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Original poster

C sections - when does it get easier?

94 replies

LadyHalesBroach · 08/01/2022 18:56

I am 10 days PP and desperate to see the wood for the trees.

I had an ELCS due to long term injury sustained during a car crash of a vaginal delivery five years ago. But it feels like by taking back control through an cesarean this time round, I have lost control in the rehabilitation.

The haemorrhoids, the milk blisters, the swollen ankles (no I wasn’t given thinners despite family history of dvt), the sleep deprivation, the hours of cluster feeding - I can take all of that, it’s not my first picnic. But the excruciating pain on my right side, quite deep inside, is other level. I so much as cough, or move my right leg to far, I am in eye watering pain. I’m using compression aids, hot water bottles, paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I am desperate to feel normal again. To be able to get off the sofa without having to be lifted off.

I love my new baby to death, but oh my god I want to get off this ride now.

OP posts:
ShirleyPhallus · 08/01/2022 19:34

@LadyHalesBroach

Actually crying at all the good advice here. Within 20 hours of my surgery I was discharged, I didn’t even see a midwife or given any wound advice. Just a packet of paracetamol and ibuprofen and a midwife’s assistant congratulating me on being able to pee 2 x 300ml.

The after care is atrocious and I’m just too scared to waste people’s time. This isn’t a criticism of midwives, just the situation in general.

The thing is, if you get worse from not seeking help then you’ll need even more help and more resource. So it’s doing both you and the NHS a favour to seek help sooner rather than later.

Call the MAU now or 111 for an OOO dr call back, they should be able to prescribe you something over the phone for the pain now

YorkshireGirl35 · 08/01/2022 19:35

I was very fit and well and had an elective c section due to issues with the placenta. It took me about 3 weeks to feel human. I struggled to bend down, climb the stairs, hold my daughter just everything really.
It does sound like you need stronger painkillers but I just wanted to mention that for some people it does take longer than a few days. I found it so depressing not being able to be my usual active self but you will get there.

BoodleBug51 · 08/01/2022 19:41

That really doesn't sound right, I was pretty well recovered by 2 weeks. And didn't take painkillers after about day 5/6.

I'd phone 111 about that, tbh. Or is there a MW on call?

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PollyRae16 · 08/01/2022 19:43

I was still taking painkillers every four hours 10 days after too.
Sounds a little like you're trying to over do it. Especially with the bending down and cleaning the kitchen. I was told not to lift anything heavier than baby for 2 weeks after and just take gentle short walks.
Doing too much can effect the healing of your scar particularly the internal healing which takes longer than what's visible to you.
Try and slow down (easier said than done with a newborn and five year old in tow I'm sure)
Definitely have a chat to the midwife if you're still in a lot of pain though

HoseMeDownWithHolyWater · 08/01/2022 19:43

I had a caesarean in November. Fuck me, was I unprepared for just how painful it was. I was also sent home without any pain medication and was told to go straight to my doctor for a prescription. I was discharged at 6:39 at night!

I had excruciating pain on my right side, too. Get your doctor to prescribe you something stronger or buy some codeine over the counter. Make sure you keep up with your pain medication. And pee often. A full bladder makes it worse.

I know it feels like you'll never feel better, but at just over 6 weeks PP, I was riding rollercoasters.

Good luck.

Kartoffelnpie · 08/01/2022 19:46

Have you managed to open your bowels yet? Just that can be really painful if you’re constipated. Any temperature or anything?

Definitely seek advice as I can’t say I was in excruciating pain day 10. I was still quite sore though and certainly not normal. Mine was a cat1 EMCS with vertical and horizontal incisions so it wasn’t straightforward. I could walk very short distances though. Hope you’re better soon:

pollyparrot45 · 08/01/2022 19:51

I agree this is not a normal amount of pain & you need to seek medical attention.

LuckyWithMyLot · 08/01/2022 19:54

OP, I had this. Felt like my stitches were too tight and pulling. I'd scream and cry with the pain.
Then on day 5 I bent down and stood it up and there was a sensation of something ripping. Agony.
Only felt normal about 6 weeks later.

wavecatcher · 08/01/2022 19:57

I've had several elective sections, one took me honestly months to heal from. Finally got a lovely female doctor to take me seriously. Swabs where done, I had internal infections and was also very anaemic. Honestly don't suffer, seek medical advise from, midwife or gp.

onlyreadingneverposting8 · 08/01/2022 20:06

It's partly because they don't give you decent painkillers anymore!! My first section 20yr ago - breeze to recover from even though it was an emcs! Codeine based painkillers and diclofenac.
Had another section a year ago after 7 vaginal deliveries and it has been awful. I'll be really honest and say the first 3 months we're bad and it's taken until recently to thing that one side doesn't actually hurt when I press it - scar tissue I believe...it feels tight. I'm very certain the first 6 weeks would have been much better if I'd had more than ibuprofen and paracetamol! A midwife friends agrees - actually she thinks the painkillers are nigh on cruelty now.
Best advice - don't rush and just give it time!

lochmaree · 08/01/2022 20:32

I had an emcs, stitching up etc done under GA, and was in awful pain for quite a while. for the first week or maybe two, I could barely move around the house even with paracetamol and ibuprofen taken on time. I remember we went to IKEA at 10 days pp (had won a newborn photography session before the birth) and I was due my next dose of painkillers but they were in the car, I could barely walk, I couldn't lift my legs properly and was in so much pain. I also had pain deep in my right side, so unbelievably painful, like burning on the surface and then aching type pain deeper. I had midwives check it but they said it was because of the direction the surgeons stitch, so one side gets tugged more.

