I need help from the ladies again...

[Mskey]

Yesterday I had a Bilateral Tubal Ligation done. Having had 3 children in 10 years- only one of which was planned- I decided to go ahead and have my tubes tied and had my surgery done yesterday. (Complications during my daughters birth had made it impossible to do directly after she was born) There were some complications during the surgery,but my OBGYN said everything turned out alright in the end.

So here's my question,

If any of you have had this procedure done before, how long was your recovery and what was your pain level afterwards. My docs made it sound as if I should be up and around as normal in a day or two, but my abdominal pain is still really awful and I'm still pretty swollen from the gas used to inflate my stomach for the surgery.Since I'm breastfeeding I don't want to use the pain killers I was prescribed unless I absolutley have to, but I'm hurting pretty bad. If anyone has any homeopathic suggestions for pain relief I'd love to try them out .
Also, have any of you who have had this done found that it altered your libido in any way. I have heard from several women that their sex drive dropped off quite a bit afterwards.
Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[warrior queen]

i had this done when i was having my 3rd child - as an add to the caesarian. so i can't comment on the post-pain bit really, because i had the caesar to cope with.
but if it's anything like the pain i had from having a laparoscopy (they gas you up there also) then it took about 3 days for the majority of the pain to go, and i found that i had pain up in my shoulders also from the gas travelling through my system.
i took the drugs - no reason to be in more pain than necessary, i reckon!

as for the sex drive thing - well, i think it increased mine, because now i don't have to worry about getting pregnant (i had 3 kids while on the pill, seems my testosterone levels increased to counter the eostrogen and progesterone in the pill)
i haven't found any negatives at all from having the ligation done.

hope you feel better soon

 

[mizbhvn]

I have not had a Tubal, but did have a hysterectomy via laparoscopy. I felt much better than expected and was back to work on the 4th day. But I had 3 C-sections prior to that so this was a piece of cake.
But my libido all but disappeared after my surgery. Its been over a year and up until lately I could never ahd sex again and I think I would have been fine with it. But mr dr prescribed Estrastat, and my drive has gone through the ROOF!!! Husband keeps telling me I'm gonna kill him before long....we are having so much FUN!!

Good luck with everything, I would also suggest asking your OBGYn for pain killers that do not harm baby, or taking tylenol was always considered safe when I was nursing.

Hope all is well.

 

[Mskey]

thanks much ladies!

the OB assured me that the Percoset was alright to take while I was nursing which sorta suprised me what with it being a narcotic and all; but I went ahead and popped one a while ago and it seems to be taking the edge off a bit.

I've been feeling a bit of pain in the right shoulder too, but I was told to expect that so I wasn't to worried. The OB said that the "norm" for being back to normal was 1-2 days but anything up to 4-5 days wouldn't be unheard of and so long as the pain wasn't getting worse I shouldn't be concerned....I say easy for her to say since it doesn't feel as if someones been doing batting practice on her belly!

 

[kiwis29]

I had my tubes tied..I am confused though..I did not have any gassy kind of stuff. the doc made about an inch incision in my belly button and fixed me so to speak..I hurt for about two days but definately not from being blown up. What the hell???I sure hope my tubes are tied and they were done right..I already have three kids and don't want anymore!!I'm sorry not to change the subject on your whole thread I am just a little obviously..HHHMMM. Anyways, percocet is a pretty strong pain killer. What mg did they prescribe you??I guess I would also say that the doc probably knows that you are nursing right??And would not prescribe anything that would hurt the baby if taken in moderation..Maybe you should call and ask atleast it might calm your worries a bit..Goodluck and I hope the pain goes away soon.

Edited to say: I guess I should have read your above post more thoroughly. I see now that your doc does know that you are nursing. Sorry!!

 

[lovechild27]

hmm...I didnt have my tubes tied but I had a laparoscopy...they said I should be jumping through hoops a few hours after...I felt like poop for a few days....I think docs are sometimes a little optimistic about some peoples recovery times...good luck to feeling better!

 

[Mskey]

I had my tubes tied..I am confused though..I did not have any gassy kind of stuff. the doc made about an inch incision in my belly button and fixed me so to speak..I hurt for about two days but definately not from being blown up. What the hell???I sure hope my tubes are tied and they were done right..I already have three kids and don't want anymore!!I'm sorry not to change the subject on your whole thread I am just a little obviously..HHHMMM. Anyways, percocet is a pretty strong pain killer. What mg did they prescribe you??I guess I would also say that the doc probably knows that you are nursing right??And would not prescribe anything that would hurt the baby if taken in moderation..Maybe you should call and ask atleast it might calm your worries a bit..Goodluck and I hope the pain goes away soon.

Edited to say: I guess I should have read your above post more thoroughly. I see now that your doc does know that you are nursing. Sorry!!

kiwis~
I don't know how they did your tubal, but with mine they made a small incision through the belly button that the laparascope was passed through and then another small incision right at the pubic bone- think bikini line- where the actual Fixing was done. In order to have a better visual field for the surgery they inflate the abdomen with CO2 gas which can travel through the system a little bit post op and cause some pain in the shoulders.
About the drugs, even though the OB said they were alright to use while nursing I noticed a marked drowsiness in the baby the other day after I took one and nursed and so I think I'll still try and stay away from them as much as possible, although right now my whole body is crying for a little pain relief!


Lovechild~

as you see a tubal is done in much the same way as a lap. I had a laparoscopy done last summer and had a similar pain experience. Same thing...docs said I'd be up and at em in a day and a week later I was still wincing every time I used my abdomianl muscles. I think my OB was optimistic about my returning to work in a day or two top say the least. Right now I can't even bend over to pet the cat much less chase after kids for an afternoon.
Ahhh modern medicine...gotta love it!

 

[OregonGal]

one suggestion might be to pump out milk for a few feedings (depending on how often your baby eats) then take the pill, feed the baby the clean milk and pump and toss the milk from the time you are medicated.

 

[Mskey]

ty Oregongal, I think that's what I'm going to end up doing. I've never had much luck with pumping, but I can't stand the thought of the baby getting bombed on painkillers just cuz I'm being a wus about my pain level!

 

[Vixandra]

Speaking from the Medical side:
Docs give the average opomistic recovery time post-surgury. If they tell you that you'll be back to normal in three days, most patients will take three days. They say five, it ups. Some patients will even ask for pain meds when they are not in pain, just think they're supposed to.
Be glad it wasn't a fully hysterectomy that moved the bladder. THat results in bladder training via urinary catheter- yuck to the max.

*hugs* I wish you a speedy recovery.

 

[Mskey]

ouch!!! Doesn't sound like fun at all!

TY vix...I'm doing my best to not be a baby, but damn if this isn't just flat out kicking my ass in the pain dept.

 

[curvacious]

not the same but I did have my gallbladder out 1.5 years ago by laproscopy. Was told that getting up and moving around would help to get that gas out. It seemed to work for me----when I sat too long I had pains but when I walked around it helped to lessen them.

 

[Georgia Girl]

I know its going to sound weird but if you have a rocking chair ....... rock.

The rocking motion moves the gas around in the body and helps keep it from becoming trapped in one location, it will also help you to expel some of it. The motion is also soothing to the body by its very nature.

It gets your body back to moving rather than being still, which is not a good thing. Its typical to want to be still when you hurt but when you realize that it takes only two days for atrophy to begin really effecting a muscle rocking sounds pretty good.

The light amount of sleepiness will not harm your baby as long as you are able to wake and feed the baby without great problems.