Antibiotics after surgery/Painful sex

1)Has anyone been given antibiotics after rectocele/bladder surgery? I didn't receive any and as a result developed a severe abcess, possibly 2 abcesses. Is it standard to receive antibiotics?

2) Its been 5 months since surgery, and I still am not able to have sex without screaming in pain. Should this pain have gone away by now, and what could be causing the pain?

Debbie,
What kind of surgery did you have? Was mesh used in the repairs?

I recommend consulting your doctor about this issue.

I had painful sex after my hyst, rectocele and tot surgery because the doctor put in synthetic mesh that eroded through the skin of my vagina.

Good luck.

Hello,

I am sorry to read you are having such pain 5 months after your surgery. My doctor had me on Cipro for 10 days after my repair surgery. When I was given the green light for sex it was a little uncomfortable the first few times but after that, all was/is well.

I would definately call your doctor - having that much pain during sex warrants further investigation.

Please call your doctor and let us know how you make out..

Sorry to hear you are still having pain.

Ive had two VVF repair surgeries and each time on discharge I was given antibiotics. That may well have been because I had a catheter. I also know that they gave me IV antibiotics whilst I was in theatre.

Also each time I had the catheter removed I was given either oral antibiotics or an antibiotic injection.

Donna

The surgeries I had were rectocele, A & P repair, perineal repair, and a bladder sling. And they used mesh. My doctor told me at my 2 week checkup everything was normal, although I tried to tell him things were re-swelling and pain was re-occurring. I went home and suffered it out until the pain was severe enough to go to the hospital. At the hospital 3 doctors all said it was abcessed. But when I tried to tell my surgeon, he said there was nothing that would have caused an infection and looked at me as though I were lying about the abcesses! (He does have acess to hospital records, doesn't he?!) Then I tried to tell him Im not able to have sex, that its too painful, and he said there wasn't a reason for that either. But I gaurantee my hubby is a very frustrated man. We tried 4-5 times in the last few months, and its over before it starts, its just too painful. And this is coming from someone who tolerates pain pretty well....

I think you are getting no joy from your current surgeon you should ask for a second opinion.

When I had my TAH the urologist said I didnt have a hole in my bladder. Turns out I had a 2cm hole so there you go. Sometimes you feel you are banging your head against a brick wall. I know I did and I knew peeing out of my vagina was not stress incontinence like they tried to tell me. Get a 2nd opinion thats what I did.

All the best.

Donna

Debbie,
My Uro/Gyn's policy is that everyone who gets mesh gets an antibiotic. You can't go back and undo what's been done but it's not fair you've had to suffer like this.
As far as the pain with sex if you look at any of the research, risks and complications to mesh augmentation it clearly states dyspareunia (painful sex) is a common side effect. I had the same problem. As much as I tried to grin and bear it the tears would just start flowing from my eyes the second DH would try. It got to the point where he said he wouldn't do it anymore because he's so afraid to hurt me. My Gyn is great, we discussed it and he gave me Lidocaine. I used it about 15 minutes before sex, rubbing it in vaginally but being careful to avoid the clitoris. It worked pretty well and DH and I were able to have some success. So check with your Dr to see if this is something that can help.
The other suggestion is Physical Therapy. Your vaginal tissues have been asaulted, there's a foreign body in there and your pelvic floor can spasm causing pain whenever there is pressure put against it. Trained Pelvic Floor therapists have techniques that can help the pelvic floor muscles to relax. Mention it to your Dr and if he doesn't seem helpful in helping you to have pain free sex then you need to get a second opinion.
Michelle

Keep fighting to find out why it still hurts. I have been fighting and finally am going to start PT in mid November - yeah. I hope you find out what is causing your pain soon! Do switch doc's if yours isn't helping you. I had to go through several. Hugs.

I would recommend finding another doctor--preferably a urogyn. I had to go to 4 doctors before I found someone who was willing and able to help me with mesh erosion. I also had painful sex. The mesh had eroded and wrinkled, shortening my vagina. At first my husband couldn't feel it, but as it continued to erode, it started to hurt him.

Try to find someone at a good teaching hospital who has dealt with these kinds of problems. I finally found a urogyne at the Mayo Clinic. The doctors I went to before I found him either didn't diagnose the problem, or tried to tell me I could live with it--it wasn't going to cause infection etc. Of course that wasn't an option for a 53 year old woman would wanted a sex life!l

One doctor I consulted had been involved in a study to approve this mesh. Of course he was excited about the stuff. He did think that the doc who had put it in had done it wrong--which is possible.

The doctors at the Mayo won't touch the stuff. They have seen too many problems with the use of mesh for this purpose.

I would start your search asap. You don't have to live like this.

Good luck. If I can be of any help--let me know. You can privately message me if you want my doctors name.