Charlie Horse feeling in the stomach

You sounds like me sometimes when I am driving it hits out of nowhere. I apply pressure as I stand and stretch upwards. I had my gastric sleeve 2013. I had similar pain prior to the surgery but not this intense.

 I am 28 years old and have never had WLS but I have had my left ovary removed through ovarian cancer. I had an ulcer and then started having these problems. I honestly believe this is ulcer related. 

Hello all,

I haven't been on this page in a really long time because I didn't want to post negative things about the wonderful gastric bypass surgery I received.  I have however began to have the symptoms listed on these posts.  I have had ERCP, exploratory laproscopies, endoscopies, and now I'm scheduled to have a Sphinter of Oddi plasty on Aug.20th.  My doctors (Dr. Morgan and Dr. Byrnes) have tried everything in there power including medications for ulcers, acid reflux, pain meds, surgeries and much more to resolve my problem but it's still here and is starting to get more intense.  It all began with a slight cramp like pain in my lower right side, it slowly became more intense, lasted longer and turned into full charlie horse like gripping pains that literally had me balled up in the fetal position crying and trying my best to squeeze my stomach and massage the pain away.  I noticed that it happens either when I sneeze, cough, bend over, or do nothing at all.  It has awakened me from a deep sleep at least twice as well.  I constantly contacted my doctor each and everytime it happened because the pain (though it only last a few seconds to a minute) is immobilizing!  I live in constant fear that I'll be driving on the highway with my children when it hits one day and I told my doctors I can't just ignore this due to that reason.  I am praying that this will fix the problem once and for all.  I have printed this post for my doctors to see.  I truly believe that if the pain returns after this surgery, I am going to get a lawyer and file a lawsuit.  I will be sure to contact each of you linked to this post in the event I begin the suit.  Thank you all for being so brave and discussing this matter.  I thought that I was the only one and was loosing my mind because the doctors were acting as if this was brand new to them.  I am convinced from this post that it is surgery related and some sort of flaw in the way the surgery is done.  I look forward to speaking with you all soon and hopefully giving you all a wonderful update on how to fix your problem as well.  Wish me luck!

Robin

Robin,
I wish you luck for tomorrow...I would be interested in knowing how everything goes, as for me I am still battling this mysterious abdominal pain near my belly button up to the upper right side around to my back.  I went to my surgeon again today and she set me up with yet another endoscopy to see if I have an ulcer and I am back on carafate. If nothing shows through this then she will set me up with an MRI.  Also she would not give me anything for the pain except she gave me a sample of 3 celebrex in case the pain I have in my abdominal muscle that could have be strained. I won't be taking the celebrex until after they confirm whether or not that I have an ulcer just in case this causes one and then they won't look further into the real cause.

This is my first post here but I am having this problem and have for a couple of years.  I'm wondering if any of the above posters have found resolution.  I was afraid it was a hernia but the symptoms don't seem anything like that.  It's charlie horse type pain in my lower left abdomen, just up and to the left of my belly button.  I will have it when I'm straining to use the bathroom sometiems, but not always.  Sometimes when I'm bending over and moving, like shaving my left leg (but not my right?), and just now I was helping hubby move furniture (sliding a bed across a tile floor) and I was pulling and it happened.  

I'm over 5 years out, no complications.  I do NOT have access to my surgeon or a doctor at this time.  Any thoughts from previous posters?

Hello , I have never had this surgery . I have these pains thou . Like a Charlie horse in my right side and sometimes a jumping that wont go away for hours. I have had it several times while driving had to pull over it's so sevear . I get when I have a laughing spell or sneezing or coughing spell. I want to cry I have to walk around for 10-15 min and run my stomach to make stop . Now I know I'm not alone !

I've never had weight loss surgery..just thought

About it..and I have the exact issue you are describing...its horrible and it has happened to me while driving. If my husband had not been with me I would have wrecked. I've had tons of tests done and nothing has been found :(

I'm back,
Still having cramps, unlike everyone here, mine are all over, my calves, arms, hands, feet & stomach. still no one knows why. although I do notice I get them more often when i don't keep up with my vitamins. I get them when it's cold, I stretch, I wear high heals, if I move a way I don't normally, or strain to do anything.

Wow, I guess I should update!!!

After my last post on that link that the above poster linked to an old post, (http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/wls_grads/3044806/2-1-2-yrs-severe-stomach-pain/ )I went to a different surgeon who took me seriously. Unfortunately, it requires exploratory surgery. I was begging him to do surgery.

I suspected from research that I may have had a "mesentery hernia" in the Petersons space. He agreed with me. Sure enough when he got in, it was indeed the "hernia." I use the term Hernia in quotes because it isn't your usual hernia. It is more like a "void."  

When we lose a LOT of weight quickly, we also lose the fat that is cushioning your intestines. When you lose this fat, it allows the intestines to move around like snakes in a snakepit. Kink and unkinking at random. Mine was almost so severe that part of my colon was compromised and nearly without a blood flow. Luckily they got to it in time. Thank God they listened to me.

However... I still suffer from occasional "Esophageal Spasms."  They aren't nearly as bad as they were. Even though they are called esophageal spasms, they are more like in the pit of your new stomach. I still keep 2 mg of Valium on me at all times just in case. 2 mgs is a very light dose, you never really feel like you are "on" something. It is just a muscle relaxer. If I start feeling that tighness, I pop one immediately and it will go away pretty quickly. I maybe have them once or twice a year now instead of every month. Like I said, if I can just take the tiny valium at the first sence of tightness... I never get into the fetal position and can go about my day.  The hard part is finding a PCP who will give you Valium PRN. Luckily I have a great PA who listens to me.

Oh, they "fixed" my hernia issue by "tacking down" all my intestines so they wouldn't kink anymore. I have been doing great as far as that goes :-).

Just celebrated my 9 year surgiversary on November 10th.

On October 8th I went in finally for explorator surgery to find the cause of the 2 years of pain after every test done came out normal.  My surgeon found and removed scar tissue around my liver from previous gallbladder removal. What happened was when I lost the weight my liver shrunk and pulled on the scar tissue causing all the pain. Since it's been removed I haven't had the pain. Except every now and then I get that charlie horse type feeling near my belly button where if I move a certain way it tightens up into a ball and it really hurts but I would think she would have found something there during the exploratory so it has to be the abdominal muscle for some reason.