How Long Does Bloating/Gas Pain Last After Laparotomy?

[hollandlop]

Hi.

I had a laparotomy 4 weeks ago to get a 6cm ovarian cyst removed from my right ovary due to endometriosis.

I had a bikini cut about 4.5 inches. Right now, my abdomen is still very swollen. I still feel a lot of gas and bloating, which gets worse around late afternoon to night time. (Why does it get worse at night?)

The doctor told me the wound would take around a month to heal, but the gas takes longer to go away. Is that true?

The area around my wound is still painful, but the most painful is the pressure from the bloating and gas.

And I feel like I have to go pee very often when I feel gas pain because it feels like the pressure from my abdomen is squeezing my bladder.

How long will this bloating pain last? I can't fit into any of my pants right now. I have to wear dresses all the time!

I'm also taking simethicone tablets now. But they don't seem to work very well to alleviate the gas pain.

What can I do???

[MarieMichele]

Your gas is lasting about as long as mine did.  I also thought it would never go away, but it did.  I had that "rock" feeling for months.  Nurses and friends recommended adding ginger to tea and such (which I did, but not every day).  Maybe that will help?  There are a lot of side benefits to adding ginger to your diet. Do a Google search for ginger tea and you'll see all the talk about it.

[hollandlop]

Geez, this is so frustrating.

This is my 8th week after my surgery and I'm still bloated!!!!

The area right above my incision all the way up to my belly button is still puffy and swollen. At nighttime the bloating is so bad the area feels painful when I press on it.

The worst part is the bloating doesn't seem to be getting any better from this point on. I see no improvements at all.

[joe199]

Well I guess every doctor is a bit different, my gynecologist said that the endometriosis is a disease with no cure we can clean it up but you still have it and she also said that Irritable bowels can go hand in hand with endometriosis. I hope she is wrong, but I must say in my case I have had gas and bloating and constipation for years. It is encouraging to know that the bloating due to surgery can last for 3 - 4 months, my doctor had said that it lasted only a couple of days ??? So six weeks later I just assumed it was still Irritable bowels due to the endo.

[hollandlop]

Well, my gynecologist told me that the gas/bloating is because of the air that got inside when he cut me open. He told me that it could last up to 3-4 months before my stomach will become completely flat again. But I had a friend who had the same surgery done a year ago and she told me her gas/bloating went away in 4 weeks. So I guess everyone's different?

I also had similar bloating symptoms before my surgery, which was caused by my endo adhesion, a 6cm endometrioma cyst. But my doctor said that I shouldn't have anymore endo symptoms after my surgery because the adhesion cyst was already removed and he cleaned everything up.

[joe199]

You are like me and you have endo and the gas and bloating can be symptoms of your endo. In any case as I mentioned I have the same symptoms and I am almost six weeks after my laparotomy for removal of my endo and my two chocolate cysts.

[hollandlop]

The gas pain and bloating is also my worst side affect so far.

My swollen stomach area is so tender to the touch, that I feel so much pressure inside when I press on it.

When I feel the gas pain more at night, I also feel like I have to pee more often. I don't know if any one has experienced this also??????

When I walk it feels like I am carrying a rock in there. I am getting frustrated as well, I feel like this will never go away.