Sphincterotomy, has anyone had a difficult recovery?
Posted , 5 users are following.
hi all, I had the sphincterotomy with tag removal on the 19th, 8 days ago, things seemed okay until day 4, I started having intense urges to push, almost like my anus was having contractions, this went on all day and night and is still going on, now it's the following Wednesday, 9 days post op and I am in excruciating pain 24/7, occasional short lived relief maybe after a pain pill (like an hour or two) I haven't had a solid bowel movement in 3 days, it's all liquid. the pain is also sharp at times now too. I spend almost every other hour in the tub and I can only get a few hours sleep at night, usually one hour at a time before the pain wakes me up again. also, having difficulty urinating outside of the tub. doctors office said I didn't take my meds as frequently asi should have the days following surgery and that I need to calm down and manage my pain and it will get better. it's been about 32 hours since she said that and I've taken the pills more regularly, but it's not getting any better. I'm starting to feel crazy, like the surgery didn't work. I can't even go to the doctor if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to leave the house for that long. does anyone have any thoughts. Can't really use sitz because sitting hurts and standing up straight is a challenge.
1 like, 4 replies
brent57309 Cor86
Edited
Are you taking a stool softener? If so this might be the problem. I have had the same issue and over the last few days i have noticed a difference for the better by not taking it. I know the doctor recommends its but everyone is different and it hurt me more than helped me. Also are you taking a fiber supplement? If not, you need to to help harden your stool. A watery stool is suprisingly more painful than a hard stool in my opinion. I am almost 4 weeks post op and still having intense pain with some relief finally coming in the last 2 days.
ashl Cor86
Posted
I'm so sorry to hear you're going through this much pain and discomfort. The first few days for me was super painful and horrible just during bowel movement because I had diarrhea and pain was 10/10 passing the stool. I thought I'm going to die and never live like a normal person ever. I got so frustrated and anxious. as soon as my stool got firmer the pain decreased to 3-4/10. my pain during the day was 2/10 for the first few days. I just took 1 Tylenol day 5th. by day 16 post surgery no pain during bowel movement.
I've been jogging a lot, while jogging I felt zero pain. It helped me a lot to heal faster. I stopped taking stool softener or laxative as soon as I got diarrhea ( the second day) , instead I've been eating prunes with each meal and depends on the food I eat between 3 to 6 prunes, it makes the stool buttery soft.
jim05723 Cor86
Edited
I'm 3 days post and I've been having those contractions you speak of daily. They get more constant at night when I don't move, preventing me from sleeping. They're extremely painful and disruptive. I've found i can keep them at bay by walking around, but I haven't figured out a way to sleep yet. I called the doctor and they said this phenomenon is somewhat common after surgeries and they prescribed valium for it which I'm going to start tomorrow. for sitz baths you can buy a plastic tub that goes on your toilet-- maybe you can sit on that?
Veveqn Cor86
Posted
Hi Cor86, one week is the toughest, I hope that the issue was that your pain threshold was low, and that there weren't any other complications. How have you been?