Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
Avatar universal

Upper Stomach Pain After C-section

I had a c-section 4 months ago I've been having these god aweful stomach pains that make me douple over and last up to 2 hours it makes me feel like I can't catch my breath or even breath. The pain feels like some one is hitting me in the stomach over and over again! I've been to the doctor and they canno't figure it out they gave me some pills to help with the pain it barly works it only takes the feeling of being sick away! I wanna know If any one has expirenced or is expirencing common symptoms as I am?!


This discussion is related to Severe Upper Abdominal Pain.
37 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
Avatar universal
I have this same issue - also with no answers after multiple tests and hundreds of $$ in dr visits. I've found taking fiber RELIGIOUSLY generally keeps these away. I'm pregnant with #2 and if I miss one night I'll immediately have pain. I specifically take Psyllium Husk - which I buy at a health food store. Heat helps relieve the pain immediately, but temporarily. A heating pad, hot shower, hot bath helps. My episodes have been lasting 4 hours. Always at night...

Glad to know i'm not the only one anyway. Sad that so many people have this issue with no answers. :/
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I too have the upper abdominal pains. It started when I was 6 months pregnant and is continuing 3 months postpartum. While pregant I was told by 3 different doctors it was caused by my bowls, bladder infection, and heart burn. It gets so severe I start vomiting. It has lasted anywhere from 1 to 48 hours. I've had blood work, ultrasounds, and next week I am getting an endoscopy procedure. I'm getting very frustrated by not getting an answer to why this is occuring.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a c section in 2011 and shortly after was diagnosed with Gastroparesis. Every doctor i come across is shocker i have this disease beacuse it is mostly seen in elderly diabetes patients. However during my c section the dr damaged my vega nerve in my GI tract causing slowed food diguestion. I would recommend anyone suffering from this pain in the upper stomach below the rib cage to speak with your GI dr about doing a diguestion test. This disease causes SEVERE EXTREME pain in the upper stomach/rib cage. For me the pain is so bad i have to puke to get temporary relief. I have had this for 6 years now it seems to happen less often but the disease is an everyday struggle. My food now diguests about 75 % slower than other people. Cause sever bloating and swelling after eating normal meals. I am now 2.5 weeks PP from my second c section and the pain has returned again. I hope this helps someone. This is a disease most doctors would NEVER think of finding after a c section. It took 2 years and MULTIPLE Hospital visits to get to the right doctor that found the cause od my pain.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
EXACTLY the same thing here.  I am SO glad that I found this forum.  I had a C-Section FOUR years ago just like you and I am still having upper stomach pain that just comes out of nowhere and wakes you up from sleep at night.  It can happen at any time, regardless whether you had bowel movement or not or what you ate or not ate, doesn't matter, it just attacks whenever it feels like.  It's SO annoying.  

At first when I just had the C-section, I used to have it every other night and then gradually I have it less and less often, first once in a week, and then once in a few weeks and then once in a few months and now usually once in a blue moon usually when I have been going to bed in late hours for several days in a row I find.  

