Continued pain

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1

Hi all,

It’s been a while since I posted. I’m now 15 weeks post op (laparotomy) and wondered if anyone could help me by giving me some advise or a similar experience. My ectopic was in my left tube which was removed at the time of surgery, but ever since surgery I have had more pain in the right than the left. This is still ongoing. It’s not completely constant although I think this month is the longest it’s been. The pain is low down on the right side of my abdomen about 3 inches above my scar, it hurts around ovulation so I thought maybe it was ovulation pain but this month it has hurt fairly constantly. The only thing I can think is that I’ve been travelling a lot this month so my diet hasn’t been amazing, I’m wondering if it’s something wrong with my bowel. Has anyone experienced bowel pain like this months after surgery? I can’t get an appointment to see the GP due to the suspension on routine care but it’s really getting me down :pensive:

Thanks in advance

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Dear Bookworm,

We do hear from many women who experience pain after surgery, this can be normal as your body has been through a great deal over the last few months.

The pain may be due to adhesions (scar tissue that binds two parts of the body together) which form and take some time to settle. as you mention, your body may be preparing to ovulate and many women experience ovulation pain when they did not before their ectopic pregnancy - including myself. You also may have a heightened perception because of the sad loss that you have had to go through. If you find you experience offensive smelling discharge or an increased temperature of more than 37°C or just want to be checked out to be on the safe side, it would be worth asking your doctors to run tests to check for infection.

If the pain persists, I suggest keeping a pain diary noting when the pain appears, the intensity on a scale of 0-10 and anything that helps the pain eg resting, hot water bottle, paracetamol etc. Visiting your doctors with this information helps them to assess how best to manage your symptoms.

I am sorry you cannot get to see your GP at the moment but suspension of routine care, should not include worsening pain, and I would suggest seeing If you can talk in the telephone to a GP or some surgeries are offering e consultations.

Sending much love,

Karen x

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3

Hi

I had my left tube removed aswell. I have pain on the left side internally which feels almost like it’s bruised, then pain on both my hips which is like a pulling sensation. I’m the same as you - the pain has gradually started getting worse on the right side. I’ve had an ultrasound and they said everything was normal but I feel far from normal and it’s getting worse. It’s awful. My surgery was a while ago aswell - 27th aug. Just want to feel normal again. Hope you feel better soon x

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Thank you both for your replies.

_SBKM - we were very close together then as my op was the 20th August. I’ve also had a scan which has returned ‘nothing wrong’. It’s really weird isn’t it. I’m sort of starting to see a connection with diet, it seems to have got worse with all the bad food and drink I’ve had over Christmas so I’m keeping a note of when it flairs up worse. I’m seeing an infertility doctor in January so I’m going to seek advice from him about the pain and maybe see if I can have a different type of scan. I’ll keep you posted.

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Hey,

Funny you say about diet as I’ve had stomach issues since my op aswell it’s been a nightmare. My update is that the pain on my left groin is scar tissue pain and the pain on my hips is nerve pain which is getting worse. Apparently some people are just unlucky after surgery I’ve been told.

Did you get any further with a scan? X

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Sorry to drag up an older post but I’m really intrigued to see how you both are? Did you get any further checks or medical attention?

I ask as I’m about 7 weeks post op, I’ve had a few moments where I’ve wondered if something was wrong with my tummy/bowel but also thought food/diet and also tight fitting trousers on my belly button but today I’ve started to get twinges of pain - exactly in the place I was getting the pain when my ectopic pregnancy was identified and then ruptured.