Day 3 post-op. . . man I'm in pain :(

[BillyTheBear 0]

First off, Happy Thanksgiving to all! I enjoyed my day in bed resting up, while trying to move as much as possible.

I'm on day 4 (had surgery on monday) and still find it very hard to do much. I'm sticking to my strict full liquid diet. . . but when I get up and walk around I just feel like throwing up, the only thing that seems to make me feel "normal" is laying on my back, is that pretty standard?

I dunno if the pain is gas related or what. It's certainly tolerable as long as I'm laying down, but the moment I get up to pee or stretch it becomes on the overkill side.

Any advice/medicine recommendations (gas-x?) would be highly appreciated.

Happy holidays!

-Bill

[laurenica23 1]

I'm not banded yet, so I'm not sure if this will be of much help!

I've heard Gas-X strips can work wonders.

Also, even though it hurts, walk around as much as you can. If it is gas pain, moving will help get rid of it.

You also may want to call you doctor and see if you can get some pain meds if you don't already have them. Just until you can get up and moving.

Hope you feel better soon!

[xtightend 0]

I am post op day 3 and still have a swollen sore abdomen. My wife who is a med/surg nurse says to keep walking. I do notice that it seems the people who went right to exercise after surgery have fewer complaints on here. With that....my daughter and I are going to go outside for a walk....

[TQUAD64 9]

I am two week post op and the gas pain was horrible. Plus, I would get terribly nauseated with the pain meds at the hospital and at home. The doc gave me an ant-nausea patch in the hospital, plus several spairs for my recovery at home.

The best thing I found for gas pain is walking. By day 7, I felt great and was able to drive, shop, and do light housework.

[HeatherO 7]

It is not uncommon to feel this way a few days out. The best fix is time, and walking around. Even though you don't feel like you want to get up and move around, it does help you feel better later. Staying in bed does make it worse in that it takes a lot longer to feel better.

Taking a really hot bath also helps, but this might sound counter-intuitive. You are not supposed to submerge your incisions in Water so near to surgery, so I only had enough Water to lie in it with my belly completely exposed to air. It really helped relax me and get rid of some of the pain.

Gas-X helps some people more than others. I got some limited relief from it. There is also a chewable tablet called Nausene that you can get in grocery stores, pharmacies or Wal-mart that really helped with my nausea in the early days. I found that when I was first banded, it was drinking water that made me nauseous. I only used this a little over the first couple of weeks post banding, afterwards I never needed it anymore.

Good luck, heal well, and just remember you are going to feel 100 times better in another week. Hang in there.

[gentylwind 1]

It definitely helps to walk and move around. You don't have to do a ton. Just fetch your own drinks. Get your own socks. Take a lap or two around the living room and down the hall. The more you move, the better you will feel the next day. Its really, really true. You won't feel like it, but the body seems to rise to what we expect from it to a certain degree. Don't lay on your back very much. Spend time lounging, sitting up, moving your legs. You don't want pneumonia to develop from laying flat or blood clots in your legs, which laying flat also puts you at risk for.

Truly, the more you move, the faster you will start to feel better. It seems counterintuitive, I know.

[Vangirl 0]

I'm on Day 4 and feel like I've been hit by a truck! When stationary, I am fine, but when getting up from a sitting position, it hurts like crazy. But I totally agree with what the others have said here, to keep walking. Although there wre times when I'd have loved to just lie in bed and sleep, I'd force myself to keep walking as much as I was able, while allowing myself regular periods of rest. It's a balance between keeping moving and not overdoing it, and it can be tricky finding that balance, especially if you're (like me) used to a sedentary lifestyle. Walking helps to move the gas around and I find once I've started walking, it can feel better than sitting.

I'm going to now take a hot shower, as someone else on here has suggested. A heating pad or hot Water bottle also helps with the gas pain.

[xtightend 0]

I am day 4 and just did a half hour on the treadmill at the gym. It seemed to help. No running just a nice fast walk.

[Sleeved12/29 2]

I was banded 11/18 and I will tell you to get up as much as you can and walk. I did laps around the downstairs of the house....5-7 minutes every hour that I was awake. A nurse in the hospital gave me really good advice. She bundled up a blanket and put it against my tummy. She told me to place the blanket against my tummy anytime I got up & down from bed or had to cough or sneeze....it worked wonders. I remember my father & brother had teddy bears to hold against their abdomen after their bypass surgeries....try it.

Good luck!!

[meena 1]

Hi, I'm a newbie to this site. I'm 8 days post op. I was banded in Mexico. I'm having a hard time sticking to my post op full liquid diet. I know for me it's more mental than anything, but does anybody have suggestions as to how I can make this transition a little easier.