Persistent bloating 3 weeks after laparoscopy.. Is this normal?

[Illy-lory]

Hi ladies,

I had a laparoscopy 3 weeks ago and my consultant found some endometriosis on my ovaries and lots of adhesions, which were successfully removed .

I'm 3 weeks post op and thankfully I'm doing alright, however, I am incredibly bloated and my stomach is like a balloon.

One week ago I spoke to my consultant who said that the bloating should be gone by week 3. I'm past week 3, I still can't get into any trousers/jeans and I look 5 months pregnant.

I weighed myself and it appears that I gained 2 kg, which is madness considering that I hardly ate throughout my recovery.

Could this be water retention perhaps?

Have any of you had persistent bloating after your laparoscopy ?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

[Claire_Alexandra]

Hi lovely, I found my bloating took a couple months to fully be gone. Took way longer than I thought! Had the same problem with clothes and resorted to dresses and jumpers as couldn’t wear trousers I have. Only thing is keep on top of regular peppermint tea and gentle walks as much as possible to get things moving and settling down. X

[Illy-lory in reply to Claire_Alexandra]

Hi hun,

Thank you for your reply.

Was your weight up because of your bloating? I'm starting to think that it might be fluid retention as I put on weight although I didn't eat much at all. Really feeling fed up, want to be able to get into my skinny jeans again 🙄 xx

[april_skies]

Hey!

I'm in a similar position, totally feel your pain on the not fitting into jeans front, I'm so sick of it too! 😫Would love to hear anyone else's experiences too.

I had my lap on 15th Dec (7 weeks ago today) and still feeling bloated which is so frustrating! My lap was removal of a 7cm Endometrioma on my right ovary, lots of endo removed near and on the bowel, including a bowel shaving but luckily no bowel resection required.

My 4 incisions are healing well and I'm doing normal activities but still too sore when trousers are pushing against them. Sometimes still having the odd internal twinges or cramps in certain areas too.

I think my bloat has gone down slightly though each week and I have read that it can take 3 months for your body to re-settle internally, and up to 6-12 months to feel the real benefits of the lap, so hang in there!

A doctor once told me anything to do with your ovaries 'being in trouble' causes bloating (I was also bloated for the majority of last year with my ovarian endometrioma) so hopefully everything is just still swollen internally from what we've been through! 😅Fingers crossed we both start to feel the benefits and lose the bloat soon! ❤️xx

[Illy-lory]

Hey hun,

Thanks for your reply. I'm still bloated and I was told the same about my consultant, which is such a nuisance! Even more bloated today, my period returned after 4 months, as I was put on decapeptyl prior to my lap, because I was in unbelievable pain.

Were you on decapeptyl/prostap before your lap? Xx

[april_skies in reply to Illy-lory]

Hey, no probs at all!

Ahh hope you're ok. Nope, I'm on the mini-pill (desogestrel) - hoping to come off it soon as I'd like to let my natural cycle re-set after being on the pill for years, but my surgeon recommended I stay on it for 3 months post-lap to let things settle. Just feel like it's giving me major water retention which is prob adding even more to the bloat! Hopefully the bloat goes soon, never realised how much I'd miss jeans! xx