rectocele repair, pain & medication

I was wondering anyone who has the rectocele/enterocele repair and how long the pain has lasted and when they stopped taking the pain medications/narcotic type and just went with ibuprophen? I tried it yesterday and lets just say i'm not ready for that yet. I also tried to just switch to vicodin from the percocet and its not enough pain relief. I also want to get off them for the consipation side effect. I don't think any of this pain is from the tvh, just the prolapse repairs. Any advice is helpful. thanks for listening.
- justina

Hi justy,
I had the rectocele repair and a bladder sling along with my TVH. I used pain meds off and on for the entire 6 weeks. My dr refilled them for me at my 5 week appt. I will say that I still have some of those. I didn't end up needing them much.
I'm not sure your age, I'm 52 and I had not been well for a long time so it was a slow go for me. I also have a very busy house and wasn't as good at staying down as my dr would have liked, which might have made it even slower healing. We're all different in how we heal, many on here seem to have been able to do without the prescription meds very early on. I would try just taking Ibuprofen and it just didn't cut it for me. Even at 3 weeks I had a terrible episode where I over did and was trying to just take the over the counter meds and had to call my dr. I hurt so bad.
For much of this time I could get by using one or two pills each day. I don't know if I ever took them around the clock. If I did it was only the first few days. My policy was to take as few as I possibly could, but if I needed them I took them. I worked hard to eat a lot of fiber and drink my water. I didn't have much of a problem with my bowels when I would eat right.
You are very early in your recovery. I admire you for your desire not to take them, but I hope you won't let yourself suffer needlessly. There's no harm in taking them if you need them and you heal beter when you're not in pain.
I hope your recovery continues to go well. Be patient and keep pampering the princess. This is your time to heal.
's, Rita

I totally feel with you. I had a vag hyst with repairs and then three weeks later had another rectocele repair. I am two and half weeks out from the last surgery and am in extreme pain. I am on demerol and T3 and that only dulls the pain, it doesn't take it away. I too am wondering when I can get on with normal life. I can't even sit for any length of time.

I hope we all get some relief from the pain soon. I have heard that rectocele surgeries are one of the worst for pain.

thanks rita and tamera, I'm having a hard time being in this medication fog with my energetic 4yo daughter and 1yo son around with all this beautiful weather that we are having in washington. maybe we'll have an indian summer and i can enjoy it then i suppose.

- justina

tamara i was looking at your signature. we are the same age. how did you know your rectocele repair failed? what kind of graft did you have for the first one. i had the porcine (sp?) graft.

thanks again - justina

I knew mine failed because I still had a bulge coming out of my vagina and a pocket in the rectum. Apparently I was allergic to the stitch material they used and my body rejected them and damaged the skin around where the stitches had been. Both the first and second surgeries were done with mesh. Feel free to PM me if you want more details. By the way I have a 4 year old son and an 11 month old girl and can totally relate.

Justina -

You live not far from where I work -- Federal Way. I had a TVH and a rectocele repair with a pigskin graft last November. The first week was by far the worst. A couple times the pain got away from me and I couldn't control it. Luckily things improved greatly after that and while I still needed the pain meds for another couple weeks it wasn't continuously like that first week. You're still very early on in your recovery so try not to get discouraged yet.

I found an ice bag helped tremendously. I couldn't sit at all for three weeks, and it took six weeks before I was sitting comfortably for any length of time.

This WILL get better! I am so glad now that I had the rectocele repaired!

Justina,
Don't feel bad if you still need pain meds! my Dr only gave me enough for 3 or 4 days. I tried only taking them once a day and taking motrin at other times. I had almost a full prescription of percocet left over from shoulder surgery last fall and still have about a weeks worth left. I have my check up tomorrow and am going to ask about how long the recocele repair takes to heal- I think I'm having problems with the cystocele repair as well, i am retaining fluid and it's very hot when I do go. I had a TVH and did not keep ovaries, so woo hah! instant menopause- HRT has been helpful for power surges but it's messed with my emotions and I think anytime the emotions are a mess, the body will feel more pain. Add into this mess an ongoing back problem- degenerative disc disorder- and I am having a ball!
I found eating right is the least problematic, but find that after eating, my upper stomach is so bloated that I feel like I'm 6 mos pregnant.
It WILL get better- give yourself some more time and you'll see each day gets a little better. I had fully intended to go back to work after 3 wks, but doc said absolutely not, 6 wks was the minimum. I hope he releases me tomorrow so I can get back to a routine.
Most importantly, keep connected with friends and family, I went to lunch with my girlfriends each Friday just like normal, although I had to have one pick me up the first time as I was not allowed to drive. I also figured that I could still sing and play in the band at church, so I kept that as my focus to "keep connected". It has helped build up some stamina and seems to help distract from the pain part of this great adventure!
I am so glad that you are a "sister" and not alone!
Beth
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TVH, ovaries & tubes removed, rectocele repair, cystocele repair, tissue repair