pain relief after laparoscopy?

[riotsnotdiets]

Hi all, have a laparoscopy soon (no date yet...), it's my first one. I got a leaflet from the hospital which said that they will not provide a prescription for pain relief after the laparoscopy as all that should be necessary are 'simple pain relief' - paracetamol and ibuprofen, which can be bought. i can't take ibuprofen as it makes me sick (though mefanamic acid doesn't, weird, so i'd be stuck with just paracetamol as co-codamol completely knocks me out even if i take half of a single tablet! bit worried about this as i have heard that post-lap pain is pretty bad, i guess it depends on what they end up finding/doing, but i am concerned. how did you ladies find the pain? any ideas for pain relief/things that might help?

[Catness]

Hello I had quite an extensive amount of stuff done during my lap as I also had a lot of bladder work done, they had to untether my ovary and burn away my endo which was described as extensive so I can only go on my experience. I needed the strongest dose of codeine phosphate (codeine on its own) for at least a week. Ibuprofen and paracetamol wouldn't have cut it. However I am sure there is no need to worry yourself as I can't see that they would send you home without adequate pain relief, and if they try then ask them for some. If they don't get you some than ask someone to contact your GP on your behalf. Either way you will get some

[riotsnotdiets]

thank you! i was just a bit worried as paracetamol + mefanamic acid + tramadol doesn't really touch the pain i get when i have my period, and i was anticipating that the lap might hurt as much at least as that! x

[Hidden]

I was given a prescription for Dilaudid (hydromorphine) which is the first time I have ever taken it. They wanted to give me stuff that had acetaminophen in it, but I am deathly allergic so they had to go the next best route. Ibuprofen helps take the edge of pain off, but not completely.

[Impatient]

Take the co-codamol even if it knocks you out. Many painkiller drugs cause drowsyness - but if they spare you from pain then that's the main thing. You need to take a few weeks off to recover and sleeping a lot is good for the healing process, having reduced pain levels when awake is good too, it will help you to keep active while awake - nothing vigorous just gently pottering about the hose, taking an hourly walk from the front door to the back door, or in fine weather down the garden and back, or a walk past a few houses and back again. That sort of activity. I had a laparotomy (big hole ) surgery and over the counter pain relief was enough. I had diclofenac /volatorol from the GP for days after I had overdone things and was a bit too sore, but paracetamol was fine for the most part in the early healing days.

The worst of the pains comes from the trapped gas and doesn't stay in the body longer than 2-3 days after the op provided you do everything you can to fart and burp it out of your system. Peppermint tea is known to help shift it too. After that is out the system, unless you get any infections, it shouldn't be too painful - nothing on the scale of period pain for example, and in the unlikely event it is too painful - then visit your GP to get stronger meds. you will need to see your GP to extend any sick leave beyond the initial week that the hosp do give you and you would be expected to do that in any case and asking for stronger pain meds is something you can discuss should the need arise.

[riotsnotdiets]

Thanks for the tips ladies. Unfortunately I can't afford to take the co-codamol as I am a PhD researcher and if I take time out of my studies/get signed off then I don't get my research stipend and can't pay my rent - no sick pay. Why I left my old job which had sick pay and private health insurance I am not sure now! So will need to be carrying out my research/work from bed. So sleepiness is out However guess I could take the co-codamol at night which ought to help me sleep properly in any case so maybe that will be an ok thing to do! x

[Jofus89]

Apart from the gas they pain isn't too horrendous. Take peppermint capsules or tea the day before and when you wake up from your op and are able to drink again. Taking a co codamol before bed will be a good idea if it helps you sleep. Being rested will make it easier during the day. Gentle but regular movements are also good for the gas. Forget being lady like and let rip if you need to because keeping it in will be sore. Looking back on it the gas wasn't too awful either but if definitely hurt more then you would expect for trapped wind. It hurt my shoulder the most!!! I can't really comment on how quickly you recover because I had an infection so it took longer. But it wasn't really really painful just really uncomfortable more then anything. Make sure you have plenty of baggy clothes too. X x

[DrWatson]

I was fine with the paracetamol and ibuprofen. I had a large cyst taken from one ovary (along with part of ovary) and a smaller one from other one. They gave me morphine after op in recovery which is why I think I vomited on waking up on the ward - don't think that agrees with me so much.

[SpecialK]

I was given codeine 30mg x 2 to take every 6 hours with paracetamol. It knocked me out but it was amazing. My saver was peppermint tea - worked wonders. I suffered no gas pain x