Gas pain?

Hey guys,

i had had my surgery on Monday and everything seemed to go pretty well. I didn't have much pain but I had horrible nausea.

the nausea subsided after about Day 2 and I was released.

everythings been pretty okay, I've been walking, holding down liquids and some purree food.

I've had several small liquids bowel movements and I do burp and fart.

The only problem is that I keep getting these horrible gas pains.

it seems like every so often my stomach inflates to a very painful degree, then after a few seconds it gurgles and the pain subsides.

sometimes this happens a few times in a row.

It doesn't seem to be connected with eating, as it often happens in the middle of the night 5-6 hours after I've last had anything at all.

my doctor said that I can take gas x which helps, but I've heard gasx can make you constipated, which is the last thing I want.

have any of you had this?

I just had my surgery this past Tuesday and yes the gas pain is constant. I did great in the hospital, but now that i am home i started having the dry heaves, very uncomfortable. Now post op day #4, I am taking fluids and full liquids but it is a struggle. belching and farting constantly. I have no desire to take in anything. I know we are supposed to move around as much as possible. I have no energy at all. Beginning to wonder what i did to myself. Will continue to persevere. Much luck in your journey.

Dehydration will lead to nausea and weakness. So you must drink. You need to get at least 64 ounces in a day. Try different temps and different liquids until you find something you can tolerate. You might also find that drinking with a straw helps. Walk as much as possible. Even if it's only 5 minutes an hour to start.

Walk as much as possible, this will help the gas pass.

Great advice from Gwen. I had my surgery Monday as well and I also have a lot of gas which seems to be one of the biggest comfort issues following surgery. GasX helps a bit and I'm using it about 3x/day, and I have not had any issues with constipation. You will be more likely to get constipated from narcotic pain relievers than from GasX and indeed, those will mess with your bowel motility, so if you haven't started to try to wean yourself off, I would suggest doing that. Once I came home, I decided to do only liquid Tylenol for pain during the day and take my liquid hydrocodone only at night. I find that walking is the best possible thing for gas pains. I sometimes will just get up and literally just walk around inside the house for a few minutes if I'm feeling gas pains. It almost always relieves it within a couple of minutes.

I found the first 7 daysto be the hardest. I had nausea that did not want to subside until I got a prescription. Then as I increased the amount of fluids things got better. A thing to remember is 64 oz can include jello, broth, water, no sugar added apple juice etc. but the more fluids you get in the better your stomach will feel.

The mind set I adopted was that I had a new stomach, and like a baby's stomach it can't hold much and needs a very special diet.

Hope the gas pains go away soon!