“Definitely had the bad side-effects- Superficial result..”

Like a majority of the people out there, I did it in an attempt to rid some abdominal fat that came on quickly due to steroid injections for disc herniation (which also caused me to not be able to exercise like I usually do).

I've read a ton of reviews where the procedure itself is supposidly painless. I have a high pain tolerance and I will tell you that the largest device (I'm pretty small, so this may have been overkill for me) was quite painful when the suction first started. Like everyone else, 10 minutes into it and it was fine- Just a tight feeling. I wouldn't say removing the device was as painful as the 'massage' afterwards. That was pretty painful as well.

The problem I'm having (I'm 4 days post-procedure) is that I am EXTREMELY, bloated. No bruising, no redness, but EXTREME bloating. To the point where my pants just don't fit right now. Of course the area is numb and I'm having some random pinching, but I can handle that. The bloating is awful. I've been applying ice, drinking TONS of water (I do anyway) to no avail. Does anyone know why this is happening? Is it an indication of fat cell damage? Most importantly, how long until this goes down and what can I do to speed it up??

Updated on 18 Apr 2011:
Update: I'm now 7 days post-procedure and I am still VERY, VERY swollen.. The pins and needles are super intense and my entire abdomen stings (with a strange itch) like severe sunburn being irritated even further with rough sandpaper. It's to the point where I am going to have to call the doctor's office and get something for this. It's pretty much unbearable. I've tried pain relievers, ice, topical creams.. Nothing is helping.

Has anyone else had experience with this? I'm going insane. I sure hope these nasty side effects are a good sign, but I suspect they are just the result of nerve damage and my body attempting to repair it.

Updated on 18 Apr 2011:


Updated on 20 Apr 2011:
I'm now 8 days post-procedure. Went to the doctor this morning as I haven't slept in 3 nights. The bee-sting pain is so pronounced that even after taking Advil PM I wake up with shooting, intermittent pain on various spots of my abdomen. The doctor said I am still very inflammed- even to the touch my stomach is 'hot'. She said this is the normal inflammatory response and she suspects my results may be more than the average 'favorable' fat loss. She prescribed 3 days of oral steroids for the pain and Vicodin (which I HATE). But I do have decreased pain as of this afternoon.

Do you think there's any truth to the overwhelming inflammatory response I'm having? It makes sense to me, but maybe she's just telling me what I want to hear?

Updated on 26 Apr 2011:
So, just to update everyone, since there are some also some new posts here with people going through the painful experience I did.. I'm 14 days post and am finally starting to feel normal. I'm still pretty swollen, but the stinging pain is gone. It just feels like major sunburn now. The lidocaine cream I was prescribed helped the most, I think. Or, maybe it was just that things were settling down for me finally. Now, we wait..