Gallstone surgery - post op help please

[Oliviaaaaaaaa]

Hi all.
just looking for some reassurance please..

I had my gallbladder removed Sunday 26th November around mid day.
I’m 28, and generally consider myself fairly well? But I took longer to get up out of bed than others due to low blood pressure and feeling dizzy and sore.
i was discharged maybe 4 hours after surgery? Sore on way home and was given co-codamol to take.

im still tender on the wound sites and feels like if I twist too much or when I get up and down from the chair or out of bed like they are tearing if that makes sense? Its that sort of pain..

my main concern is I’ve not passed a stool since the morning of the 26th November before my surgery.
ive been eating clean (other than a few biscuits) but typical stuck to veg soup, chicken and veg and some toast.. also fruit. lots of water and few cups of tea. But no number 2 yet? I feel quite bloated and swollen now on my stomach.. surely I’m going to go to the toilet soon??? I’ve been burping a fair bit but have only passed gas down the bottom end maybe 3 or so times? So I guess that’s a good sign?? But I don’t know if I’m constipated? If I need some laxatives or if something is wrong? I thought I’d be farting a lot more!! Just so bloated now and I’m starting to worry my digestive system doesn’t work. I felt like I needed a number 2 slightly last night but I can’t push to go as my belly is so sore :(

I phoned the hospital and they’ve advised me to stop the co-codamol and only take at night so will do that in case it’s bunging me up.

just wondered if anyone has experienced this how long it took you to go to the toilet and if I should get some laxatives?

thank you

2 days after my gallstone surgery I passed out and was on the floor for half an hour before I could get back up.

Just take it easy and let your wounds heal, and give it another couple of days.

Co Cordani bungs me up so much. It’s evil stuff in that respect. I expect it’s that tbh op

Oh gosh that’s awful.. why did you pass out?
trying to remember to take it easy.. resting as much as possible but definitely worried about my bowel movements!

Oh no :( I’ve never taken it back to back before so I don’t know how I react to it.. maybe I should get some laxatives! I’m going to just take paracetamol and ibuprofen now. Although I tried this yesterday and ended up in a lot of pain so reverted back to the co-codamol.. gosh I can’t wait til I feel better again!

It's most likely the co codamol along with the surgery related fasting. I would get some laxido and take this for a couple of days. Also drink plenty of fluids and eat fibre. I had my gallbladder out in June and it took a few weeks to recover fully, but it has been life-changing how much better I feel now.

It will feel sore, the cuts are deep and they had to muddle about in there a bit, I would say it took a week to 10 days before I was able to get up and down without feeling it pull.

Co-codamol will be the cause of the constipation, get some laxatives or stool softeners and drink lots of water.

It'll be the cocodamol.

I'd stop it altogether if you can, and take paracetamol instead. Have they said if you can take ibuprofen? You can take that with paracetamol, but make sure it's OK after your surgery as it can affect your stomach.

I had bowel surgery recently, not gall bladder, but the ports they cut etc are all in the same place. I also had the pulling tearing feeling if I tried to twist / look over my shoulder etc. Horrid, I assumed it was internal stitches pulling so just tried to remember to stop doing it!

I now have a short bowel, so have problems with going too often - honestly, 2 cocodamol tablets bunged me up for 36 hrs the other day, was very uncomfortable and will not be repeating that in a hurry!

I find once I've stopped taking cocodamol things do resume their normal process without much difficulty. I really wouldn't be trying any laxatives or prunes or anything, as you may well find it suddenly all works rather too well!

Thank you so much for your replies everyone. It’s much appreciated and put my mind at ease a little!
you are all right of course I’m going to be sore.. but I’m going to stop the co-codamol and just take paracetamol and ibuprofen and if I haven’t been to the toilet this time tomorrow perhaps get some laxatives 😬 I have been eating some figs, prunes and dates (not overdoing it just having a few here and there) but just no movement yet…

also, how long did it take everyone to heal? Not sure how long I should leave my dressings on for? I’ve got replacement dressings if they come off but tbh idk how long they take to heal or if I need to replace them after a few days or what tbh?! I’m a bit scared to look at them. Especially the one where my belly button is ☹️

I have no idea why I passed out, I had walked upstairs the afternoon of my op, and spent th next day getting up and down and trying to be normal but after fainting, I went back to bed and just gave up fighting it.

I could drive 2 weeks after, was signed off for a month as my job was half office based and half gardening so they gave me a months sick note.

With regards dressings, I had dissolvable stitches and they started to dry off after a week, I think the dressings came off after a few days. I didn't redress them.

It took me weeks to recover. I'm surprised they didn't send you home with laxatives on discharge.

I requested lactulose on discharge which I was given. Recommend you get yourself some!

I was fine after mine use glycerin suppositories you’ll go toilet within 20 mins or less

I was off for a month after my laproscopic surgery - still a bit sore sometimes but manageable with almost no pain relief needed by that point.

My incisions were glued and I had no dressings, so can't advise on the stitches, sorry!

I would think if you see anything coming through the dressing, I would change them, and if any of them are feeling particularly sore after a few days / a week or at any point later then it may be worth having a look to make sure they're not looking red or angry.

Take lactulose religiously.

I was on codine for a week for the pain after this surgery and had the same issue, I'd recommend a glycerine suppository - worked like a charm in 15 mins.

I was told to take the dressings off after 24 hours. I had staples though, don't know if that makes a difference.

Definitely a combination of cocodemal and surgery bunging you up. I had the same. Laxatives and stool softers don't work very quickly for me. So I got cheeky and ate a couple of fatty things. You are not supposed too after the op because they will cause a fast release. So it worked great no the constipation. I went to toilet with 30 minutes. A bit stomach achy just before but it was worth it. I have done this since the op everytime I am feeling heavy. It is a brilliant benefit of gallbladder removal surgery.

I had disolvable stitches and was told to remove dressing after 4 days. However they gave me more dressings incase I wanted to keep the stitches covered for a bit longer

Moving about for those first few days I held a pillow over the stitches and hugged it to me. This worked great to stop me twisting or jerking that area by accident. I also put the pillow over that area when sat on the sofa with my youngest child. She was a toddler and didn't understand not to elbow or bump me in that area. So the pillow protected my stitches and stopped her from accidentally causing me pain

I didn't go for 10 days after my gallbladder surgery, it was all because of the painkillers. They gave me movicol to get things moving again.