D&C Recovery **possibly sensitive**

jenn0021

This is my 3rd D&C recovery so you'd think I would be experienced at it by now. But it's been so long since my last one (over 2 1/2 years) that I kind of forget what it was like.

Obviously it's a little different for everyone but I would like to hear your experiences. How many days did it take before you were up and at it again? Anything in particular that you did that helped with the cramping/gas? How long until your pregnancy symptoms left?

Thanks for your answers ladies. I feel kind of stupid asking, since I really should know this.

luciddreamer106

I don't have any specific advice about the post-procedure since I didn't have a D&C, but I do have ((hugs)). For cramping, I took Norco during my miscarriage and after my polypectomy. For gas, I recommend gas-x, it really helps with gas pains.

jenn0021

Thank you @luciddreamer106. I will always take hugs.

jap618

P&R (to walk #2) but I wanted to share my experience.  First of all, ((hugs)). Both of my recoveries were really easy.  I had minimal bleeding & no cramping.  If I stayed down for a day or so afterwards it was because I wasn't emotionally ready to do anything; I think after my last one I went back to work the next day (mainly because I had already been out so much).  I've been taking gas-x chewables for my gas this week (I know it's not post op but maybe?), trying to remember to drink water (not just beer & wine) and coffee to move things along, walk around if I can to get things moving and eating food that is high in fiber (snacking on raisins, granola bars, etc.).  I'll be honestly it hasn't helped a lot.  I looked about 4 months pg this morning and felt miserable but going to the walk helped and moving around.  Advil & tylenol has helped too.  Once I had my surgeries my numbers dropped really quickly so my symptoms were gone within a couple of days.  Are they following your numbers down? 

What I haven't gotten a great handle on is the stabbing, sharp rectal pains I'm having.  I think it's related back to gas so maybe my advice isn't so sound after all...  good luck hun.  

ktwils2010

I had a D&C at the beginning of August. It took me 3 days to feel physically up to doing much. I was just really tired and crampy (and emotional of course). I think it takes a while to recover from the anesthesia as well. My OB said just to use Ibuprofen for the cramps and it actually worked okay. I stopped feeling pregnancy symptoms after about a week to 10 days.  Hope you feel better! Take it easy and be kind to yourself!

jenn0021

@lingchow8655, thank you for the hugs too. They only told me I could take Tylenol and so far it has been okay. I just want to be feeling better already. And I hope too that our symptoms disappear soon, they are a sucky reminder.

jenn0021

@jap618, I'm jealous of the minimal bleeding and cramping after your D&C's. I'm not really bleeding this time but I definitely have cramping and it sucks. Thanks for the advice in regards to the gas, although I doubt I'll be able to do much of it. I'm not feeling very hungry, mostly nauseous and definitely not feeling good enough to walk around much. But I do really need to be drinking more. And no, they aren't following my numbers down.

@ktwils2010, thanks for sharing your experience. I'm on day 3 (not counting the day of the surgery) and today is the first day that I feel okay. But then again, it's only half over. I hope my pg symptoms leave sooner than 10 days, but at least I'm prepared.

Bonnesetter27

My D&C might have been different since it was done in office so I wasn't under general anesthea (Ok I can't figure out how to spell that). I spent the day in bed and hanging low. It was mostly emotional but I was also really tired. The next day I was setting up my classroom. I took ibuprofren (that's what they told me to use) every time it wore off but it wasn't really bad. The bleeding lasted about a week and a half, but it was always really light. I was surprised how easy the recovery was. Hugs to you.

ball.and.chain

So sorry you are going through this again.

I've had 2 D&Cs, and fortunately both were pretty easy.  With both I had about 2-3 weeks of bleeding and/or spotting, but minimal cramping.  It was mild enough to be controlled by ibuprofen, which is what they recommended.  With #1 I stayed home the next day because I wasn't sure what to expect (and wasn't in a good place emotionally anyway), with #2 I went to work the next day because I felt like I could (and had missed a lot of work for IF/pregnancy/mc reasons so I felt bad staying home longer).  Physically, I felt OK -- my periods are worse than my D&C recovery was.

I'm sorry you're not feeling very well on top of what you are going through emotionally.  Hope things improve soon.

jenn0021

@Bonnesetter27, wow your recovery was quick! But like you said, since you weren't under general anesthesia it might be different. Thanks for sharing your experience and for the hugs.

jenn0021

@MissMheMhe, thanks and love you too.

