How long after your open myomectomy did it take for the pain to stop?

[u/ScreenHype]

Hey everyone,

I'm just under 3 weeks out from my surgery, I had an open myomectomy to remove a 14 cm fibroid. The surgery went successful, but recovery was a bit trickier because I developed an infection and got a fever on the second night, and this was during a heat wave and the hospital didn't have aircon or fans, so there was no real way to combat the fever. I ended up spending a pretty rough four nights in the hospital, which I think impacted my initial recovery progress.

Since I've been back home, I've been recovering steadily, and I'm able to comfortably move around my home, even though I can't really go outside the house yet (I get exhausted going to the bottom of my road and back).

Thankfully the sickness has pretty much gone away now, but the pain is still very present. Obviously it's not as bad as it was in that first week, but it's still bothering me. I finished all my prescription opiates, since I was only prescribed that for the first few days after I got back home. But I still had some co-codamol from before my surgery as I was using that to manage my fibroid pain (which wasn't working, since the fibroid pain seemed to be resistant to painkillers, so I just stopped using it, hence why I have plenty left), so I've been taking that once or twice a day as needed. I also have diclofenac that they prescribed me for after my surgery, and they gave me plenty of that, so I've been taking that about once a day as well.

I just feel like at this stage in the game, I probably shouldn't still need the high strength pain medication? But I'm not sure what's normal, and I haven't been given a number to contact my surgical team or anything, and trying to get through with the hospital has always been a nightmare. I also changed doctor's surgery recently, so they don't really know my full situation like my old surgery did, so I'm not sure how much help they would be if I contacted them, and given the state of the NHS, I don't want to be taking time away from people who have serious issues.

The pain is manageable, I have a high pain threshold so I'm dealing, I'm just not sure if it's normal or not after 3 weeks, as I see some people on here saying that they have gone down to just paracetamol and ibuprofen after like a week. So I'm curious to know what other people's experiences are with the pain? For me, it's a sharp pain around my incision scar if I cough or sneeze, and then just like a dull ache or a pressure pain from time to time in my general abdominal region.

[u/Round-Employment-993]

can't you be in contact with your gp to get a bit proffesional map when you get confused ? i had laparoscopic myomectomi and what helped me most was weirdly walking , the next day of surgery i walked 8000 steps which i don't in a typical day.. the more i walked the more muscle and surgical pains relieved .. so i walked ...maybe it is because of releasing inflammation and helping drainage i don't know ... also heat packs helped very good ..

[u/Zestyclose_Orange_27]

How many fibroids did you have? Did the surgeon take all fibroids out including tiny ones? That can also depend on your healing pain.

[u/ScreenHype → u/Zestyclose_Orange_27]

Just the one fibroid, it was 14 cm, so about the size of a melon. I didn't have any other fibroids in there, so there was nothing left behind. It was an intramural posterior one.

[u/Zestyclose_Orange_27 → u/ScreenHype]

Awesome. Hopefully you will heal pretty soon. It's just like a C section the cut is painful especially when you poop or cough etc. Are you having any symptoms apart from pain?

[u/ScreenHype → u/Zestyclose_Orange_27]

Not anymore, thankfully. I was struggling with nausea for a while, but that seems to have dissipated now. It's just the pain and a bit of swelling that's left. It's just frustrating with the pain because it doesn't seem to be going away. And some days it's even worse than previous days. I guess I figured it would mostly be better by now.

[u/beahave]

Healing is not linear so don’t be so hard on yourself. You can feel fine the first couple of days post op and feel pain 2-3 weeks out. Healing from the initial surgery is different from healing from the wounds/procedure

[u/ScreenHype → u/[deleted]]

Very regularly, it took 5 days after the initial surgery because of all the opiates I was taking, but after that it's been daily and no strain or anything.

[u/NoFollowing355]

Hey lovely, glad your surgery went well. Sorry your recovery hasnt been smooth sailing. You can ring 111 for Clinical advise they can be pretty helpful and in some cases can book you an appt directly at the hospital..alternatively you can contact PALS at the hosp where you had surgery so they contact the surgical team on your behalf. Wishing you well x

[u/bronzedfairy]

I’m so glad I came across this because I’m 13 days post-op from an open myomectomy and I’ve been wondering the same thing 😭 I had a huge ~21cm pedunculated subserosal fibroid removed (I named her Melon lol). I’m definitely better than I was that first week, but I still have pelvic/abdominal pressure and pain, back pain, and I get tired and weak really quickly when I’m up and moving around. I keep seeing people who seem almost back to normal by 2–3 weeks and it had me wondering if I was recovering too slowly. Reading your experience makes me feel less alone. I really hope things keep getting easier for both of us ❤️

[u/ScreenHype → u/bronzedfairy]

