Hi i am 2.5 wpo, i had a RAH and have been recovering ok albeit slowly. However on Monday i started getting hip pain, a real boring pain that stops me from sleeping. i'm currently only on paracetomol and 1 or 2 ibuprofen but these dont touch it, maybe slightly take the edge off. So i rang the nurse today but as its still early days all she could suggest was more ibuprofen and maybe some gentle hip stretches. However, i found out after the call that the blood thinner injections i'm still on say i shouldnt take ibuprofen with them. So now its 3am, i cant sleep and the pain is unbearable, i've tried icing but not much help. It did go off today for abit but seems to be worse in bed. Obviously tried researching to find the cause but it seems its a common problem after hysto. Interested to hear others experiences or suggestions, thanks x
Hi Seffie
I’m sorry to see you were awake so early-it’s horrible when pain stops you sleeping. I do suffer from bad hip pain myself as an ongoing problem so I can sympathise!
Honestly , I don’t know why we don’t get told about contraindications when we’re on the blood thinning injections-it’s pretty important. I’ve had to do the injections for a month on 3 separate occasions and no-one mentioned it to me, although luckily I was aware not to take ibuprofen but that doesn’t help you at this point.
Stretching gently does help, and I also sleep on my side with a special pillow between my knees to keep my spine in the proper alignment. I do use a hot water bottle behind my hip which seems to help me, but for you it should hopefully just be a case of it getting better in time. Exercising gently by just walking and moving is helpful if you can manage, and stretching your hip. But don’t try and do too much at this stage.
I hope others who have had this might have some experience to share since this will hopefully only be a temporary thing for you. Maybe your doctor could suggest a different form of painkiller which might do more than paracetamol?
Sarah xx
I’m in a bit of a different situation in that I’ve had hip problems diagnosed as sciatica years ago. At that time it came on quite suddenly and was excruciatingly painful. It’s come and gone over the years in varying degrees, but when I had exenteration surgery and was in bed for 2 weeks in hospital my poor hip never recovered! Yours should be a very different outcome, but it just adds to the difficulties of recovery.
Codeine based painkillers in my experience have really helped-I’ve been on various types over the years although the main thing to be wary of is the fact that they cause constipation which you really don’t need right now. However, I wouldn’t discount taking them if you take a stool softener rather than laxatives alongside them. Laxatives can be very harsh and you don’t need that, but a stool softener like Dulcolax can help.
It’s very wearing to be living with intense pain and not sleeping. The strongest pain killer I’ve ever been prescribed (apart from morphine after surgery) was Tramadol which I was given after my failed hysterectomy op and this did help. You’ve mentioned you are pill phobic, but managing your pain is really important both from a physical and mental perspective. So if this continues, and I hope it doesn’t, speak up to your doctor and see if you can get some advice and help. Otherwise, it can just be miserable for you.
Sarah xx
I feel so sorry for you Seffie as I know how miserable it is to be dealing with constant pain. But I am not pill phobic so don’t have that anxiety to deal with on top of everything else.
What I can say if you decide to take painkillers is that the best thing to do is take the recommended dose, and take them on the schedule prescribed, every 4 hours or whatever. A reduced dose may not be effective, and you need to let the pills build up in your system to have the correct effect. I’m speaking from my own rather extensive experience of taking painkillers here, where I learned to do what I was told instead of suffering unnecessarily!
Sarah xx
Yesterday was a good day for me, as I have pain constantly at varying levels of intensity and to be honest don’t bother taking painkillers very often now because it’s gone on for so long.
But yesterday, for the first time since I can remember, I managed to strip my bed and remake it. That something which normal takes me about half an hour, and I need to sit down to do it-it’s very difficult for me with bending and trying to lift the mattress with 2 stomas but I felt a real sense of accomplishment yesterday! I’m normally always reduced to tears of both pain and frustration so it was a good day for me!
Sarah xx
