PAIN... is it a blockage? twisted bowel? Gas?

Need some help to figure out what this is..... I am having pain under my left ribcage... not acute, but sometimes feels like a pulled muscle. It started about 2-3 days ago and my husband thought maybe I had pulled something during my weekend workouts? I have been mashing on the area to see if I feel anything, so now I dont know if it hurts because I have made it sore from all the mashing?  I think it is in the general area of where my pouch is, but kind of radiates to the left and down too......It really hurts if I try to take a really deep breath....but if I am just sitting here typing at my desk, it doesnt really hurt... the pain is not in one distinct place, but more about the size of my hand and not localized...... has anyone had a blockage or twisted bowel? IF so, what do those feel like?  My surgeon only has office hours on Tuesdays and with the holiday weekend, I dont feel like it is an emergency, so I am not a point to go to the ER .... it does not feel like that kind of pain.... yet? ...I am almost 9 months post op and I have already had my gall bladder removed, and it is on the other side anyway..... not constipated either....... Any ideas?  Thanks....

I have had a similar pain... it was actually a back issue..hurt to breath deep and felt under my rib... I saw a chiropractor and it turns out I just needed to be cracked... however.... Big however... this might be something to have investigated with your dr ....its always better safe then sorry.

Juls

From what I understand, a blockage or twisted bowel is an excruciating pain, so I'm not sure about that. It sounds like your pouch may have been irritated by something - I had some similar pain a while back, and that is all it was. Of course, we are not doctors here, so if you're truly worried, please call your surgeon. Hope you get a resolution soon!

I just finished reading about the symptoms of the blockage and twisted bowels... I am able to eat just fine without any discomfort, so now I dont think it is that...... Can you get a hernia without having done something major or had a major injury?  Since it hurts to take a deep breath, does that mean it is muscular in origin????

No, it could well be scar tissue that is pulling on something when your insides shift slightly when you take a deep breath.

 

Lora

Yes, an intestinal blockage or twisted bowel would cause severe, continuous pain. 

There are lots of things it could be.  A likely one is that it is simply some scar tissue that is pulling.  Our bodies are very smart when it comes to giving you significant, constant (or nearly constant) pain that signals when something is seriously wrong, and if it doesn't hurt except when you poke at it or take a deep breath, it is almost certainly not a serious condition.  So, stop "mashing it", LOL, and see if it fades.  If not, call your surgeon and ask about it. 

Once everything is healed up, our post-RNY bodies are really not any more fragile than our pre-RNY bodies. Yes, statistically, we are more likely than the general population to have certain things pop up (gallstones, kidney stones), but the statistical margins are small.  Even bowel obstructions aren't significantly more common in us than in people who have had any other kind of abdominal surgery (any abdominal surgery makes it slightly more likely than in someone with no surgery at all).

Lora

Thanks ****ro Girl... I was waiting on someone to tell me to stop mashing my stomach!!  LOL  Seriously, thanks for the input.... what you said makes alot of sense and I had never even thought about the scar tissue.... I have had 3 other surgeries in the past and never had any problems with that, so it never entered my mind..... Thanks again for always being there for us!! 

I was having similar pains that finally got bad enough that I had to start taking lortab to get through work. They did ct scan, ultrasound saw nothing. Had egd colonoscopy done still nothing. At that point I started having gall bladder attacks and the saw stones so removed it. I asked doc to check out left side since he was in there anyway. Woke up with three extra holes in me on that side. Turned out scar tissue with fat deposits attached to it were intertwined with my intestines and actually attached things together. He cleaned it out, while it was tender healing the pain is gone. If your pain gets worse and they don't find anything I'd ask the doc about going in and looking.