4 days post op - a little scared

hello everyone, I had my surgery on 2/23 and got home on 2/25 late around 1130pm

I have been feeling very uncomfortable due to bloating but have had a hard time getting rid of the gas. Im feeling very nervous even questioning my decision to have this surgery. How long before I feel like my normal self? It even hurts when I swallow just a sip of water but I keep on hearing that this is all normal.

Any advice?

Keep sipping and walking.  Years ago a nurse showed me how to get rid of gas quickly.  You need to have your head at a lower level than your butt for a few seconds.  If you can bend enough to get your head to the level of your knees the gas will go away.  That is because gas rises and is going to the highest point which is your head.  With your head below your knees, the highest point on your body will be your butt.

If you can't manage that standing, you can stay in bed and just lower your head out of bed and lower than your body.

If I get gas and am in public, I bend over and retie my shoe.  That is time enough for the gas to escape.

Good To Know when i got the band 10 years ago i can remember having the worst gas pain they had me walk and drink hot tea or just ho****er walk walk walk and then i even had the nurse assistant rub my back (he didn't mind) lol  but nothing worked doc wanted to send me home and i refused cause i did not like the gas feeling and it hurt so he wrote me a prescription for (i forgot what) and that justified me to stay for another day.  all worked out in the middle of the night after taking the meds and continued walking and walking and moving my arms i finally released the gas it actual sounded like a big pop and out it went i went straight to my hospital bed and slept like a baby and was out by midday ..  im definately going to try the head below the butt ...  is that ok will the sleeve..???

I had my surg the same day you did?

Have you tried gas-x desolvable strips? They work good for me. 

Thanks, im going to try that. Good Luck to you,

The gas you are feeling is the gas the surgeon used to distend your abdomen during surgery. As White Dove explained, the gas migrates to the highest point in the torso and gets trapped. It takes a different amount of time for each person to lose the bloating. There are many different factors, including how well your surgeon "degassed" you prior to closing up. Because the gas is not in your gastro intestinal tract, there is not much you can do. The GasX strips only work on the gas in your GI system. Lowering your shoulders below your hip level will help relieve some of the pressure that you're feeling, too. The simple fact is that you can try whatever you want to try to help alleviate the symptoms, but time is really the only thing that will work to really get the gas out. 

Feeling like your normal self is also individual. It took me about 10 days, but I was still tired for a couple of weeks post surgery. I felt great though by Christmas Eve and my VSG was on December 7th. (We're talking 2011, though!)

The pain you feel when you swallow is due to the swelling in your sleeve. Sometimes the swelling is intense and your sleeve is actually smaller in diameter than your esophagus. I'm guessing that is what is going on with you and the reason behind the pain. Do you feel the pain starting at the collar bone level and then traveling down your breastbone area and off to the right? That's classic discomfort for a new post op. I had that discomfort to some degree for a couple of months. Eventually, for me it went away and I can drink 8 oz of water PDQ! Not quite chugging, but over a minute or two. 

Relax, allow your body to heal. Concentrate on getting in as much fluid as possible while you are awake. The more you drink, the better you will feel and the faster the pain/discomfort will go away. If you continue to have really intense pain, please call your surgeon. 

I went through the same thing...walk walk walk walk walk.. sip , sip sip sip, my surgery was 2/17: and I am still having some gas but much improved. I felt the same as you , discouraged, second guessing why I did this to myself, but it is all normal , sadly.. try and hang in there :) 

Move and grove is what our program director told us to do. Walking around is the best way to get rid of the gas. PLEASE make sure to get as much fluid as you can. Sip ALL the time. One of the things I remember most was the post op constipation. Being on pain meds and dehydrated is NOT fun. It will get better. Please don't second guess your decision to better your health. Best of luck to you.

I'm hoping this has settled for you by now. We're surgery twins, by the way (2/23/16!). I used the GasX strips, like another commenter. I also tried different techniques when sipping and usually can find one that helps me not swallow so much air. That's helped a lot, too. I hope you (we!) can recover quickly.