Pain under left rib - 11 months after Nissen

Ow. No seriously, ow. Nissen fundoplication 11 months ago and a large hiatal hernia repair. I can't figure out a link here. I have a sharp pain under my left rib. It started off and on about 5 days ago and it is not constant. (Like right now, no pain. 5 min ago, sharp stabbing).

What happened in these five days? Last weekend I started coughing. Pretty badly at times. It's the first coughing fits I've had since surgery.

I traveled via plane. It was a five hour flight and I didn't plan well so I ended up STARVING and rather sick and dizzy. When I don't eat every couple of hours, I end up with my stomach hurting. When I got hungry this time, I wasn't around food and ended up almost doubled over with a stomach cramp.

I was fine earlier today, and now it's back again. I just had lunch. Two chicken strips and water. I might be a tish gassy, but I took some pills to help.

A year after surgery, we should generally be healed. Could something have settled or changed? I feel like I may have had heartburn in the last few days, but NOTHING like I experienced before....just disconcerting. The pain under my rib is super scary....the problem is my doctor can't get me in. I'm in the process of relocating and won't have another doctor appointment for the next month or two.

Hmmm...I'm dealing with dumping pretty badly and general intestinal stuff. I'm just thinking out loud with people who might have dealt with this also....but I have a itty bitty pain on my right hand side under my ribs also. The large intestines run under that area on both sides....I wonder if I'm just dealing with IBS pain due to my weird eating this week. :/

Post Edited (alphabetsoup) : 2/6/2015 11:36:52 AM (GMT-7)

Hi alphabetsoup

I'd suggest you do don't leave this too long and get a test for H. Pylori as soon as you can - as you could be developing an ulcer which could present the sort of symptoms you're having (sharp pains when your stomach is empty).

Not trying to cause alarm - just suggesting you stay safe, and hopefully it's just a tummy bug that will resolve itself.

Hang in there.

Les.

Just another thought on this, did u stop PPIs just after surgery? It might have caused rebound gastritis or an ulcer.

If not, have you heard of splenic flexure syndrome? I think I have this and if you can't burp after NF then this can increase gas in the digestive system and contribute to the colon pain which presents under the left rib. You can help it with special diets and painkillers, might be worth looking into.