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Gastric Sleeve Surgery is it painful?

Those who have gone through the surgery did you deal with a lot of pain? I know a few folks and they said no.

  • Replies 17
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  • marvypooh
    marvypooh

    Had it 7 years ago and never thought it was all that painful, though gas pain can be a beast at times for a while. Hurts in the shoulders. However it’s a journey for a few months for most people. High

  • ImsexyandIknowit
    ImsexyandIknowit

    Nope nothing at all....I really thought they didn't take it out lol

  • Dorothy_Correz
    Dorothy_Correz

    It depends on who you are and your pain tolerance level. I hurt for about a month took lots of pain meds prescribed by the doc and a lot of antacids. I did not feel like myself till about six months l

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Nope nothing at all....I really thought they didn't take it out lol

Same here, no pain. I did feel a little "tug" in my stomach when standing up. I certainly wouldn't classify as pain.

pain is all across the board, but most people seem to have little to no pain with these surgeries. Some do have it - but then, they'll send you home with meds for it. I had no pain and never opened the bottle of pills.

Nope, They drugged me up pretty good so very little pain.

I had almost no pain, and I had to be opened a second time at 24 hours post op for a bleed. Recovery was super easy, I was just exhausted for about 3 weeks.

I was fine, beyond some uncomfortable gas.

Right after surgery, I was up and walking, and I didn't even take any heavy duty pain meds (they gave me tylenol because I can't have codeine, but I didn't even need to take it), just gas-x.

The surgery is a little scary, but once you're done, it's like... whoa, did they even do anything?

That said, everyone is different. Everyone experiences pain differently. But from experience, I was sore and gassy. lol

Aside from discomfort around the incision sites I didn't experience much (if any real pain), very little gas - I did a lot of walking that must have helped. When i first had water I did get a stomach spasm but that lasted only a few seconds each time.

I had a lot of pain the second night, actually cried myself to sleep in hospital as my pain was not managed well. I think it was mainly gas related, but still, not managed by the student nurse I ended up with. It improved a lot the third day and I didn't even need paracetamol after that.

Pain is subjective, meaning that everyone experiences it differently.

My first day or 2 was the most pain. It was easily managed with the prescription pain medication they gave me in the hospital. After that, I would say that I was "uncomfortable" but not enough to break out the big guns in terms of the medications. Tylenol was more than enough to handle my discomfort. I'd say by the 4th day, it was pretty rare that I had enough pain/discomfort to even need Tylenol. Probably one of the easiest surgeries I've ever had.

I had my surgery day before yesterday. I expressed my concern to the surgeon that I cannot tolerate narcotics, opioids, etc., and even the most potent anti-nausea drugs do not touch the awful unrelenting vomiting I have with them (sorry, TMI). So he administered a TAP block when I went under anesthesia. Post-op, I had IV ibuprofen, toradol, and oral liquid Tylenol. Absolutely no pain whatsoever in the hospital. I had minimal discomfort last night at home, but no worse than if I had done a bunch of sit-ups. I was quite pleased ?

Had it 7 years ago and never thought it was all that painful, though gas pain can be a beast at times for a while. Hurts in the shoulders. However it’s a journey for a few months for most people. Highs and lows. I had dehydration issues, low blood pressure, times I thought I broke the sleeve and on and on. But 7 years later all is well and I’ve kept off 63 of the 85 pounds I lost. It could be all 85 but the surgery was on my stomach not my brain. Stomach sends right message but brain sometimes ignores. None of it is easy but it’s sure easier than trying to do it all on your own.

Edited by marvypooh

It depends on who you are and your pain tolerance level. I hurt for about a month took lots of pain meds prescribed by the doc and a lot of antacids. I did not feel like myself till about six months later. It just all depends every person's experience is different. But it was well worth it!!!!!

  • 1 month later...

I guess I may be alone here. My pain is pretty extreme. The gas pain hurts but is tolerable. It’s the incision pain that hurts a ton. I work out a lot and it doesn’t feel like too many crunches or a rough ab day IMO. It feels like my stomach muscles were cut... which they were. I had surgery Thursday, went home last night, and have spent most of the day today in bed because of the pain.

I do think the pain will pass and get better. But I wasn’t prepared for the pain I felt based on what I’ve read on here.

I was sleeved on 8/19. Immediately after surgery, I was up doing laps around the hospital floor. I was sore, tired, and stiff, but I made myself do it. I went home the next day and could hardly move - even with Rx pain meds. Between gas, being full of fluids & air from the surgery itself, and pain from the incisions (esp. the big one) I was pretty miserable for about a week - then everything literally changed overnight. I woke up one day and felt GREAT. The big incision still hurts, but all of the gas is gone, all of the fluids & air they fill you up with are gone, etc. That said, I'm pretty sure I busted a stitch on the large incision, as of today I'm in agony, but just in that one spot. I'm back on Rx pain meds + an antibiotic and hope they do the trick. I felt like I was doing really, really well until then. Good luck!

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