What helps with gas and pain after surgery?

NEC patient with rectal cancer found here. Had lots and lots of issues after my rectal resection surgery last year. Give your body plenty of time to heal and it was hit or miss with anything that actually helped with pain. At one point I had a surgeon stretch me out since I was so narrowed and that made a bigger difference. Otherwise, lots of warm baths, relaxing and seeing if your state has legal prescription THC/CBD creams and or oral tinctures or gummies helped my intestines to finally relax again.

Hello @harley4650. I would like to join @amariewilkinson @laurell410 @fourof5zs @merpreb and @colleenyoung in welcoming you to Connect. I agree with what everyone has posted so far. As I've had three surgeries of the duodenal bulb for carcinoid cancer I understand the adjustments that are needed to your eating habits.

If this is your first surgery on the digestive tract it may be a surprise to realize how long recovery takes. Three months is not a very long time to heal. Undoubtedly, your digestive tract is still recovering and finding its new normal. I agree with @fourof5zs that you need to eat small, frequent meals rather than three meals a day. Eating easily digestible foods is also important. Eating foods low in fat content (i.e., avoiding fried or other fatty foods) is also essential. Baking, and broiling fish, and poultry is easier to digest than eating red meat.

Has your doctor offered you any suggestions about the pain, gas, or eating habits? Have you tried changing your eating habits since your surgery?

I will try the 4 to 5 small meals a day, and eating more digestible foods. Thanks

I had a hemicolectomy because of a NET tumor of the small intestine and had many months of gas, bloating, daily pain, and eventually daily diarrhea issues. The pain was always in the same location and it worried me. Thankfully my gastroenterologist and PA helped me with diet to figure out what foods to limit and which foods trigger those symptoms. But most importantly, I also had bacteria buildup that I guess is common in this situation. It was a simple breathing test to determine this, and an antibiotic prescription to take care of it. That was a huge help for my symptoms. I’m still learning food choices to help limit repeat occurrences of this but am told this will probably be an ongoing issue from time to time. My doctor/PA also helped me with some over-the-counter suggestions to help keep things moving and that was a huge help with my pain, as well. It was trial and error but we came up with what works best for me. I hope this helps. Take care.

The condition is known as SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth) which is why antibioticas can be helpful

full of gas
i have net of small bowel tumor was removed 5/22, i have 3 tumor on the liver started taking santen shots every 28 days did not work so now iam doing prrt two treatment done and two left. question is passing gas for 7 months it does not stop very smelly gas.LOTS OF GAS with no relieve, any suggestions

@harley4650, how discouraging it must be to still have discomfort from pain and lots of gas. Has there been any improvement since you posted about this in August?

Have you considered consulting with an oncology dietitian?

Hi @harley

Have you kept a daily journal of the foods, drinks and physical activities for each day? If so, you might be able to find some correlation between your daily eating habits and the amount of pain and gas. Are you eating easily digestible foods and small meals? Are you including water? Often caffeine can trigger symptoms of this type.

Try keeping a daily journal and see if it helps to give you some clues to foods that might be increasing your symptoms.

If you still have a hard time getting control over these symptoms, you might consider asking your doctor for a referral to a hospital registered dietician. I have consulted with a dietician twice after my surgeries and learned a lot about what to eat and what to avoid.

Diet and a journal are probably the best approach. But in the meantime, I use Gas-X, over the counter. It works magic for me. Good luck!

My goodness, I'm in utter shock how symptoms mirror mine. First thing is I understand. I was diagnosed stage 4 anal cancer. First round of chemo about killed me thus the next was canceled. The 30 treatments of radiation therapy were probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and wish no one to have to endure that. I would tell you that experiment with your ointments and pastes and lidocaine is the most effective to help pain. It truly was magic just that I had to use it after every trip to the restroom. Everyday changing pull ups and putting the bum balm on is exhausting. Sleeping on the floor next to the tub got old. My thoughts and heart are with you and just keep the good fight up.
Julie