How bad was your post-op pain?

I has my surgery on 13 May ... I was asleep even before they gave me the pre-op meds ... I was soooo tired and the bed was comfortable and the warm blanket was fantastic. When I woke up about 12 + hours later I was rather doopy but not in any real pain - just uncomfortable from the IV line in one hand, drain, oxygen, monitors etc attached. Apparently being asleep for 12 + hours was a bit of a concern for staff but I had a great sleep. I slept a great deal for the next day or two and didn't have any real pain except really bad headaches. Part of the reason I believe was because I had gone from Optifast and multivitiamins to just fluids in the drip ... so while I was hydrated I was missing the electrolytes. I had a couple of morphine shots up until I was able to have something other then just the fluids or water. I found sipping water was very painful - so I only managed the one cup of green cordial they made me drink - they tried to give me panadol tablets for the pain not seeming to understand I couldn't sip water so I couldn't swallow a tablet. Walking around was fine - getting up and down was a little uncomfortable so I needed to be a little careful. The removal of the staples was fine - hardly noticed them being removed, the drain was another matter - it was very painful and felt like half my stomach was being ripped out. Once the drain was removed I found drinking became a lot easier.

Once out of hospital I headed to the coast for a "holiday" ... took a nice walk two or three times a day along the beach and otherwise took it easy. Felt much better by the second weekend.

16 days out I only occassionally have a little pain if I swallow too big a mouthful, wounds are healing nicely ... but sadly I have lost me love of coffee (can't even stand the coffee optifast which I loved before) and my taste buds have changed. I am now craving KFC potato and gravy - something I hadn't particularly liked much before.

I am currently barely getting through one optifast shake (200ml), 1/2 small tub of yoghurt and 600ml of water a day ... I have almost no appetite a sip of fluid is enough to make me feel full.

Oh ... and the great news is that I have already dropped 10kg's .... and have absolutely no regrets at all. Best decision ever ...

I am 3 days post op right now and I was astounded at how little pain I had I was able to walk completely upright the next morning and did at least 4 rounds of the wards a day. The most discomfort I have is in the shoulder and across the top of my abdo, the stomach is hard and swollen and I am retaining both wind and water the sharpest pain is when I burp it is not good farts are like heaven.

I was on the drip as well as the pump they took the pump away late afternnon the next day then it has been tablet endone and paracetamol if you want it. I woke up rough this morning and bought some liquid paracetamol but am OK now I'm more mobile.

I have been sleeping on my side from first night with pillow pushed against it. I AM IN SHOCK HOW GOOD I WENT. Like you I was so worried the pain would be horrendous as the last op I had was a botched caesarian which nearly killed me. I know everyone is different but don't get all wound up about what might be there is plenty of pain meds available in hosp and they send you home with Endone which is so strong you can only take it every 12hrs.

I did not let those thoughts put me off and I wouldn't let them put you off either.

I didn't have any morphine just panadol. The first 5 days weren't too good, the incisions weren't painful at all it was just wind pain I suffered from. It was shocking. I didnt have any drains either. Buscopan helped and regular panadol took the edge off and degas tablets helped with the wind. After a week I was much better :) all well worth it! Nearly 4 months out now and loving it.

woke up and struggled to breath, was on some kind ventilator, I have asthma so that would be why, because of this I had pain breathing. I couldn't wee for a few days as couldn't get out of bed, had to get nurse to use something to help. didn't shower till last day. one of my incisions did not heal quickly so had anti-biotics. had panadol but took home panadeine forte in case

Hi, I was the same,hardly and pain and fast recovery.i only used the morphine pump a few times the first night and that was it.i had no drains at all and each incision was sealed over with a type of clear varnish so I could shower straight away.I had four incisions with the one on the right side being the largest,could say they were just slightly sore but tolerable,that one on the right was slightly sore for the longest time as it was the biggest one. Did not have too much wind to get rid of and no shoulder tip pain at all.I was up walking around about three hours afterwards and is was easy,you do find an easy way to get out of bed,one side is easier than the other,you will know.I was laying my side the very first night too which is rare for me as I usually sleep on my back due to hip pain on my side. every one is different and depends on their personal pain tolerance but you do get over it very quickly,it is actually amazing how quick you do do bounce back after having a good part of your stomach removed,it heals very quickly.

