Sleeping with the band

[blm1* 5]

Hello,

I had lapband surgery yesterday and am having an extremely hard time on where to sleep. I slept on the bed and really hurt myself getting up, does any one have any suggestions or where they slept after the first couple of days?

[lisacaron 5,075]

@@blm1* if you have a recliner chair you might be more comfortable there. If not what you want to do when you lie down in bed at night is try to not sleep on the side where your port is located. That will be the most sore point you have on your body and since it's usually sewn into the abdominal muscle it will remain sore for a bit as it heals. We use our abdominal muscles when we sit up, so try rolling onto your side and lowering your feet to the floor before sitting up and come up to a sitting position from your good side using your oblique muscles, (side abdominal) rather than your front stomach muscle that is healing right now.

Ice is your friend, if you have an ice pack put that on the muscles near the port. Give your port area and stomach muscles some support when you move them by just holding your hand on them as you move. That always helped me.

Good luck and congrats on your surgery!!!

[blm1* 5]

Ive been sleeping on my back. You don't realize how many stomach muscles you really use when you get up. I'm going to try the recliner tonight.. Thanks for your help!! How long did the pain last for you? I'm only sore where the port is and when I get up. @@lisacaron

Edited January 21, 2016 by blm1*

[lisacaron 5,075]

Your right you don't know how much you use those stomach muscles until they hurt! Trust me I have had more than one abdominal surgery I know the feeling!!

The soreness can last for a few weeks, though the first few days are the worst of it. Ice pack on the port will help you out with the pain and it will help to reduce any inflammation of the muscle as it heals.

My port is on my left side and since I am short and short waist it is in the worst possible spot. It hits my desk at work, and my seat belt in the car, after a while you will forget it's there but it takes a bit.

Be gentle with yourself and go slow, your healing from a major surgery give yourself lots of TLC.

[blm1* 5]

My port is on the left side too!

How long have you had the band?

[gowalking 10,790]

Congrats on being banded. As with any surgery, you will have pain and/or discomfort where the incision is. I was banded three years ago so it's a bit fuzzy for me, but I don't recall anything out of the ordinary. I know I took less than a week off work and then worked from home for a week at most. After that, I was good to go.

[Debbie3sons 1,936]

The first day home I tried to get out of bed & found out really quick that I would have to sleep in the recliner so I did that for 2 days , then I thought oh I just want my bed in my room , well even with adjustable bed , you would think I could get up & not feel the little twinge of pain but I did trying to roll over , well I put a bunch of pillows behind me & slowly I could take one away it took about a week before I could sleep with just my 2 pillows & I was a BIG Stomach sleeper before banding ,it's been a LONG time since I have slept that way , I've been banded 3 years almost 4 in September , so you might also try the pillow thing I mentioned just a suggestion it helped me but move VERY SLOW , have a good journey

[lisacaron 5,075]

My port is on the left side too!

How long have you had the band?

I have been banded coming up on 3 years. I too used to be a big belly sleeper when I was able to sleep on my belly, and for a long time since having my boys and getting so big I couldn't sleep on my tummy. I have to say that now I am once again able to sleep on my belly!! Though my back and neck doesn't like that much every now and then I find myself snuggled up on my tummy sleeping like a baby

[Bandista 7,466]

Congratulations on your surgery! I can remember those incisions and looking like I was in a knife fight and now I can hardly detect a scar. Pretty amazing. I love my band and feel like it was absolutely the best decision. Those first days of tenderness are a bit tough -- I was so giddy with excitement and that got me through (and I'm still excited, or maybe that's just happiness at not being heavy anymore). The links below in my signature helped me a lot. Another friend on here, Jim, had the Dr. Simpson info and whenever I saw it I'd read through again to get it into my big (fat) head. And if you're laid up for a few days it might be a good time to watch the O'Brien videos. One thing that I didn't realize is that I'd be constipated. I didn't use my pain medication so it wasn't that but just from the anesthesia. On day four or five I had to address that. Many people experience left shoulder pain from the gas that was pumped inside of us for the surgery. For me, the walking really helped a lot and I did windmill arms to get everything moving as much as possible. Best wishes to you and welcome to the forum.

[blm1* 5]

Thank you @@Bandista ! I am having left shoulder pain but I've been trying to walk. The first couple days were rough, today I'm feeling good and I'm just having trouble sleeping. I'm so used to sleeping on my belly so trying to find a comfortable new spot.