Overdid it ~ when to call the doctor?

Hi All,
I had a TAH on 6/5 and was doing pretty well after the first 9 days or so. I think I overdid it yesterday and have spent the entire day today with what felt like labor pains. I had little pain before today; just using Tylenol, so the pain today is surprising. Anyone have any similar experiences? How can you tell when it is time to call the doctor?
Angidee

I have had similar pains. As far as when you should call the doctor, no one can give you the answer. Everyone's body is different. Do what your body tells you. Try to remember how to rate your pain and start rating it. If the pain becomes untolerable then call your doctor. Only you know when it is the right time to call your doc. I hope you get to feeling better.

Angidee

I'm sorry you're experiencing this.

A hysterectomy is major surgery, with the initial and vital healing taking approximately 6 weeks, during which time complete rest is usually advised. Full recovery can then be anywhere from 3 months to a year. Have you found our <link> Post-Op Page yet? It's packed with information, including this article Doing Too Much, Too Soon which explains in more detail.

Please don't hesitate to call your doctor since it's always best to err on the side of caution. Only s/he can determine if there's a problem and may wish to see you.

Will you let us know how you get on? Please take good care as you continue to heal.

You need to work up slowly to work or exercise. I just walked around the house for the first 2 weeks. I started doing the dishes again at about 2 weeks. I started to walk 2 to 3 miles at 2 1/2 weeks, but at only 2.5 mph. At 4 weeks I was walking up to 4 miles at just over 3 mph. I took it in small steps and never had any unusual pain. My doc gave me the OK to do all of this if I felt fine doing it. The thing that I did NOT do is to take a big jump in anything. Increasing what you do in small steps allows you to know if you are doing a little too much without doing any damage. Taking a big step can result in hurting yourself before you actually feel it happening. You don't have to do nothing for 6 weeks if you take it slowly and in small steps. It also depends on how physically fit you were before the surgery.

If the pain is more like it was 3 or 4 days after your surgery then you are probably fine and just need a few days of rest. If it is so great that you cannot sleep or walk around the house then I think I would call my doctor if it were me. I never had any children, so I don't know how bad labor pains are, but it sounds like you might want to call your doctor.

I over did it two weeks ago. I went to the store -2 weeks post op. I had bleeding the next day and had to call my doctor. He said I over did. After that I took it easy and was fine.