Help! Terrible Gas Pain after GB Surgery

Walking is good but in addition to walking I like to walk up and down a full flight of stairs. Several times. Just the up and down gravity motion seems to release pent up gas for my system.

Also massaging my abdomen and sipping hot tea helps (if you can't tolerate regular tea with caffeine there are many herbal teas that was good choices).

But try my stairs tip, it can't hurt.

Hope you find relief soon.

Hi

I had a revision nissen with a gallbladder surgery. Awful gas- truly awful.

My surgeon said gas would last until April (I had it Oct 31 2008).

Now I find (not to scare you) that the medicine the GI gave me for post gallbladder diarrhrea gives me gas. I take it only at night but am looking for other meds that do not do that

Goodluck

Sometimes I don't feel as though I can accurately compare how patients feel after a GB surgery, since mine was performed laproscopically during my colon resection. I recall having severe gas pains one night, about 3 days post-op. A young, very kind nurse sat up with me for several hours. I had dry heaves, I was so nauseous, the gas pains felt like tiny golf balls hitting the sides of my stomach. It went on and on. Looking back, what I should have done was get out of that recliner and walk. But I sat. And cried. And she held my hand. She kept saying it took lots of time for the pent up gas to escape. I joked I wished I had packed a few saltines in my suitcase. I was on IV drip only at this point. Possibly ice chips. I told if I had brought them, I would have eaten one. She laughed and said, we'd know it too. I asked - oh how could you possibly know if I ate one tiny saltine square? She laughed again and said - it would come right back up. This is when I knew I had to let the gas work its way out. But I continued to sit and cry.

So get moving. I walked a lot when I got home (by this time I was on board with the walking/staying active approach to healing faster). Sometimes several laps around our house in the grass. I did not care what neighbors thought of me!

Sometimes I would use a heating pad on my stomach too.

Other times I would massage my entire GI tract, a nurse suggested this trick - stand up, start on your lower right hand side down low by your groin. Apply pressure with your right hand and move upwards to your navel. Then push down again, gently and across to your left hand side. Then down. I have no idea if this really works or not. Could be psycho-sematic? LOL But I have done this many times over the past 10 years.

I don't recall the gas being as bad as it was 3 days post-op ever again. It did lessen. Hopefully yours won't be so bad down the road and if it does come back, it will be relieved in a much shorter time (as mine is, my gas seems to be more colon related now, after I've eaten something I shouldn't have).

Hope you feel better soon.

I had cramping after surgery, but mine didn't last but a few days. They put gas into you in order to expand your belly so they can see to get to your GB better. That gas should work its way out not more than three or four days after the surgery. Long-term gas is probably a side effect of the GB being gone, not the surgical removal of it. It can take 6-8 weeks for your body to adapt as much as it's going to to the lack of a GB. Eat bland, simple foods. I also had to go off red meat and pork for the 6 weeks after my GB removal because it gave me D and other problems; it's harder to digest than chicken and fish. Also stay low-fat and especially avoid caffeine and carbonated anything. Carbonation adds gas, obviously, and a lot of people with IBS or no gall bladder can't handle caffeine because it's a stimulant (including it will stimulate your guts to work more). Caffeine was my #1 trigger before the GB came out and I have never been able to reintroduce it. I was, however, able to go back to eating all forms of meat, and I can have carbonated drinks, so long as I don't have more than a couple a day and they don't have caffeine.

Oh, and apples are a big no-no. Natural laxative and a gas producer to boot. I don't know anyone on here, with IBS or no GB, who can tolerate raw apples or apple juice. I get such terrible gas cramps from them.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the info.  After 4 full days of severe pain, I am feeling better now.  I'm so glad that's over!! It was actually worse than the way I felt the day I had surgery!  It just had to work it's way out of my system.  Thanks again.

I found that the Gas-X in liqiud form does nothing for my Gas Pain but the
Gas-X in Thin Strips under the Tongue works great for me?

Cal 1000mg & Mag 500mg before bed for spastic Colon Pain?


I had severe Pain for years and was in ER room three times a week , had Gallbladder removed still had the pain, they thought i was having heart attacks
because of my age mid forties. I found if I stopped eating Wheat & Gluten and
Dairy my Pain subsided. check out (DogtorJ.com) and read (What in the world do
I Eat? ) Have not been in ER room since diet change. Works for me! Good Luck

I know this is an old thread, but found it while searching something else, I have had this pain before when I had surgery, ten years on I am about to have the same surgery again and brought this up with the nurser doing my pre surgery assessment, she told me to use peppermint water after surgery and that gets rid of all the gases.  I have since search this and everyone seems to be saying that it works really well.  This can be bought in your local pharmacy.

Hope this helps

Regards