HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Pain in sternum area - Could this be gas?

Support Forums
>
Ostomies
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 8/13/2016 8:25 AM (GMT 0)
Hi. I'm two months post-surgery. I have a temporary loop ileostomy and will have my second j-pouch surgery in a month. Three times I have been up in the middle of the night with pain in my sternum area. It's hard to describe. It doesn't hurt when I press. It's more like a tightness and maybe a little like heart burn.

The bag isn't blowing up with gas but I keep thinking it must be gas pain. It's higher up than any digestive pain I ever had when I had a colon.

I drink some herbal tea and wait it out. It eventually it has gone away. I'm always afraid it's a blockage but I still have output.

This happens around 2 or 3 AM regardless of whether I've had dinner early or late.

I asked the surgical resident but he didn't seem to know and thought that as long as it went away it was ok. But I'm not sleeping and I'm worried about how many nights of pain are ahead of me. I should have asked about taking something for it (if it's gas) but I forgot.

Anyone else have this feeling?

Please -- I'm very nervous about my new condition without a colon, so please don't tell me you had this and turned out to be something that needed surgery or something! :)

Thank you!
Posted 8/13/2016 5:09 PM (GMT 0)
The loop ileostomies are tricky and can be very difficult. You should call your surgeon just to be sure.

If I had to guess it's probably that your surgery area is still inflamed and you're getting a small "partial" blockage when you are laying down. Your intestines can take more than 3 months to heal. As you continue to heal then things will get better.

Hot showers or a heating pad can help with a blockages. Hot coffee, tea, wine or grape juice can also help relieve a blockage.
Posted 8/14/2016 1:54 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks so much, Keith!

I actually mentioned the pain to the surgeon but it was in the middle of a conversation and he didn't give it much thought. The resident, with whom I spoke at length, didn't have anything to suggest.

I'm glad to know about the heating pad and beverage strategy.

I really, really need to remember to chew like crazy. And maybe I should just eat nothing but very soft food for a couple days and see how that goes.

I'm glad to know that this isn't something that is typical after the J-pouch is hooked up.

Thanks again for the helpful reply.
Posted 8/19/2016 7:35 AM (GMT 0)
I just thought I'd follow up to say that I've had the pain again in my upper abdomen/chest/sternum area and Keith was definitely correct -- it was a partial blockage. (Interesting that the surgical resident couldn't tell me anything useful about this pain.)

When I started to get the pain again I used a heating pad and drank 3 cups of chamomile tea. Eventually some pieces of my dinner showed up. (Sorry. I figure everyone here is used to this grossness.) Large-ish undigested bits of vegetable. So much for vegetables.

The pain was less but nothing was coming out for like an hour and the stoma was less red than usual, which freaked me out. So I found some info online that said to remove the appliance to let the stoma swell if necessary and to take a hot bath. Also, to change positions. I did all that an eventually it started to have some output. I found another post that said to massage the abdomen around the stoma since most blockages are right there and... well... ta-da.. out came the tiny piece of potato skin that I ate before I realized I wasn't supposed to.

I thought I'd need another late night trip to the ER so I am immensely happy I could resolve it at home.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply