Question:
Has anyone experienced severe stomach pains?

I am 7 months post-op and down 91 pounds. Twice now I have had episodes of severe stomach pains. The kind that doubles me over because I'm in so much pain. The first attack lasted about 5 minutes, the second one lasted about 15 minutes. I can't seem to associate it with eating anything specific. It felt like my whole insides were having spasms or something. Anyone else experience this?    — Marcella S. (posted on February 21, 2001)

February 20, 2001
About two weeks ago, I experienced extreme pain from spasms in my abdomen. It would stop, I would eat and it started all over again (with vomitting). I called my surgeon and he informed me that it was the POPCORN I ate the night before. Seems that it swells in the intestines. I drank some meat tenderizer, puked and was all better. I dont know if that is the cause of your pain, but POPCORN is the only thing that ever gave me trouble. I suggest you call your doctor.
   — Jeannet

February 20, 2001
I get what is almost like waves of pain if I eat too much. It hits and retreats for a few seconds and hits again....this can go on for a couple of minutes or longer. Fortunately I've only made this mistake twice. Try to watch how fast you're eating, and make sure that you're not eating too much. See if that helps. If you're sure your ok there, I'd call your dr.
   — tlg6056

February 20, 2001
Marcella, do you still have your gallbladder? It sounds a lot like the pain associated with gall stones. Just a thought.
   — Shelley.

February 21, 2001
You should probably check with your surgeon. The fact that the second episode lasted longer than the first concerns me. Even if it is gallstones you should be checked out right away.
   — Kellie L.

February 21, 2001
Ok..This happened to me last month. The pain was sooooooooo bad, that i had went to the Hospital. Fortunelty the hospital I had gone to was sooo familiar with Gastric bypass patients. (Open rny specifically) They told me I had gasteriotis. It is a real bad form of gas. It was explained to me like the gas is building up and building up and then it explodes. I had this pain along with vomitting. After they gave me nausea medicine. I was fine. It has been my only episode since my surgery. I pray to God in heaven that it never happens. That pain was worse than my open rny surgery. It was awful. I called my doctor and he said that it is very common for gastric patients to have an encounter with gasteriotis. Be careful with what you eat. This was my dread awful experience.
   — Angela A.

February 21, 2001
Nobody has suggested this: I had this one time (I'm 10 months post op) and it was a temporary plug. I had cooked pot roast in the crock pot overnight and took two bites and left for work -- the pain started and steadily increased over the next couple of hours until it reached an almost unbearable peak at which point I headed out the door to the hospital. It then slowly subsided and I didn't end up getting treatment. During the pain period, my stomach keep producing this foamy phlegm that I continually had to spit out. I suppose if I could have made myself vomit, it may have helped unplug -- but I have never vomited since surgery and it just didn't happen.
   — Cindy H.

April 5, 2001
I hate to embarrass anybody, but "GASTROENTERITIS" is not caused by gas, although gas can be one symptom. It is any inflammation of the stomach and intestines--bacterial (i.e. "food poisoning"), viral (stomach flu), chemical, or otherwise. So if the ER said all you had was gas, OR they said you had gastroenteritis, they meant two different things. It sounds as though there was garbled communication. Short-term gastroenteritis usually needs only rest, fluids, a clear liquid diet for 1-3 days, maybe medication to ease the nausea. If it lasts longer, your surgeon needs to know....If it is accompanied by severe abdominal pain, blood in stool, sharp or boring pain in one place, a high fever, inability to keep anything down beyond 24 hours, rigid abdomen, and so on, it needs checking out at the ER. (It's a good idea to stop eating or drinking as soon as you realize you're headed for the ER. Note the time so you can tell them when you last ate or drank, JUST IN CASE you need tests or surgery right away.) Blockages which relieve themselves but are NOT caused by eating something too large which gets stuck in the pouch also need checking out. That's because a blockage farther down where the intestines were sewn together may relieve itself one time, and become a surgical emergency another. The surgeon may need to check you for a serious narrowing at that spot in the intestines. So, go and tell him/her what happened, even if you are okay now. Hope the oroginal pioster got some answers. I'm struggling with a similar problem right now, so please share your experiences with me, too. Thanks!--Jesse
   — [Anonymous]