How painful is it?`

I'm just wondering if anyone has had a c-section and if a TAH is similar in pain and recovery? I'll probably have a TAH in May and just wondering if I can expect the same kind of recovery as my two c-sections??? or is it worse and I should start worrying and planning differently for help around the house etc. thanks.

I have had two c sections and a hysterectomy .

C section #1 : i had an epirudal and the anaesthetist I suspect did the puncture before the local took effect and god I felt every thing . Threading was most uncomfortable .But once the stuff took effect I was ok .The delivery itself was great

Recovery : I felt the pain soon as they were pushing me out of the OT and in the wards I had pethidine post OP . Side effect nausea . The first time I took a step was terrible but it gets better after that .

Once out and about I was raring to go .
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C section #2 : spinal . Thi s one was great . the anaesthetist was great and gentle .I just felt pressure when the puncture was done .

Recovery : I was relatively pain free . I think its what they put into my meds in the spine that did it .I was able to get up post OP the next day without assistence .
Once out and about I didnt have any bad experiences strength wise .

__

Hysterectomy :
I had a GA .I felt pain through the haze as Iwoke because the pain meds hadnt taken effect yet . I was gripping the bed rails in the recovery room and the hand of any nurse unfortunate to pass by LOL .It was a gnawing type of pain .

I felt nauseous .

Recovery : I reacted to the pethidine badly this time about nd threw up continuously for the first two or so days . .. especially during the first 24 hours . As such I was not allowed to get out of bed until SUnday ( my surgery wason a friday )

Once home I found myself tired and unable to cope with chores . I had to get them donein stages .. even that tires me out .

I found it odd then that it was the same cut third time over but I had problems with recovery /

mei

Hi---- If you had 2 c sections you can do this. I had 2 c sections and found a TAH to be similar pain wise. My first csection was a night mare --- emergency general anesthesia terrible pain complications etc etc. My second section was much easier than the first and recoverywas very comparable to my TAH.
Keep up with your pain meds and dont be a hero----stay on top of the pain and walk as soon as they will let you in the hospital after the surgery. At home follow the doctors orders to a tee and dont over do it. Rest and drink alot of water. Take very good care of yourself. For the first 2 weeks I hardly did anything.

This is my story. Your mileage may vary. Do a search on the message board and you will get a lot of stories and opinions. They are two very different operations inside.....I think one advantage we have is we have already had abdominal surgery so we know how to get in and out of bed , how to hold ourselves when walking etc---its similar to how the second csection can be easier than than the first. Good luck ---kangaa

My C-section was 21 years ago and don't remember much other than I didn't feel a thing and thought it was cool to be awake thru the whole thing. Also remember getting up the next morning and taking a shower. I think recovery is different with a c-section because we had something awsome to get well for. This surgery I feel will be ok but I am 20 years older and a little afraid of the recovery.
Marilyn

Hi, I had my c-section 12 years ago and my hyster in May 2003. You are asking the same question I asked before my surgery! I am so glad I can help!

With my c-section, they had to put me completely under and when I woke up I was in terrible pain that could not be managed. It felt like a bomb had been set off in my belly. But, once they were able to manage the pain...i.e. get the PCA pump working right, I was just fine......With my c-section, I took narcotic pain relievers for at least 10 days following my surgery.

With my hyster, I had a new type of pain management system called On-Q and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is having this surgery abdominally. It is not a narcotic at all. It is a super cool new device that is hooked directly up to your incision. A tity tube is inserted into your incision and it constantly bathes the area with a numbing drug. It was so cool and worked so well that the only pain meds I ever needed following my hyster was Motrin. Imagine, no constipation from the narcotics..... and no nausea, no light headedness or brain fog. It made all the difference in the world to me.

Recovery wize, another lady put it correctly (I think) when she said that we (who have had c-sections) are already prepared because we already know how to sit up, cough, and move around from having our c-sections. In that respect it does feel pretty much the same. In fact, the surgeries felt so similar to me that I can still remember dreaming after my hyst that I was looking for my daughter so I could nurse her! How weird is that! In my opinion, however, I felt like it took me much longer to regain my usual energy than I did after my c-section. At three weeks I felt pretty great. At 6 weeks I felt awesome. But at 4 months I was still getting tired if I had a particularly busy day. It's been a little over 8 months now and I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I am still not doing the heavy workouts that I used to do pre-surgery, but at this point I am feeling like I might be able to (if that makes any sense!).

Your body goes through a lot of changes with both surgeries and it seems that I do remember that it almost took me a year to feel completely normal (physically, HA!) after my c-section too.

My biggest fear was the pain involved with this surgery. I am a total weanie as far as pain tollerance goes and I am also alergic to lots of drugs so I was really stressing over it. You should really check out the On-Q system. It really helps in that initial first week of pain that is the worst. After that, for me anyway, it was all down hill and I could manage. Some ladies take a drug called Toridol and just rave about it. It is another type of heavy duty anti-inflamitory like Motrin that does not cause all the side effects that narcotics do. Talk to you doctor about On-Q because he/she will be the one who has to hook that one up. Your A-man is who you should talk to about Toridol or any other pain relief. Also, you can ask your A-man for something pre-surgery to help you with nausea and anxiety. I got both types of drugs in my IV pre-surgery and I never got sick and I felt pretty relaxed.

All the best!

Val

Thanks for the info. - knowing I've got two c-sections under my belt (literally) Now i feel more confident of handling a TAH. Thanks to all of you for responding and for reminding me of the walking part - I now remember doing laps at the hospital. (sigh) Recovery is such hard work!

Hi Runninggal
I was like you wondering if TAH compared to c-section. I had my my TAH on 2/17, and I can say it hurt more than the c-section, but was prepared for it. Most things I read said it would hurt more due to "things" being removed. The incision does not hurt more (vertical) but I do have more pain inside. I did demerol the first day and night, but did tylenol after that, and have not had nothing since Saturday. Had a bm today (actually my 4th one...where is this stuff coming from???) and that left me in some pain. I think knowing in advance helped me alot, tho I have said a few times...."why is this hurting more???" and then my dh just looks at me
Good luck!!
chele

My C-section was 31 years ago. I had my tubes tied 16 years ago. For the C-section, I had a spinal and hated it. For the tubal I had GA and I think I only had a shot of Demerol once after surgery.

I was given literature on my hospital's pain protocol. They use a PCA and I will be given either Morphine or Dilaudid. I'll lighten up on my diet starting tomorrow.

I've had brutal periods so it's not like I can't handle some pain. I'm not overly concerned about it.

Thanks again for sharing....I agree from reading on here the worst part is the wait. The one thing I think will be easier with this TAH recovery vs. a c-section is not having an infant to care for. No waking DH to push me out of bed to get the crying babe. I figure I'll be the one crying this time! LOL Pain on the inside???