Questions about recovery after an ectopic pregnancy

I had a D&C on Monday and then laproscopic surgery later that night because it turned out that I had an ectopic pregnancy. I lost 1 tube, but was lucky that it hadn't ruptured. I'm still pretty sore and I'm extremely bloated. How long does the bloating last? I've been taking gas x and colace to try to get some relief, but I still have gas pain and haven't been able to have a BM yet. When do things return to normal?

Did you have a lot of bleeding after the surgery? I had been bleeding (similar to a pretty light period) for a week before the surgery. The bleeding stopped for a little bit about 24 hours after surgery, but has picked up again. It's not heavy, but it's there. How long does the bleeding last?

How long did it take before you didn't need pain medication? When did you start to feel like yourself again?

Re: Questions about recovery after an ectopic pregnancy

I had no bleeding at all after the surgery. Occasionally a little pink spotting for a few days. The bloating took a few days to lessen for me. I was back to feeling pretty normal after about a week. I only took pain meds for the first day and after that I took Motrin. The first few days were rough because you have such small incisions that you think you should feel ok, but it's a pretty major surgery inside.

Re: Questions about recovery after an ectopic pregnancy

Mine was a little different because my surgery couldn't be done laparoscopically, so it was essentially like a C-section without the baby. My tube burst and had to be removed. I don't recall bleeding much after the surgery...maybe for a day at most. I bled less after surgery than I did throughout the ectopic pregnancy. I was on pain meds for close to a week though. The bloating and gas pains were pretty bad for several weeks. I didn't feel anywhere near back to normal for about 6 weeks in total. But my incision was pretty large and I had a lot of stiches and packing. Moving was the hardest for me. I was very sore/tender around the incision, I had a lot of trouble sleeping, and I couldn't lift, stretch, or exert myself very much. Just walking up and down stairs or getting in and out of the car was very difficult for the first 3 weeks.

I remember my OB telling me that after 2 cycles we could "try" again. After my first cycle I thought "No way in h e l l am I going to be ready to try after the next cycle" Just physically...I couldn't move enough to even attempt sex. But sure enough, just a few weeks later I got my 2nd AF and I started to feel back to normal.