Four days post laparoscopy, how should I feel?

[Swalker]

Hi, this is my first post. I had a diagnostic laparoscopy on Wednesday, first couple of days I was pretty much a zombie. I had pain yesterday but my head finally felt clear, however I don’t feel too great today, back to feeling lightheaded and sickly. Is this normal? I don’t have much of an appetite and maybe did a little too much yesterday. I thought I’d be feeling a bit better by now. Xx

[cmbxm]

You could still be reacting to the anaesthetic and getting over that, if you’re at all worried your hospital should’ve given you a number to contact incase you’re worried, if not phone nhs 111, if you feel something isn’t right act on your Instinct x

[Swalker in reply to cmbxm]

Thank you for replying. I’m not overly worried, just didn’t think I would still feel lightheaded and sickly. I maybe have just overdone things, I’ll try to rest and eat a little more. Thank you again. Xx

[LouLouT]

Hi Swalker, from my own experience feeling like you do seems normal. For the first week I went from feeling normal to light headed, heart palpitations and sickly. by about day 6-7 post op I started to feel more stable but I still got light headed from time to time even in the second week. It took me almost 2 weeks to get my appetite back but some days I still struggle with nausea now.

I think it really varies from person to person and no lap is exactly the same so recovery may be longer or shorter. The best advice I can give is to listen to your body and try to be patient. Try to rest as much as possible in the first week then very slowly and gradually build up your strength in the second week by being more active but only if you feel up to it. I started by going for a 5 minute walk each day and then increased the time by 1min 2min 3min etc.

I had to take 3 weeks off work (instead of the expected 2weeks) mainly because I've had minor complications (bad reaction to anaesthetic and I got an infection) but also because I pushed myself too much - I just wanted to get back to work asap!

I know it's tough because all you want is to get back to normal but your body has been through a lot and you need to let yourself heal and carefully build up your strength only when you are ready.

I hope you have a speedy recovery, all the best!

Xx

[Swalker in reply to LouLouT]

Thank you for replying. I’ve had palpitations too so sounds like it’s just part of recovery. I just expected to feel better after a few days, wishful thinking. I think I have overdone it the last couple of days which won’t have helped. I find it so difficult to rest when I know there are things I should really be doing around the house and with the kids.

Sorry to hear you’ve had a tough time of it, hope you’re feeling better now and got the answers you were looking for from the op. Best wishes. Xx

[LouLouT in reply to Swalker]

Thank you, I did. I hope you have too.

It's really tough, I don't have children but i do majority of the housework. Some people think it's strange but i actually like doing housework so I've really struggled with not being able to do certain things. Having kids must make it even harder, I can't imagine what it must be like.

Try not to be too hard on yourself, i know it's frustrating but you've just had major surgery. And anaesthetic really takes its toll on the body. I think the body takes 3 months to fully heal from a lap internally so it's really early days. The more you rest the quicker you'll recover

Xx

[Lilloise]

Yes definitely normal! You will feel rubbish for a while. Even though the incisions are small your body has been through a lot and a lot has happened on the inside. I had to have two weeks off instead of one and even at two weeks post-lap I was still sore and knackered after work. I'm four weeks out now and still healing - it can take months for the healing inside. Take care of yourself x

[Abi_97]

It took me nearly 4 weeks to recover 😮 It depends on your body you might of done too much you might of not washed out the anaesthetic yet drink lots 😮 X