Why am I experiencing pain 1 month after laparoscopic surgery?

[Amywoodx]

Hello everyone. I've mentioned this before but I'm just writing again because I wondered if anyone has experienced anything similar or has an idea of what might be going on inside me.

I had a laparoscopy over one month ago to see what was going on inside me. I won't go into too much detail but the laparoscopy was done because I was experiencing bad periods (ending up in a&e most months) and abdominal pain every morning and bloating etc (even when I wasn't on my period). The pain would be relieved by a bowel movement. I'm starting to think the bad periods and the abdominal pain every morning weren't related but I'm not sure.

Anyway, around 3 months before my laparoscopy I started to feel a little better. The pain began to die down. I still got a bit of pain now and again but nothing like the way I used to and it definitely wasn't every single day. I was able to eat anything I wanted without suffering and my periods were like they used to be 2 years ago (normal). I was on the waiting list for a lap for 6 months and I was desperate to find out what the problem was so I went for it when my time came.

They found an adhesion to my anterior abdominal wall and got rid/cut it off. They were unsure whether this was the reason for my pain in the first place as they mentioned that usually adhesions don't cause pain and this particular adhesion wouldn't have caused pain either. Other than that, everything else looked normal. I then got an infection in my bellybutton incision & was given oral antibiotics (they're also used for gut infections etc). I started to experience the same pain I used to again when I started taking the antibiotics which was around 3 weeks ago. The pain is quite bad and it usually starts during the night and goes into the morning. I really don’t know how to describe the pain but it is such a strange sensation it’s horrible.

Does anyone have any idea what could be going on? I know adhesions can reform after surgery but I've also heard that most of the time adhesions don't cause any problems. Or could it be healing? But I’m not sure what would need healing as they didn’t do much inside but have a look and cut off one adhesion? The pain was slowly going away before I went for surgery and I feel like I've really done the wrong thing by going for my laparoscopy as I seem to be back at stage one again when it was supposed to help me get better 😞

[OhHey]

Any sort of fibrosis or formulation of scar tissue is gonna be painful as you move around, stretching it and pulling/tugging on it. It could be something as simple as you rolling around while you sleep at night. It's tough to say. Was this inguinal or abdominal? How large was the adhesion and what were the connecting tissues and where?

[Amywoodx in reply to OhHey]

Hi, all it says on my notes is “omental adhesion to the anterior abdominal wall”. If it is scar tissue does it tend to improve then once healing is done?

[OhHey in reply to Amywoodx]

Did you exclusively have surgery for this or was there a surgery before for hysterectomy or fibroids? Any trauma to that area maybe? The way it presents, this could be the development of a new adhesion. Is the location of the pain relevant directly to any of the incisions from your most recent surgery? I would address this with your advising MDs and inquire about imaging to show if new adhesion(s) are forming. Adhesions are in themselves a form of scarring. If you're susceptible to scarring/adhesions whenever your abdomen and pelvis are breached for operations, then this could prove problematic going forward. Keep on top of it with your doc, pay attention to intensity and frequency and book a sonogram or associated imaging to check the area.

[Amywoodx in reply to OhHey]

No it was just for this, I hadn’t had any surgery previously which also makes me wonder why there was an adhesion in the first place. The surgeons etc said that the adhesion I initially had was unlikely to be the cause of my pain anyway but now it feels as if I’ve gone back to a year ago when the pain was at its worst. And yes sometimes the pain is around my bellybutton incision but it also radiate to other places such as my upper back and makes me feel extremely heavy and bloated in the mornings. It’s a shame nobody told me about the possibility of more adhesions forming, had I know about this I may not have gone through with surgery.

Is there a way to check for adhesions with scans? I heard the only way to check was via surgery again which of course I’m not willing to do any time soon 😣

[OhHey in reply to Amywoodx]

Laparoscopy is doable, but I personally wouldn't suggest something that explorative. Sonogram should pick them up similar to how it picks up fibroids.

[browny52]

Just a thought but have you had your gallbladder checked? This was the exact pain pattern I had. Started at night but gone by morning. Do your symptoms ease if you eat less fat?

[Amywoodx in reply to browny52]

Mine doesn’t go by the morning, it’s at its worst by the morning unfortunately and no my symptoms don’t lessen if I eat less fat😞