Susan's Place Transgender Resources

This thread is about GRS pain only.  If you want to talk about the pain of facial feminisation surgery, orchi, F2M top surgery, tracheal shave, nose job, boob job, please do us all a favour & start a new thread.  Don't hijack this one.

On a scale of 1-10, how painful was GRS?

Mild pain - no painkillers - well ok... Paracetamol, but nothing stonger.

It wasn't all that bad.  I used vicoden for a couple of days after the morphine was pulled but nothing much more than that.  In comparison to the pain I had from other procedures it was quite tolerable.

I think I actually wanted the pain.  Nothing sado-masochistic, just that it was a constant reminder that I had completed my major steps.

-Sandy

6-7 Distressing to Severe.  But really it ranged anywhere from 1-6.  I was fine if I was lying motionless, but moving around was discomforting.  The pain wasn't too acute, but I was aware something major had been done down there.  Overall, I would say it was more exhausting on my body than it was painful.

Before I voted, I was going to ask what period of "post" time Valentina was asking about..  ie, first week, month, quarter?   Then I realized for me, that the answer was/is the same for all time periods, for me:

4-5 Discomforting - moderate pain

My SRS experience, has actually had more pain 1 month post op, then at any other time. (Other then the internal gauze removal at day 7).   I'm supposing that it's a function of a) nerves reattaching, "waking up", and b) harder dilations with the vaginal wound trying to close up/contract.

I can't wait to find out :-)

~Sarah

Quote from: SarahR on February 28, 2010, 03:03:44 AM
I can't wait to find out :-)

~Sarah

Lol Sarah... yes, I hope my post didn't come across as 'whiney'... it's a very welcome pain  ;D

And you'll do wonderful... soon!!!!  Best wishes, *hugggs*.

Haha Melan, I wouldn't fault anyone as being whiney after such an invasive surgery. I'm just glad to hear most people say it's not too bad, but either way, I'll take the pain any day for the results.

~Sarah

on a scale of 1 to 10?

5.  moderate pain.

I answered moderate pain and just thinking about it now and trying to remember what sort pain it was, its hard to remember the level of pain I had at the time.  I had an epidural so in effect that was still in effect at the time when I came out of surgery.  I do not remember having any morphine or similar pain reliever.  I remember the packing being taken out, but there was no additional pain when it was being taken out maybe just discomfort and of course the packing material it took so long to take it out, I also remember asking how much longer it was going to take out the material (so funny thinking about it now). 

When I left the hospital I was prescribed Panadeine Forte which is much stronger than the normal Panadeine.  I used it for awhile when I thought I needed it, but somehow I realised it was giving me violent headaches so I ended up dumping the tablets.

I have mentioned in other posts that to relieve the pain, I had a hot shower on the lower back of my body or I had a hot bath and that relieved the pain.  At the end of the second week, I went back to work and I waked around the office very gingerly.  The discomfort had lessened by that stage.  In addition because I was working I had my mind on my work and not the discomfort, or the pain.

One last thing, in the ensuing months my life returned to normal, but I do remember that every so often I would have spasms of pain.  I was spending a weekend with a friend and her parents and she noticed occasionally that I had these spasms of pain and asked me what was wrong.  I said I had to have surgery, I believe I said I had cancer any way her mum said next time.  I should not go it alone.  Yes they did help me later because I had a piece of skin nodule removed and I walked home after the surgery.  When I arrived home I was bleeding and I called them and told them I was bleeding and I ended up in hospital.

I do not know what pain other girls go through, weeks or months after.  If you have pain or spasms then be prepared to have an explanation should you be among friends that do not know about your condition.

Sarah R you say "I can't wait to find out", you will and you will pull through knowing that others have gone before you and have coming out smiling "welcoming the pain" as Melan said.

Kind regards
Sarah B
PS Its surprising that I can remember so much detail about it 19 years later.

I didn't have any pain at all. Just a little discomfort while removing the packing and the dialating was painful but other than that it was pain free. They gave me some pain relievers into my veins but I had them turned off when I woke up. They gave me a headache.

I also wanted to ask the OP what she meant by "post".  Immediately after?  For sure it was an 8 if not more.

A week later, a 6.  2 weeks later, a 5.  A month later, a 4.  Even now 16 months later, I still feel some discomfort when I dilate.  Maybe I'm the exception to the rule but GRS is painful.

Quote from: SarahR on February 28, 2010, 04:20:29 AMeither way, I'll take the pain any day for the results.

totally me too. Everyone talks about morphine which I am allergic to. I'm pretty sure they'll have something else I just hope it works as well.

Distressing to severe 6/7 pain, very painful when removing the packing, I cried with the pain, morphine does help, you'll take anything when your in pain I had a labia plasty 3months after GRS, that wasn't painful just soreness, still after all the pain the results where good. No gain without pain.
p

I'd categorise it as severe.  7 or 8.  There were times when the pain was too much to bear but here I am.