I had absolutely no pain after surgery. I was having panadole via the drip every few hours or so and a voltaren suposetory every morning. My actual stomach (inside) had no pain as I believe there arent many nerves arount the area... the only thing I had was slight stinging on a few incision points when I moved or coughed. My main discomfort was the stomach drain. I had about 30cms of drain inside my body and when I moved a certain way it felt like it was rubbing on my insides which was the worst, it didn't hurt it was just so uncomfortable and made me feel yuck! other than that I had a few panadol osteo tablets a day for about 5 days after I got home even though I wasn't in any pain I think I just wanted that reassurance if I did come across any.... GOOD LUCK!

First 7 days were agonising. Couldn't swallow any painkillers, uncontrollable diarrhoea every half hour and vomiting about 5 times a day. And vomitting with a newly sewn stomach and 5 freshly sewn abdominal incisions is absolutely awful. The actual pain from the surgery is bearable, it's everything else around it. I couldn't get comfortable because of the soreness, which kind of felt like there was a knife sticking out of my stomach the whole time....stabbing pain that hurts more when moving but ok if still.

Hopefully my experience won't scare you, but instead will prepare you for the worst so you will be pleasantly surprised when experiencing it for yourself. 2 others family members had gotten the surgery done, both who tolerated the pain much more but also found the vomiting in diarrhoea the worst. Post op gas, as much as I heard a lot of horror stories about it, wasn't an issue at all for me.

Even though it was the worst week my life, I am now just over 9 months post op and have lost 40kg, and hoping to slowly lose another 10kg. I am a size 8 and the happiest I have ever been in my life. I would happily relive this experience as it was so worth it. Good luck!

I was on morph for 3 days then endone that sorted the pain. My stomach muscles hurt more than anything else. I am male and dont have the pain threshold that women do. The more drugd the better for me.

I was on morphine for a week via IV. Then the lovely little tablets that make allll the pain go away and you drift off for a nana nap, for a couple weeks after that.

I have a good pain thresh hold also and had morphine by needle 2 days and paracetamol for 3. After that it was uncomfortable when getting up or if I took too big a sip of liquid or swallowed tablets but other then that ok. I didn't need anymore pain relief

Mine was pretty good, no sharp pains apart from the 5 holes when getting up of course and couldnt bend. I only had endone liquid which was disgusting but worked.

I also have a high pain threshold. It was more of an uncomfortable pain.

Thanks Sassy,

I was hoping my sister had the morph. button, sadly not.

I'm nervous that the pain will be worse than band removal, as this time things are being sliced and diced inside.

Like I said, I'm not goods with pain and I'm working myself into a frenzy.

Would be stoked if it was just the same as my band removal.

Hi ozchick, I have only had the sleeve and I have a fairly high pain tolerance.i have the morphine pain pump which goes through your iv and I only used it about 5 to 6 times the first night plus it helps you sleep a bit more comfortably,after that I had a couple of doses of liquid Panadol on the first day then I did not need any more pain killers.Sounds like you will recover well from getting the sleeve done and you may only get four incisions the odd one depending on their size may have five.from what I have read on this site most have more pain with the band recovery,even though it is quite a large part of your stomach going it does not have to deal with the possible damage a band may have already caused.all the best for your sleeve op sounds like you will recover well.

Hi all,

Can you tell me your pain experience and what pain relief you required and for how long?

I've just had my band out 2 weeks ago in prep for sleeve in July.

I was quite surprised that I did not even require panadol after waking. With 7 holes, I was tender but no pain at all. My pain threshold is usually quite low.

I have read that removal of band can be worse pain than the sleeve surgery.


I am expecting substantial pain with sleeve.


I've just returned from visiting my sister who just had her sleeve a few hours ago. She is still sleeping it off.

I asked the nurse if she had morph. for pain. She said no, only if she asks for it.