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Pain after Gastric Sleeve Surgery?



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I am interested in hearing each of your responses relating to pain. Was it more or less than expected? Did you get adequate pain medicine?

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I found the pain to be very manageable. I took the pain meds they gave me in the hospital, then only took one dose of the liquid pain meds at home and I was fine. I tend to have a fairly high pain tolerance and don't like the way pain meds make me feel in general, so that likely helped - but I was fine.

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I only had l headache when I got home from the hospital. The only pain I felt after that was when I did too much and my incision site on the left with the larger incision would get sore. IT was no big deal.......Piece of cake......

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Mine was much worse than expected...but I have also never had surgery before so I wasn't really sure what to expect. It would have been much easier if I was not extremely responsive to narcotics...I was dry heaving for 2 days straight and they gave me every anti nausea they had with no help. Dry heaving with the freshly made sleeve is not fun. Once the surgeon switched me off narcotics I have been fine. Never even took anything at home.

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Mine was much worse then I thought it would be too, only in ths hospital though. I felt like I had gotten kicked in the ribs by a horse. Three days after surgery I was almost back to normal though.

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Mine was much less than expected. I had my gallbladder out in 09 and I was cussing up a storm right out of recovery. When I was in recovery for my vsg I don't really remember much although I must have been funny cause the recovery nurse was laughing as I was talking to him. I was up walking around very soon after I got to the room. Yes, I was sore but nothing I could not handle. I do not consider myself to have a high pain tolerance.

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My pain in the hospital was brutal- much worse than I expected and I think I have a pretty high tolerance. My surgeon found a hernia that had to be repaired, so that may have added to the discomfort. I am also very sensitive to catheters, so I felt like I really had to pee for the entire 3 hours in recovery. I walked the moment they took me to my room and immediately felt better. Then they took out the catheter and that felt better too. Once I got home the next day, I was achy and sore, but not enough to need to take the pain meds.

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My pain is bad but it was what I expected. They gave me lortab liquid at home and I had morphine IV for the 2 days in the hospital. I have taken the pain meds- My main pain is in my neck and left side where the biggger incision is. I have not able to sleep in my bed all night yet. It hurts to bad. All in All it was what I expected...

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Thank you for your responses. I am scared but have to do this.

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I have had other surgeries besides the sleeve (gallbladder the old fashioned way, and an abdominal hysterectomy). The sleeve was much less painful than either one of those. It is more like other laparoscopic procedures I have had. The only really sore spot is the incision where they pull out the stomach. I took some pain meds in the hospital, and one pill the first night I was home. (I was only in the hospital one night). Haven't taken a pain pill since in the 10 months since surgery. I wore an abdominal support belt when I got home, and used a heating pad. Those helped the discomfort of getting up and down from the bed or the recliner.

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I had only mild pain, such that I didn't take any pain medication at all once I was released from the hospital. It was mostly incisional-type pain, but quite tolerable--I do have a fairly high pain tolerance, I think, and I also hate the way prescription pain medication makes me feel, but I was able to move around and do what I needed to do without any trouble.

I told the hospital staff well in advance of my preference for non-narcotic pain meds (narcotics make me throw up), and it was fine all around.

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    • LeighaTR

      I am new here today... and only two weeks out from my sleeve surgery on the 23rd. I am amazed I have kept my calories down to 467 today so far... that leaves me almost 750 left for dinner and maybe a snack. This is going to be tough for two weeks... but I have to believe I can do it!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • Doughgurl

      Hey everyone. I'm new here so I thought I should introduce myself. I am 53y/o and am scheduled for Gastric Bypass on June 25th, 2025. I'm located in San Antonio, Texas. I will be having my surgery in Tiajuana Mexico. I've wanted this for years, but I always had insurance where bariatric procedures were excluded. Finally I am able to afford to pay out of pocket.  I can't wait to get started, and I hope I'm prepared for the initial period of "hell". I know what I have signed up for, but I'm sure the good to come will out way the temporary period of discomfort and feelings of regret. I'd love to find people to talk to who have been through the same procedure or experience before. So I look forward to meeting you all. Hope you have a great week!
      · 1 reply
      1. Selina333

        I'm so happy for you! You are about to change your life. I was so glad to get the sleeve done in Dec. I didn't have feelings of regret overall. And I'm down almost 60 lbs. I do feel a little sad at restaurants. I can barely eat half a kid's meal. I get adults meals often because kid ones don't have the same offerings at times. Then I feel obligated to eat on that until it's gone and that can be days. So the restaurant thing isn't great for me. All the rest is fine by me! I love feeling full with very little. I do wish I could drink when eating. And will sip at the end. Just a strong habit to stop. But I'm working on it! You will do fine! Just keep focused on your desire to be different. Not better or worse. But different. I am happy both ways but my low back doesn't like me that heavy. So I listened (also my feet!). LOL! Update us on your journey! I'm not far from you. I'm in Houston. Good luck and I hope it all goes smoothly! Would love to see pics of the town you go to for this. I've never been there. Neat you will be traveling for this! Enjoy the journey. Take it one day at a time. Sometimes a few hours at a time. Follow all recommendations as best you can. 💗

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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