@ball.and.chain, thanks for sharing your experience. There is no way that I could have gone back to work the next day. Maybe I recover slower than normal people but I'm basically still in bed! I'm curious to see what my periods will be like, since they improved drastically after my last D&C.

Rachaeleigh

My recovery from 3rd d&c was very similar to my others. I think symptoms disappeared within a week. I felt fine the next day but did take about 3 days off just for the hell of it. Mainly so I wasn't a blubbering mess at work. Big hugs to you @Jenn0021

jenn0021

Thanks @rachaelhudson! This recovery has been quite different from my last two, at least what I remember of them. I'm just happy that I'm a SAHW now and don't have to go to work tomorrow.

Rachaeleigh

jenn0021 said:

Thanks @rachaelhudson! This recovery has been quite different from my last two, at least what I remember of them. I'm just happy that I'm a SAHW now and don't have to go to work tomorrow.

That's right! Good for you

KMW08

(((hugs)))

Both times I was advised that I could return to most normal activities, including work after 48 hours.

With my 1st, I had minimal bleeding and I only remember having cramping and bad gas pains for the first couple of days. I think I did have some bad stomach pain by day 3 or 4 as my bowel movements had not regulated back to normal for me yet, so most of that pain I referred to as poop-pain.

With my second I felt fine by the next day, but I was still pretty doped up & drowsy from the meds they had me on. By day3 I was only using i800mg buprofen, but I didn't have any cramping. I had minimal to no bleeding for the 1st 4 days, then I started medium-light bleeding days5-9 & spotting for days 10-13. By day 14 the bleeding & spotting had stopped. I can't recall if I had any poop-pains this go around, but I'm guessing not as I didn't mark anything on FF.

alleycat39

Many, many hugs. I was actually up and moving around the next day, however the emotional recovery took a few weeks. The physical symptoms went away within a week or so, but the normal mood swings stuck around for close to a month.

I'm thinking of you and hoping for a speedy physical and emotional recovery.

anitaflora

I don't have any advice or input, and haven't been around the board much lately but saw about your loss.  I just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you and so sorry you are going through this again.

skategirl128

I'm so sorry you're going through all this! So many hugs!

My dr advised me to be off work for two weeks. I was basically in bed for three days and then slowly felt better. I did have a reaction to the anasthesia which might have complicated things a little. Take it easy! Many more hugs!!!

Eliz77

So sorry for your loss and sending lots of ((hugs))!!

I found my recovery to be very quick. I have a rather physical job that requires me to be on my feet most of the day and lift/move heavy (50lbs and up) things. I went back to work the day after procedure and probably overdid it a bit. No one knew about my MC so I was determined to return to normalcy. I took Motrin and used heating pad day 1. I had increased bleeding 1st couple of days and then spotted for a week. I had no gas pains or cramps. In hindsight, I probably should have taken a couple days off, or at least taken it easy.

The worst (physical) part for me was after procedure, my blood pressure and HR stayed very low which made me feel nauseous and dizzy for the rest of the day.

I had no pregnancy symptoms to begin with except for some bloating which seemed to be gone by the time I had my 2 week check up.

FX your recovery is quick and easy! T&Ps your way

catsinawindow

I'm so sorry for your loss.

I took the day of and the day after my D&C off from work.  I'm glad I did.  The day of I was useless (slept most of the day).  The day after I was still really tired.  The sedatives knocked me on my butt more than I expected.  As far as cramping went, I took some motrin for a day or two, but it really wasn't that bad.  I could have done without, but I wasn't in the mood to "tough it out".  The bleeding lasted a little over a week for me, but it was lighter than a period pretty much the whole time.

I had a ton of PG symptoms with my loss and they went away immediately after the procedure.  It was remarkable, actually.  I hope your procedure goes smoothly.  ((Hugs))

dragonfly711

First of all, I am so sorry you had to go through this again.  I had my DnC in Feb.  I had the DnC on Friday and took the following week off work.  I felt fine after the procedure.  I never had any pain. I rested for the week but was super emotional.  I never had much for pregnancy symptoms except being tired and very bloated.  After DnC that all went away quickly.  I had a little bleeding/spotting for a few days after but not much.

I hope I helped. I know everyone is different.  AF came back 5 weeks later.  

