Post Op Pain?

Just curious, I had my gallbladder out on Tuesday last week, it was emergency surgery so I didn't have much time to prepare for it and to be honest it was rather scary, but I was wondering how long the pain is meant to stick around fo

I haven't been able to rest as much as I should with 3 kids to look after and I can't avoid lifting them while hubby is at work so that may be making things worse but I don't want to be taking painkillers anymore as I'm breastfeeding, but I still rely on endone at night to manage the pain and Advil & paracetamol during the day and every time I try to cut down on how much I take (6 Advil and 6 panadol during the day and 2 endone at night), I find that I can't manage because it hurts too much.

I know I'm probably expecting too much this soon after surgery but I just want to get back to normal and feel better already!

Mine was sore for a while but I ended up back in hospital with a stuck stone :(

I was told strict rest for 5 days I think then pain should wear down from there, if your worried I would check with the hospital.

Thanks ZF, I only had the one day of strict rest in hospital, as soon as I got home I had to feed and look after Emily and then ot a "nesting" urge and had to clean for 2 days until my older 2 came home so I didn't really get to rest. My post op appointment is on the 26th so I'm hoping its mostly gone by then but if it isn't then I'll be calling up to find out what I should do.

I only had DD1 and I found lifting & feeding her painful so MIL stayed a few days to do the lifting part.

can you describe the pain? Where it is? Also if the surgery was laproscopic or if they had to do a more traditional incision?

Given how much you are doing, it is normal to still expect pain at the moment. The type of incision will also dictate how much pain you are in and for how long.

I had mine out when DD was about 2 months old. I was sore for about a week but was only taking panadol and buscopam. I think I was taking voltaren as well but can't remember.

Remember, if you're at all worried, give the hospital a call.

After I had my gallbladder out, I sat around pretty much not doing anything for a good 10 days afterwards... I think all of your activity probably isn't helping. Is hubby able to take a bit of time off, or can you call in some favors, like a friend or family member who can come around during the day so you can rest a bit more?

BUT having said that, there are some instances when inflammation can persist after the operation, so it's worth giving the hospital a call this week to discuss it. The surgeon might want to see you sooner than the 26th if the pain does persist.

Thank you for all your replies guys, turns out I started feeling heaps better the day after I posted this lol just had my stitches out yesterday (monday) afternoon, there's a bit of seepage but at least now I don't have the stitches pulling anymore lol

I think the worst part of it all was that hubby couldn't get time off work to help out, he's casual and gets paid by the hour so doesn't get sick leave or anything like that and any time he takes off means less that he gets paid and then we wouldn't be able to pay the mortgage, so I've had to do everything as normal pretty much.

I'm just glad that it's out now though, no more gallstone attacks and I can start losing weight again!

Glad you're feeling better now. It musta been hard not having an extra pair of hands around when you needed it. :hug: take care with reintroducing rich foods into your diet. I have to limit my fat intake now otherwise I suffer the next day, and I've also found I need probiotics pretty much any time I'm taking any medications. Other than that, gee it's nice to not have writhe around in pain on a regular basis! :)

Thanks Marydean.
This is way *TMI* but I'm curious if rich foods can cause constipation or diarrhea? I've had diarrhea pretty much since I got home after the surgery, but the last 1.5 weeks I've reintroduced some fatty foods as well as some rice and pasta and have suffered from some constipation until the past couple of days where I've cut the rich foods and pasta out and eaten more fruit and vegetables and it's gone back to diarrhea. I asked my GP about it and he didn't have a clue, so I'm just curious if you know if it's normal or not? TBH I'm sick of the diarrhea and so are my guts, I get bad gas pain with it too :(

I mostly had issues with diarrhea. My understanding is its because you no longer have bile stored on the gb to deal with digesting large amounts of fat in one go, instead you just have a steady trickle entering the system. This means you have 2 types of potential irritants entering the bowel: either undigested fat or the bile. I don't know if that explains the constipation or not, but it does the diarrhea. I guess that could be a question for your surgeon.

I have found it best to avoid large amounts of fat in one go, but try to focus on including healthy oils in my diet throughout the day. I also upped my fibre intake (which seemed counterintuitive when you're going to the toilet too often and because I already eat a lot of veggies etc) and especially added in psyllium but then I switched more recently to inulin (which dissolves more completely and is also a prebiotic). Apples and pears are particularly good. I also use probiotics more often now which seems to help, and I used bovine colostrum for a while too. Whenever I get sick now (eg virus or whatever) it seems to upset the digestion, so I start up the fibre & probiotics etc and that sorts it out in a couple of days. I guess none of that could hurt if constipation is your problem, just make sure you are drinking loads of water as well.

PS activated charcoal capsules are good for gas pain.

Thanks Marydean, I really appreciate it, I'm already trying some things - eg. coconut oil instead of normal vegetable oil, more fruit and vegetables and fibre in the form of metamucil - but I'll try some of the other things as well and see how I go.

Thanks again :)