PLEASE HELP/SEVERE abdomen and shoulder pain after VP shunt

[jrp8121]

I had a VP shunt put in a little over a month ago and have had pain in my abdomen that seems to move around. It is now on my left side and seems to radiate to my left shoulder. the shunt is on my right side. It is a sharp stabbing pain that is absolutely the worse pain I have ever felt..and I have given birth 3 times! I have told my neuro surgeon about this and he sent me to have a CT (twice) both showing everything looked normal.....yet I still have pain!!! I have been to the ER twice because the pain was so excruciating! At the ER more CT's,blood tests,x-rays,pressure check and EVERY SINGLE TIME they come back shrugging their shoulders saying everything looks good! That the pain is not related to the shunt,I find this extremely hard to believe! I even had one ER doctor suggest it was gas or even a pulled muscle....I almost came out of my skin! All they do is send me home with pain meds...which I hate taking because of the foggy feeling that comes with them,however they do help dull the pain. I am at my wits end and don't know what to do next all I know is I can not take this pain anymore. If anyone has some advice or can even share a similar story I would much appreciate it! :)

Thanks,

Jill

[canuck1]

I had a VP shunt put in a little over a month ago and have had pain in my abdomen that seems to move around. It is now on my left side and seems to radiate to my left shoulder. the shunt is on my right side. It is a sharp stabbing pain that is absolutely the worse pain I have ever felt..and I have given birth 3 times! I have told my neuro surgeon about this and he sent me to have a CT (twice) both showing everything looked normal.....yet I still have pain!!! I have been to the ER twice because the pain was so excruciating! At the ER more CT's,blood tests,x-rays,pressure check and EVERY SINGLE TIME they come back shrugging their shoulders saying everything looks good! That the pain is not related to the shunt,I find this extremely hard to believe! I even had one ER doctor suggest it was gas or even a pulled muscle....I almost came out of my skin! All they do is send me home with pain meds...which I hate taking because of the foggy feeling that comes with them,however they do help dull the pain. I am at my wits end and don't know what to do next all I know is I can not take this pain anymore. If anyone has some advice or can even share a similar story I would much appreciate it! :)

Thanks,

Jill

Hello Jill

I had my vp shunt put in almost 8 years ago now and have been having the same problem, sharp stabbing pain in my side that extends to my shoulder and sometimes neck. It started on my right side at first then moved to my left side. The only answer I got was from my neuro surgeon who told me it's common. The only way to cure it was take out the shunt and use a different kind with a lot more risks involved. I chose to put up with the pain instead of more risk and possable surgery. I'm kinda luckey because the pain isn't constant. It may last a couple of hours or days then go away for sometimed a couple of weeks before returning. Sorry I can't give you an answer to rid the pain. For some reason Advil will sometimes dull it. It's the only thing off the shelf I found that works. I haven't tried anything from a doctor. I try not to take any meds if possable.