Post Surgery Fatigue

[Bumblebee213]

Hi all,

I had a laparoscopy three weeks ago. They excised a small amount of endo and found a lot of scar tissue and lesions which they didn’t touch. Recovery seemed to be straight forward for the first week or so, pain levels have been very low.

But I’ve been experiencing extreme fatigue and weakness that hasn’t been improving. There are points where I feel relatively normal and then I can suddenly have a turn when I feel overcome with exhaustion and feel so weak that I can’t stand or sit up. I’ve had a couple of incidents where I’ve been walking and suddenly been overcome with fatigue and I’ve lost my balance and legs have given way and I’ve fallen. My muscles become so weak that I can’t get up or move by myself. Doing any kind of physical exercise can be completely exhausting- I’m good days I’ve not been able to walk for more than ten minutes and I’ve had many days where I’ve barely managed to walk to the bathroom. There’s been no improvement. My heart rate also gets really high as if I’ve been running and often doesn’t slow down for hours even though I’m resting.

Went to the GP wondering if it was anaemia but she thought it was unlikely due to them doing blood tests right after the op. Still, GP was really concerned so sent me to A&E. I got fully checked out and they didn’t find anything wrong with my heart, they did all kinds of blood tests and found that everything was normal, checked my blood pressure and did tests on my nervous system. Everything is normal except for these symptoms. I have virtually no pain anymore and my incisions have healed well. So I’m confused! Every piece of literature and every doctor I’ve spoken to has said that usually you feel back to normal after around 2 weeks but I feel just as exhausted as the day after surgery. Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

[BlueGiraffe9]

My surgery was complicated bur I still got attacked by random fatigue 6-7 weeks after. It was around week 8 I started feeling back to normal ish energy. My friend who had it done said that it took her a few months to feel back to normal completely. The fatigue for me was far more worse than the pain

[CryBaby91]

2 weeks is a total myth! Fatigue at that stage is still normal, but also bear in mind that you still have endometriosis and that can absolutely still be causing fatigue. Also, internally it can take MUCH longer to heal, up to 6 months depending on how much was done. If they've left stuff behind that could still be causing issues, and it's sadly not always as simple as excise the endo and symptoms will be gone. Or it would be considered a cure many people have the symptoms still after surgery, which can be from a range of things. If endo was pressed on something for too long, if endo was left, trauma to the area causing new growth, not skilled enough surgeon removing the endo, doing ablation rather than excision, etc. Additionally, despite what some doctors say adhesions can causing pulling and ripping pain, so if you still have that in there it could absolutely cause issues.

For some info I had my lap in August, he did ablation and by November I was in full pain again. But during the summer my pain dropped to a 4/5, though was still there. This is such a complicated condition and there's no guarantee of anything actually helping us, which really really sucks.

Do you have a walking aid for if your legs give up again? It happens to me too and I couldn't live without my stick! Xxx

[pjallday]

I can only echo what others have said in the fact that it can take much longer than 2 weeks! My laparoscopy wasn’t especially complicated and it took me about 4/5 weeks to feel close to normal. Please be patient with yourself and your body, I know it can be frustrating. You’re body already goes through it with your condition and add a surgery along side that and it can really take a toll!

I actually fainted around week 3 of recovery because I went back to things too quickly. Listen to your body and rest up! You’ve got this xxx

[HT267]

Hi Bumblebee,I'm 5 weeks post op and feeling extremely fatigued and start to get weak and shaky if i walk too far . still some people recover quickly but everyone is different. My surgeon said recovery varies between 2-8 weeks. Maybe give yourself a bit more time to rest