Lingering tiredness after surgery?

[lynnhopes]

Hello

Firstly I would like to say I am very grateful for this forum and all the health professionals who take time out of their crazy busy schedules to answer questions. I very much appreciate it.

I am a 26 year old female who has PCOS and endometriosis. I have had 4 major depressive episodes in the past ten years. Regarding medication I am currently taking Lustral 100mg daily along with Glucophage 1500mg daily for my PCOS. I had a laparoscopy and an ovarian drilling in 2003. I have also had a gastroscopy done with local anesthetic and exploratory surgeries done on my bladder when I was younger.

On the 22nd of August 2007 I had 4 impacted wisdom teeth removed. The pain afterwards was very severe and my face swelled up completely. The pain has since moved to my teeth itself which my dental surgeon tells me is due to nerve damage/bruising during surgery. The pain is decreasing; however I am finding myself tiring very easily.

Taking an easy day at home of making lunch, cleaning up afterwards, dressing and putting on makeup, reading and going on the internet feels like running a marathon. My surgeon says that I cannot go back to the gym for at least another 3 weeks and that it's early days regarding my energy levels.

Can you give me any idea of when this lingering tiredness will dissipate? Aside from resting and eating well is there anything else I can do? Also, physiologically what is the explanation for this tiredness as I was only under for about 30-40 minutes? Is there still some anesthetic left in my system? I don't recall feeling this tired after my laparoscopy.

Thank you.

[Debbie Miller, RN]

Hi,
As long as it has taken us to get to your question, I suspect it has probably resolved by now.

Surgery and illnesses can take a serious toll on your body so it isn't any wonder you might have had a difficult time bouncing back to normal. Your body needs time to heal itself and with some things, time alone heals. But, you do have to plan on the time. These days we tend to overwork and overextend ourselves rather than allowing the rest that will do us the most good. I suspect this is your case and you had an idea when you would be recovered, but that didn't happen according to your schedule.

If by chance you are still feeling lethargic and weak, you should definitely be checked by a doctor in case you have become anemic or have some type of lingering infection. It sounds like you know what you need to do with rest and diet.

Best wishes.

[lynnhopes]

Thank you very much for that reply! Yes you are right I am better now. It took me about 3 weeks to get over it and I had planned on maybe 3 days :).

[Debbie Miller, RN]

You are welcome. I'm glad you are doing better now. Thanks for the update.