On 5/9/2008
jeril wrote:
I had a whipple operation 1/15/08. I started having stomach spasms the beginning of February. I've tried different meds, but can't seem to get rid of the spasms. It's been almost 3 months with severe spasms that take my breath away. Any ideas on how to stop the spasms or what's causing them?
Thanks, jeri
I'm not sure, but I think you may be having what some people refer to as "the Whipple pain".
The first time for me was about 1-1/2 years after surgery. The pain starts in the stomach area, and radiates upward, goes all the way to the shoulder and back area. Hard to describe, but it actually starts small and then builds. It is severe pain, difficult to breath when it occurs. When I have it, I usually break out in a cold sweat toward the end of the episode and afterward I feel completely wiped out. The first time I had this I thought I was having a heart attach.
Over time, I noticed the pain comes most often when I do lots of bending, like weeding in the garden. Not always, but most of the time. I read that doctors have no explanation for it, but some survivors think it is associated with stomach acid and sensitive spots in the stomach where they sewed everything back together. This made sense to me because mine happens mostly after bending a lot. Some people think it is severe gas pain.
What helps me is to drink a glass of cold water as soon as I feel the pain start. Then I stand up and walk around for a while. I don't bend over and hold my stomach, even though that is what seems most natural. When standing, I often hold my hands behind by back to keep my shoulders separated. By doing these things, I can often stop the pain episode before it gets full blown, and the duration which at first lasted 15 minutes or more, is usually a couple minutes tops. When the pain subsides, I chew a couple tums. One other thing I noticed, and I don't mean to be rude, is that I toward the end of the episode, I usually belch and then the pain just goes away.
I have had this pain occasionally, but never every day. For me they decreased over time. Once I found what seemed to cause most of mine, I learned to avoid overdoing it. I still weed the garden but I stand up and stretch more frequently now.
Hope you find something in this long message that helps you.