T&P to you ( Hugs)

dragonfly711

alysonjill said:

Many, many hugs. I was actually up and moving around the next day, however the emotional recovery took a few weeks. The physical symptoms went away within a week or so, but the normal mood swings stuck around for close to a month.

I'm thinking of you and hoping for a speedy physical and emotional recovery.

This exactly, 5 weeks after I got so upset one day and started crying. I remember I was out by the horses walking to my hubby.  I gave him a hug and said I better be getting AF or I am relapsing because I thought I was getting better.  Next day AF came and after that I seemed to get back to normal. ( whatever normal is after this)

MissMandyD

After my D&E it took me about 3 days to feel up to doing normal things and about 2 weeks until the bleeding/spotting stopped and about the same time to not feel pregnant any more.

I hope this helps.

LiaMadi1

So many hugs @Jenn0021! I had an emergency DnC in the middle of August and was SO SORE after the surgery. Like I couldn't move for two days and then on the this day after I was back to physical normalcy. The bleeding was done and done as well which was a great relief for me as well.

As for the symptoms...it felt like my boobs stayed sore forever, but it was probably like a week and a half after I started feeling more like myself.

Best of luck, sweetheart!

ashellypnut

I'm sorry you're going through this again love. I had a D & E in March on a Friday. Advil helped with cramping. I was back to work Monday, bleeding stopped that Friday (lasted a week), pg symptoms were gone the next week (2wks post-op), and AF came 4 weeks to the day from my procedure. HTH. (((Hugs))) xoxo

taberbtb

I had m d&c in July, and I had it performed around 10pm, so by the time I got home I just went to bed and slept for the night. I had some cramping that evening, but was fine by the next am. I took the following day I was off work and had AF type bleeding for about 2-3 days before it quit. I had cramping and constipation for the next few days, and then on day 5 I had major abdominal pains. It turns out I had a large clot lodged in my cervix, which was why I had stopped bleeding and the cause of the pain. I passed it (along with a lot of smaller clots), and the pain stopped and I began bleeding again for another 3 or so days. One of the ladies on the mc board recommended Metamucil to help with the constipation. Hope this helps. (((Jenn)))

RustyGirl3

The initial recovery wasn't so bad, I stayed in bed most of the day when I went to home and tried to rest as much as possible the next day.  I was crampy and took the Motrin they gave me pretty much every 6 hours for 3 days.  They also gave me medicine to help my uterus contract back to normal.  My procedure was on a Thursday and by Sunday I was feeling pretty close to normal.

That all changed on Monday when I began to start cramping again and it kept getting worse.  By Wednesday it was really bad and I didn't know what to do.  I went to my OB and she did an ultrasound.  All of the blood didn't come out and it had coagulated into a lot of clots which was causing me all of the pain.  She gave me meds to help me pass them and told me to stay on the Motrin.  If I didn't pass enough they were going to have to go in again.  That first night was indescribable.  Within 4 days I was feeling fine and I didn't need the repeat D&C. 

ashx3renee

My memory lately barely goes back to last week, so I really can't remember specifics.  I think my pregnancy symptoms didn't go away for a few weeks after my D&C.  The cramping and bloating went away after a few days.  I just remember my healing was more an emotional one than it was physical symptoms.  

I know I told you already but I just wanted to give you big big ((((hugs)))) love.  I am so sorry that you are going through this again.   I love you!

jenkellen

I had a pretty speedy recovery so I can't give you too much advice here. It seems like everyone's experience is very different. Sorry

How are you feeling today? Any better? (((hugs)))

Jkerr924

My d&c recovery wasn't that bad physically. I slept on and off the whole first day since my surgery was at 7am and was just crampy the next couple of days. I bled for exactly 2 weeks, but I'm not sure if that is specifically from the d&c or going through the whole birthing processes after 19 week MC the week before. Emotionally I am still day to day, but feeling better than I was. Hope you are feeling okay!!! HUGS!!!

Drgn30

@jenn0021 -  I'm so sorry you are going through this.  I had my D&C a month ago.  I had very minimal symptoms after the procedure - just some light cramping and spotting.  I was doing all my normal stuff the following day.  Although, the gas was horrendous.  I didn't make the connection between that and the D&C until I did a little google research and realized it's fairly common.

I hope your recovery goes smoothly.