I have my operation at the end of next month & am reading horror stories about the post-operative pain from a gastric sleeve surgery. Can any post-ops share their experience of what the pain feels like, how bad it is & how they dealt with it, please?

9 hours ago, Tufflaw said:

I don't think Mylanta will really do anything - these aren't typical gas pains which are in your actual stomach, it's pain from the air that's pumped into your body to give the surgeon room to work so it's not actually in your stomach but your body cavity itself, which is why it doesn't hurt your stomach but your shoulders and back because it's rising.

Thanks, Tufflaw. How long was it before the gas pain dissipated for you?

8 hours ago, RaisnHL said:

So I might be the minority here, but I want to keep it real because I wish I would have been more prepared….

Pain initially after surgery wasn’t bad, largest Incision hurt the worst. However, waking up from anesthesia did not go so well. I woke up incredibly nauseous, and vomited multiple times, As you can imagine it was incredibly uncomfortable. Due to the anesthesia, I slept most of the day following my surgery. Most say that they have intense gas pains post Surgery, however I never felt any gas pains.

The biggest struggle for me in the hospital was not being able to go to the bathroom by myself. The anesthesia caused me to not be able to go. I ended up having to stay at the hospital an additional night due to this. This wasn’t some thing that I was prepared for, or some thing I had seen mention from anyone else on these boards. Apparently I just had a difficult recovery from anesthesia.

Once I came home, the pain was very minimal. However, the nausea was still difficult to deal with, and made it hard to drink anything. I noticed after a day or two at home my legs were very weak I was having a hard time even going up my stairs. Once I stop taking pain meds, the weakness in my legs was gone. So just a heads up when you’re taking pain meds to watch out for other side effects. Those are just a few things I wish I would’ve known before surgery.

Thanks, Raisn. I hadn’t considered nausea after the anaesthetic even though I’ve experienced that before. Are you up & about more now?

I had gastric bypass but I was in a tremendous amount of pain at the hospital and I felt like it was barely controlled. I should’ve spoke up more but I’m quiet and I try not to bother people. ??‍♀️ My dr eventually ordered me morphine and even that didn’t help. Idk what was going on! Anyhow, by day five I felt like I had turned the corner and felt much improved.

5 hours ago, LaLaLand said:

Yes, a lot of posters are suggesting walking. Makes sense as the air would rise & come out somehow! How long was it before the gas wasn’t there anymore?

During my sleeve (when I didn't prepare lol), it lasted for like 4 or 5 days. Sharp shoulder pain, if I bent over to pick something up... Etc. But honestly, it wasn't that bad then either. When I did my revision, and I knew better lol, I began chewing them when I got home, and I was fine right away.

This mentions walking, simethicone (e.g. mylanta) and other tips on dealing with post-surgical gas.

https://healthproadvice.com/procedures/Getting-Gas-Pain-Relief-after-Surgery

Edited August 27, 20223 yr by Tomo

On 08/26/2022 at 20:03, LaLaLand said:

Thanks, Raisn. I hadn’t considered nausea after the anaesthetic even though I’ve experienced that before. Are you up & about more now?

I’m 2.5 weeks post op, and most days I can’t even tell that I just had surgery. So despite my rough start, there is a light at the end of it all. ? Best of luck!

Just had surgery on Friday afternoon. I don’t remember much of Friday night, except that I had a lot of pain that night and I was very nauseous. They gave me a lot of meds for the pain until it subsided into just a bit of discomfort and kept me in nausea meds until that went away too around 11am yesterday. That was when I was finally able to start getting my water in. Once I had a couple hours of staying up with the water recommendation they let me go home. I have a little pain when I get up to walk, but really only when I first straighten up. Otherwise it’s just minor discomfort.

My pain lasted 1 week with the first 3 being the worst. Its learning how to eat again is what frustrating but not painful.

On 8/26/2022 at 8:01 PM, LaLaLand said:

Thanks, Tufflaw. How long was it before the gas pain dissipated for you?

Sleeve: Maybe 2 days or so

Bypass: No gas pain at all

I was a whimp, I ended up with ketamine and morphine, best night sleep ever ?

Overall, I was lucky to not experience much pain with my sleeve. The gas pains were the worst overall. My incision near my belly button would also tend to be painful if I bent over too far when I was sitting down.

On 8/26/2022 at 7:03 PM, LaLaLand said:

Thanks, Raisn. I hadn’t considered nausea after the anaesthetic even though I’ve experienced that before. Are you up & about more now?

I get nauseated after anesthesia, so I now ask for one of those patches they put behind your ear if I'm having surgery. It helps - or at least it does for me.

I had surgery in April i would say that the pain was a lot less than i imagined. Sure the first fee days were uncomfortable but i never needed any pain pills just a lot of gas X and i know you hear this from everyone but you must mover around

I think you’ll find there is no standard. Here’s my experience.

When I woke up in recovery - very groggy… they asked how I was feeling. I told them I was having a lot of pain but I thought it was gas pressure. They asked me where I said chest and left shoulder so they did a cardiac work up… I assured them I was pretty sure it was gas but they said “better safe”.

I can recall the conversation barely - but I’ll be honest, I have no physical memory of the pain.

Once I was in my room, my right side, where they removed my stomach from was the only sore spot (I also had a hernia repair).

I woke up with a binder on and that (I found after I took it off) helped a lot.

I came home with Gabbipenten & nausea meds and Tylenol. I’m 4 weeks now with NO abdominal or incision pain, but the first few weeks I was sore, tender and moving slowly. I used a lot of ice and heat and my binder… to help while healing and to be comfortable.

I had some inflammation and irritation with my main incision that made some mild discomfort, but once that was managed really it was much less than I thought it would be and even at the worst of it, it was manageable and less than I feared.

I'm five weeks past surgery and the pain was a lot less than I expected. I did get some strong pain meds in the hospital, but when I came home I only had normal pain meds and I stopped using them after a few days.

I did have some problems with gas and nausea, but in all I was surprisingly well the day after surgery and I did go to work a couple of days before two weeks had passed.

Before this surgery, I've had a c-section, shoulder surgery and surgery for fibroids. Of the four, this one was the least painful. If you follow what the doctors tell you and take pain medication, you should be fine.

My surgery went well too. I was quite surprised at how little pain I had I had. I didn’t have much gas pain at all which I was worried about from others experiences. I had tightness along my chest which I just kept walking which got rid of the discomfort I had. My was mainly sickness feeling super super sick the whole time and heaving with a raw stomach which isn’t pleasant. But for pain not much really, I’m 2 weeks post opp today and I remember feeling like I’d done tones of sit-ups and in my chest had some pain. But I expected something completely different, I’m not sure if it helped in anyway but I done a diet 2 weeks before off my own back to prepare me, so I wasn’t eating fatty foods all the time. I had back pain but mainly from being in bed for so long and body not used to it. I guess we all have different experiences don’t let the scary ones put you off just try and prepare with eating cleaner before and cut out fizzy/caffeine ? hope that helps