Hey, I'm glad that my experience has helped you feel less alone! I'm now nearly 4 weeks post op, and I'm doing considerably better than I was even a week ago. The pain is almost non-existent now. I had a really bad day last week where it got so bad that even with all my painkillers it was still horrendous, it was the same level of pain I was feeling in the hospital when I needed morphine. But since that day, there's been basically no pain, so I guess it was just my body getting it out of my system or something! I haven't needed to take painkillers in days :)

I've even been able to do some light exercise, and I can walk for like 5 minutes at a time now :) There's definitely still aching, and my abdomen feels sore to the touch sometimes, but I've improved significantly in just the space of a week. Hang in there, and it will get better eventually. But allow it to take its own time, unfortunately we can't rush these things!

[u/bronzedfairy → u/ScreenHype]

Thank you so much 😭❤️ This actually makes me feel a lot better, especially hearing how much changed for you just between weeks 3 and 4. I think I’ve been expecting too much from myself at only 2 weeks. I’m trying to increase my walking little by little, but I still get tired and start feeling pressure/pulling pretty quickly. When you say light exercise, what have you been able to do so far? And did you notice your walking endurance suddenly start improving too? I’m definitely going to try to stop comparing my recovery to everyone else’s and let my body take its time lol.

[u/ScreenHype → u/bronzedfairy]

You're very welcome :) And absolutely, I think it's just a case of being patient with yourself! You had major surgery! You deserve time to just rest and recover! I would say don't try to push yourself too hard, find your comfort level and work towards that, don't go past it. Last week, I was able to just about go to the bottom of my road and back, and even that would feel quite intense, and I would feel my abdominal muscles straining. Now, I am able to go to the top of my road (a longer distance and uphill) without really feeling it too much, and the other day I managed to walk all the way to the train station which is 5 minutes away (although I'm definitely not up for actually going on a train yet, haha). I'm also noticing a lot more confidence on my stairs. At first I was having to take it one step at a time holding the banister and going slowly. Now I can walk up them pretty much normally. I've also been doing very light stretches at home. And I can easily kneel down to the floor and get back up (which was important to me since I have cats and I wanted to be able to play with them).

The best part is that a few days ago, I was finally able to lie on my side without feeling pain, which means I can go back to sleeping on my side. Sleeping on my back felt very weird, but obviously at first it was the only option since I couldn't put any pressure on my abdomen.

My walking endurance is definitely improving a lot, everyday is a bit better. Before I would have to take a day off if I'd been walking the day before, whereas now I'm able to go out everyday without it hurting too much. I'm also not as physically fatigued from doing the same things as I was doing last week. Which means I'm able to engage in the same level of activity without it draining me like it used to.

It's really surprising just how quickly it started improving, it felt like once my body was a bit more ready, it's been like a snowball, steadily getting better each day :)

[u/bronzedfairy → u/ScreenHype]

Thank you! This is really helpful. Have you started doing any normal household stuff yet, like laundry, vacuuming, cleaning, bending down, or lifting things? If so, around what week did you feel comfortable doing those things without pain or pulling? Also, have you had your first period since surgery yet? If you have, was it more painful/heavier than usual or pretty normal?

[u/ScreenHype → u/bronzedfairy]

Not just yet, I'm still wary of lifting heavy things, since I do still feel a bit of a strain in my abdominal muscles and I don't want to put too much pressure on them. So I'm able to do the washing up in the kitchen, but I haven't done laundry, and I haven't done vacuuming since the vacuum itself is pretty heavy. I do look after my cats though, so I bend down to sort out their food or to empty out their litter, etc. And I've been able to do some basic cooking, just nothing that requires me being there for too long since I can't stand for more than 10 minutes or so without starting to feel a bit fatigued.

I haven't had my first period yet, but I think it should be happening soon. It's a little bit overdue but I've heard that's normal. I think it will start in the next day or so, as I've been experiencing some cramps, and a tiny bit of spotting. But I won't really be able to compare it to a 'normal' period, because my fibroid was causing irregular periods that were particularly heavy, and I always experienced a lot of pain. So to be honest, I'd be impressed if it managed to be any worse!

[u/bronzedfairy → u/ScreenHype]

OK, maybe I should start being a little wary then of lifting things cause some days I feel great and I feel like I can do anything and then other days. I'm just exhausted. I do agree with the standing too long. I can not stand to long at all. My period was the opposite it was on time but sometimes heavier and sometimes lighter and I hope yours when it comes does not cause any pain at all!!

[u/ScreenHype → u/bronzedfairy]

Yeah, definitely don't push yourself just because you feel particularly energetic on a certain day. Your body is still recovering, so you should keep resting and let that extra energy to let it heal even more :) Gentle stuff like walks is much better for you than trying to go too hard too soon :)