladder removed; to make a long story short yet again, all tests came back negative. The pain has continued for the past 2.5 years, happening about 2-3 times/month and always the worst pain you can imagine. I have nausea, but usually not vomiting, pain in my back on both sides (over my kidney area) in what is usually termed "flank pain" and indicates a kidney stone. The pain lasts anywhere from 1 - 6 - 24 hours, and the only thing I can do is take Hydrocodone for pain, and phenergan for nausea. I am an RN, working in a GI center. The doc's that I work for have done an upper endoscopy to see if it is my pouch; that is normal. They have done a colonoscopy to see if it is colon in nature; that is also normal. They cannot do an ERCP to see if I have a retained gallstone because of the RNY anatomy, so at first they wanted to do a laparoscopic gastrostomy stoma and place a catheter in there to dislodge a stone as they thought it could be sphincter of oddi dysfunction, but without any positive proof that that was what it was, they were hesitant to put me through such a drastic surgery. They thought it was SOD until about a month ago when one of the docs attended a national GI conference in Vegas. He asked to take my clinical chart with him and discuss with bariatric specialists there and I agreed. He talked with over 6 bariatric surgeons/specialists, and all of them agree that I am a classic example of what is now becoming known as "Roux Syndrome". Basically, the loop of the small intestine that is bypassed (the Roux loop) becomes internally herniated and can eventually become necrotic and cause peritonitis and sepsis, sometimes leading to bad outcomes, even death. The only way to diagnose it for sure is to go in surgically and repair the herniated area of the small bowel. It cannot be diagnosed by xray, CT, ERCP, EGD, Colonoscopy, MRCP or anything other than an open exploration. Every doc he talked to said I was classic; pain starting about 2 years after RNY; bilateral flank pain, negative medical workup, excruciating pain with nausea, etc. The next step for me is to get to a bariatric center and be evaluated by a bariatric specialist; I am looking at going to Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville or University of Miami. My doc tells me I need to get this done sooner than later as it may be a serious and medically emergent surgery if I wait till I become extremely ill. My feeling until he said this was that the pain must be in my head because all the tests are negative; the ER looks at me like I am drug seeking, so I am just going to live with the pain. Now I feel that maybe I have the answer and I am going to have it surgically evaluated. I am interested in hearing if anyone else has this type of pain, how it was diagnosed or worked up; what treatments were used; when did it start; how long did it last, etc. I really thought I was nuts till my doc found this out, and now I want to see if anyone else has heard of "Roux Syndrome". Thanks so much for letting me go on and on. Even though this pain is not fun, I still do not regret my WLS; 9/23/02 pre surg wt 272; weight today 125. No more diabetes, no more hypertension, no more heartburn, no more chest pain and so on. It saved my life I'm sure; I just don't want a possible post op complication that I still know very little about to deter me or cause medical problems when I have done so well. Please let me know if anyone else out there has a similiar story. Best wishes to all, Kim H.