MAJOR ??? Does anyone else get left shoulder pain when hungry?

I noticed that right after surgery, whenever I get hungry, my left shoulder starts to hurt, and the hungrier I get, the more painful my shoulder gets.  It's not the joint, really, but the muscle.  It feels almost like I've pulled it and it just needs a good massage, but the massage doesn't help it.  The only thing that helps is to eat!  It's almost like it's my signal to eat.  My two friends here at work have had the shoulder pains when they're hungry, but we don't know how this happens.

Any explanations??

Yep!  There's a nerve that runs from your shoulder to your stomach!  I can't remember what it's called... Vagus?  Anyway, when I get super hungry, I get shoulder pain, too.  I try to eat something small every couple of hours just so I'm not running on empty, so to speak.  Thankfully, I haven't had that nerve pain in a while!

I usually get left shoulder pain when I am full.

I had the left shoulder pain nonstop and very severe the whole time I was banded. It's not uncommon, from what I've seen in the past 7+ years. 

Laparoscopic procedures use CO2 gas, which changes the physiology of the peritoneal tissue. The nerve irritation is a result of cellular death. The Phrenic nerve system is highly affected.


Your body may just need more time to heal yet. Or the gas in your empty stomach is causing pressure on your diaphragm and then after eating, it's lessened. You might get the left shoulder pain if you have gas, as well.

Thanks Ladies!!  It's just so crazy how whenever I get that pain, I just look at my hubby and say, "Time to eat."  He thinks it's funny that I have an internal alarm clock that tells me when I need to eat a bit.