I find all you need to do and all you can do to relieve it is just to fart.  Nothing else works.  You can try to rub your stomach, lie on your back to try to make the fart come faster.  Once the first fart comes out, the pain usually subsides quite a bit and then after four or five ones especially a big one, the pain is usually gone and you can go back to sleep.  The next day you wake up, it's as if nothing has happened at all.  I have asked my obstrician/GYN about it and he has no clue.  I agree with many of you, it is DEFINITELY caused by C-Section.  I suspect during the C-section, our intestines were disturbed and something, somewhere must've gotten shifted and blocked so gas just gets pent up and got nowhere to go.  I just got a bad one again last night.  Now that I am pregnant again, everything is getting even more blocked,  I have to have several farting episodes to get rid of the pain and my stomach is making HUGE loud gassy noises that I have never heard before.          
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I know this may not be ideal and definitely not for anyone who has an eating disorder. But I found that vomiting helps relief me of the pain almost immediately. I have had two c sections within 18 months and I feel the intense upper stomach pain occasionally. When it happens the only thing that works for me is vomiting as much of what I have in my stomach as I can. I don't know how it's related but that's what works for me
Avatar universal
I am in A&E waiting for answers. I had c section 12 weeks ago. Have been suffering with pain upper stomach and around my back... Have been told by dr its either pancreatic, gallbladder or stomach
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
I been have the same pain as you and it been 6 weeks after my emergency c section. Did you find out what it was,
My daughter had her c section in oct 2015 and has been in exactly the same pain since! It's heartbreaking and really getting her down to the point where she has even said to me "Id rather be dead" back to the Drs AGAIN tomorrow!! She has been checked for gallstones NO Hepatitis A NO Sepsis NO! I have researched this again and I actually believe during her c section that they have damaged her Diapharm so will be mentioning this at tomorrow's appointment. Il keep you posted but I will not sit here and watch my 22 year old daughter suffer and get even more depressed anymore!!
Avatar universal
Help is on the way ...am praying to god for our healing because is a bad pain.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi did you ever find out the thing you feel near your belt button I am going through the same thing I can also feel it in my up owner abdominal where I get my severe pain my doctors are telling me it's acid reflux and one said I had little red spots and that's what's causing me the pain my doctor as also told me I don't know what I'm going on about :,( I have now been suffering from these pains for 4 year iv had 2 csections first in feb11 second in dec12 iv got weight loss ...loss of appetite and the poops and really bad sweat attacks I can't cope anymore  
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have been having those exact symptoms for a year since I had my c section. I have been to doctors, A&E had ultrasound, endoscopy etc and it's all clear but the pains keep reoccurring. Did anyone get any answers?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi its been 4 years since I had my c-sction I had twin girls and just about 6 months ago I started having bad upper stomachs pain sometimes it feel like menstrualcramps and the sometimes it feel like labor contraction all over again then I can feel something right above my bellybutton but only when I hurt I be telling my husband something not right do anybody out there have any similar thingsin ccommon please let me know because I am starting to get worried?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
try a spoon of oliveoil every. morning before breakfast a lady told me every woman after labor needs to clean her digestive system if not this happens i began suffering from this but began taking this and it has gotten way better
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
3 weeks after having my section which was almost 4 months ago, I started feeling severe gas pains and nothing I was doing would get rid of it. Then I started battling constipation and now my stomach burns every day and hurts. This is crazy!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a c section 4 weeks ago and after 2 weeks, that upper abdominal pain started. I felt like it was eating up my insides, can't take a deep breath, can't walk, nor sit, nor stand, for real! We went to the ER, the pain meds never kicked in. Cat scan and xrays showed a back up of stool and gas in the intestines. I had to take magnesium citrate and other laxatives and gas meds. Not much came out so I don't think that's the cause. Still getting these pains! We need help fast!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have been having this pain for 3months now after having my second c-setion and it is soo bad when I get it that I cannot even hold my baby boy, it starts in my back and progresses to my upper stomach. I really don't kno why it is happening because I never had it with my first c-setion a year Ago.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've been through 3 CTs ,xrays, hida scan, ultrasounds of abdomen and uterus, blood work, ekg for low pulse rate of 51, and no diagnosis other than tsh is 0.001. Possible hyperthyroid. I have stomach upset, cramp squeezing like pains most often early in the day and hip, side, and back pain only on the right.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've had the same pain.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've had the same pain.
Helpful - 0
2827584 tn?1340579696
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I think it would be important here to understand why further evaluation is important. You are giving a very typical description of biliary colic. If your symptoms are actually being produced by a diseased gallbladder you have about a one in three chance of having a severe complication. The mortality rate of dealing with your gallbladder in this situation increases the death rate by as much as a hundred fold. People get into the mind set that they can just put up with the symptoms but the only thing this does is to increase the odds of a bad outcome. A little peppermint as a smooth muscle relaxant might briefly help the colic but will not reduce the long term risk.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Sounds similar to what i am experiencing. I had a C section last september 2011 with my third child, first two normal birth no ploblems at all. It normally accurs after my periods. The pain starts as soon as i lie down in bed at night, bad indigestion, pains in my back, upper tummy ache. One of the midwifes at the hospital told me to try glass of dilute peppermint to help. it does work after a while.
Helpful - 0
2827584 tn?1340579696
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
A simple ultrasound is painless and would probably give you the answer.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I had a a c-section back in may 2012 ans since then I started getting these attacks.  I will describe them.  I cant breath it feels like someone is sitting o me, my chest hurts, i feel sick to my stomach, the pain makes you double over i crawl on the floor, no position helps and standing is worse. They happen mostly at night.  I usually end up vomiting continually even when i have nothing left. Attacks last for hours.  I just cant do this for years and years. Its only been since my c-section. Can anyone relate?
Helpful - 0
2827584 tn?1340579696
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It is pretty common to develop gallbladder problems during pregnacy. Maybe it was the pregnancy rather than the C-section that relates to the pain. Biliary colic typically lasts from fifteen minutes to eight hours.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I am currently experiencing the same thing. I had a c-section back in April, and ever since, have been having excruciating upper stomach pain. The longest lasting 7 hours. Nothing helps. No matter what position I lay in, the pain is not relieved. It comes and goes as it pleases.The pain is so severe that I burst into tears for hours. It usually hurts worse when I stand up and walk, sometimes having to topple over and regain my strength again.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I know this is an older post but i am having the exact same symptoms and wanted to know if it resolved for you or if you found out what it was? I had a c-section 2 months ago and my dr said it's acid reflux. Any info. is appreciated. Thanks
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Your description sounds just like my pain when I had an inflamed gallbladder and gallstones. I had my gallbladder out and was better. One note: I had orthoscopic surgery and they didn't clean out my common bile duct so I ended up with pancreatitis and 8 days in the hospital. Now the pain is back and they think the common bile duct is the problem again.

Anyway, my message is have them check for gallstones.
Helpful - 0
2
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Gastroenterology Community

Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Learn which OTC medications can help relieve your digestive troubles.
Is a gluten-free diet right for you?
Discover common causes of and remedies for heartburn.
This common yet mysterious bowel condition plagues millions of Americans
Don't get burned again. Banish nighttime heartburn with these quick tips
Get answers to your top questions about this pervasive digestive problem