Rrrob · 08/01/2022 20:46

It took me 3 weeks after my elcs last year to feel ok. I couldn’t get up/ down of the floor or bed and feel ok until that point. Did a lot of slow shuffling around. Hope you are ok again soon.

Echobelly · 08/01/2022 20:51

I'd get that checked out for infection or something wrong with how you were 'stitched up' internally - I don't think you should be getting pain that sever 10 days in. I've had two c-sections due to a hip defect and I didn't get any sharp pain like that after a few days, so it's not normal, as others here have attested.

LeekPeachPlum · 08/01/2022 21:11

I had really sharp excruciating pain deep on my right side about a week after my emcs and it was an infection. Can you ring your maternity assessment unit. Hope you feel better soon.

gunnersgold · 08/01/2022 21:13

I had a lot of pain , I think a good few weeks maybe a month before thr real pain stopped . Are you taking back to back painkillers ?

October2020 · 08/01/2022 21:16

You need to seek medical attention more urgently than Monday I would say. I was in excruciating pain after a horrific c section (baby stuck, I'll spare you the rest of it), and it was unbearable for about a week, but by two weeks I was basically back to normal. If you're still in this much pain you need to kick up a stink about getting more support as something must be wrong. I'm sorry you've not received the care you deserve.

SnugKnights · 08/01/2022 21:24

I agree with PP’s that you shouldn’t wait until Monday. I have a chronic pain condition so did struggle more than most after my sections, but I wasn’t that bad after 10 days. I’d be worried about an infection as others have said and you definitely need stronger pain killers. I’d also consider whether you’re constipated as has been suggested. You can buy movicol over the counter if you think that’s making things worse and if they give you codeine for the pain it would be a good idea to start taking some Movicol, even just one sachet a day. If they fob you off try your GP.
As is so often pointed out, blokes would never be left in pain like this, when men have appendix out etc they always get proper pain relief even for key hole surgery. Where as we get sliced open completely and get told to take bloody paracetamol 😡

Bloatstoat · 08/01/2022 21:37

I'm so sorry to hear you're suffering OP. I just wanted to add that although it's definitely worth getting checked and seeing if they can give you anything stronger for the pain, not everyone is able to be up and about so quickly. I had a section in June - had two previous vaginal deliveries which weren't straightforward, I was in hospital for 11 days after one of them and had significant tearing - but they were a doddle compared to the C-section, I had deep what I can only describe as burning pain for nearly 3 weeks afterwards and it was only nearer to two months afterwards that I could do things like walk or bend without pain. I did get checked out by both GP and midwives but no infection or anything, I think different people do have very different experiences.
I'm not posting to try to make you feel bad, just that I saw other mums happily wandering round the ward while I could barely sit, and read about people off doing the school run a couple of days post section and terrified myself that there was something really wrong - in my case it wasn't, it just took longer for my body to get back to normal. I'm so much better now, it really doesn't last forever. Hope you are feeling better soon Flowers

Original poster
LadyHalesBroach · 08/01/2022 21:57

Thank you everyone, I’m going to call community midwives office tomorrow morning and see if someone can come out.

How was an infection or rupture detected? I don’t have a fever.

And to those about gas and constipation, I’m just about ok on that front. A combination of lactulose and mint tea… but I won’t rule out anything and would actually be delighted if this pain was just trapped wind.

OP posts:
BogRollBOGOF · 08/01/2022 22:15

Sensible to get checked out.

I didn't have pain (DS2's forceps delivery on the other hand...) but I was very weak for weeks afterwards. DS1 was 3 weeks before I could carry him up or down the stairs as until then I needed to use both hands on the wall/ banister for stability after SPD, long labour, EMCS and a stay in HDU with complications. It was 5 weeks before I had the energy to walk to the bus stop to go anywhere on my own. At 6 weeks I was a passenger on a 2+hr journey and was very tired in my core at the end of it. At 8 weeks I could walk a couple of miles and felt myself again at long, long last.

Always get concerns checked out, but it is also major surgery with minimal aftercare (plus the responsibility of a new baby and the toll of that) so it's also very common to not ping back to normal in days.

TreeLawney · 08/01/2022 22:23

Please do get checked out op. It doesn’t match my experience of 2x emcs at all. First emcs I was in a lot of pain after being discharged day 2 - 4 and needed to pace myself & do half of what I thought I was capable of walking wise etc but by the time dc was 2 weeks old we spent the day in London at the Olympics, 2 hrs on the train & tube, loads of walking, long day etc and it was completely fine.

Dc2 I had 2 under 2 and that was a harder section but again I was absolutely fine before dc was 2 weeks old.

I really hope you are able to get some help and to feel better very soon.

sleepyhoglet · 09/01/2022 03:16

Shit- discharged 20 hours post surgery. Which hospital is this? I don't think that's normal at all. I was in 60 hours after and wouldn't have been ready sooner.

Original poster
LadyHalesBroach · 09/01/2022 13:52

@sleepyhoglet a hospital in TW and Maidstone trust x

OP posts:
dillydallydollydaydream7 · 09/01/2022 13:57

Congratulations on your baby!

Like others I've had 2 ELCS's and with both was out of hospital the next day and was moving around pretty much the day after both and found the painkillers enough. It's a very sensible idea to be checked out in case there is an infection or in case your stitches may have popped. Hope they manage to sort you out and you're feeling well soon x

sleepyhoglet · 09/01/2022 14:01

@LadyHalesBroach how are your nipples? Not a question usually asked so directly! I ask because wonder if your baby has tongue tie (sometimes it seems like cluster feeding but baby actually can't get milk effectively enough). What is his/her weight gain like? I have a few tips if feeding is challenging. It shouldn't be difficult or painful