I have a question. Those of you who seem to have had a lot of pain, is it like a sustained pain, or is it just that you had pain off and on? Also, generally, how long did the pain last? Was it just for the first few days, few weeks, few months?

I can understand why it would be more painful when the packing is removed, but during the down times when you're just spending your days dilating and resting was it still severe pain?

~Sarah

Mine was so bad that I had to go shopping in Thailand. The only sore part about it was trying to find a nice place to sit. No hard places, I bought a doughnut(little inflatable inner tube) and bought a bag to go with it. I carried it like my purse and when I sat down I sat on the doughnut. Don't worry about the pain, I can take pain a lot more than others but have had a lot of pain in my life and I learned pain management on my own. So just focus on healing and getting out of the hospital.

Quote from: SarahR on March 01, 2010, 06:32:22 PM
I have a question. Those of you who seem to have had a lot of pain, is it like a sustained pain, or is it just that you had pain off and on? Also, generally, how long did the pain last? Was it just for the first few days, few weeks, few months?

I can understand why it would be more painful when the packing is removed, but during the down times when you're just spending your days dilating and resting was it still severe pain?

~Sarah

Awwww Sarah, please don't dwell on this.  Your experience will be uniquely your own.  You'll find answers all over the place on pain duration, intensity, type, where, how, who, why.  But you can't think about this going in.   Ok, you can.. and I did too, LOL,  but please don't worry, there's really nothing that worrying or thinking about it will do for you.     

Being at Suporn's clinic, I was in routine daily contact with a dozen other women that had all undertaken SRS, and ALL survived :)  ... some gritted their teeth between smiles more then others, but everyone was happy.   That's all that matters.  A term that you will hear is that "everyone's mileage varies", and it's so true in this affair.   Your best weapon going in is a good attitude, and a perseverance that you will take whatever comes.   More then likely you'll be one of the many that feel disappointed, like 'shopping Sheila' hehe, who didn't have any pain to really complain about, and spent her idle recovery time shopping... . ;D

Take Care, *huggs*,
Melan

I'm not worried really. I'm actually just more curious than anything. I'm sure I'll be fine. I seem to have a fairly high tolerance, seeing how well I fared after both FFS procedures, as well as electro, laser, etc. I appreciate the guidance though :-)

~Sarah

Sarah, I concur with Melan - there really is nothing to be gained by worrying. It's the luck of the draw. I expected lots of pain... I had very little, but I'm still plenty sensitive down there anyway.

Also we may all just be playing with words here. What one person calls moderate or severe pain someone else who is accustomed to pain may call mild. I have my teeth drilled and extracted without pain relief or anaesthetic. I'm probably just naturally good at pain management.

When I was going through SRS I was on such a high, so elated, that I think you could have set my behind on fire and I pobably wouldn't have noticed. I also agree that the worst part is any sitting down, which is pretty uncomfortable for about a month afterwards.

Relax - you'll be fine. :)

Like Jenny and Melan, YMMV... Don't worry about it so much.

You'll be uncomfortable, but probably not distressingly so.

Actually there are fewer nerves down there than there are elsewhere so it will be fine.

You'll be fine.

-Sandy

is it true that pain threshold can be trained?  >:-)

Like Valerie, I had awful pain the first 48 hours.  They gave me morphine and still I was ready for someone to just come in and shoot me. 

By the time I left the hospital (day 4) it was 4-5.  I have never taken anything more than ibuprofen after leaving the hospital and then usually at night so I can sleep.  Three weeks later the pain has suddenly dropped from 3-5 to 1-3.  I am constantly aware of the area, and sometimes I get a stabbing pain or cramps, but that usually goes away after a little while with no medicine.  (It's a little obvious when it happens in public, as I grimace and try to walk it off.)

I didn't vote, but if you mean immediately after surgery I would say 8-9.

- Kate

The pain was probably a 2 or 3 for the first 4 or 5 days. Once I got the dressing off though the pain seemed to get really bad, I'd say a 6-8, for the next 2 days until I got the stent out. Once the stent was removed the pain went back down to 2 or 3. Overall I'd say the average pain was about a 4.

~Sarah

I was so comatosed from the morphine, I actually don't recall any pain related to SRS.
The pain from breast augmentation was unbearable though.

It was a LONG time ago but I do not remember any "pain" as such - more a dull soreness. I don't remember any pain-killers as such but I don't know exactly what pills they were giving me. The only IV was saline.

I had surgery on a Monday and by Wednesday I wanted nothing more then to get out of there and go shopping but they wouldn't let me go until I had passed water on my own (without being catheterized) - learning to use new muscles. That happened Thursday and Friday they turned me loose and Saturday I was on the plane home.

Sitting was "tender" but that is the only real discomfort I remember. SRS was the only alternative to suicide and I think the brain simply turned off the pain receptors.

I'd say some discomfort, I used the morphine pump mostly for back pain from laying down for so long. After I got out I only used 4 vicodin, three for hip pain/ sleep aid, and one for discomfort from the stent. It's been just over two weeks since surgery, and a week since I last took pain meds. That was my experience.

6-7 after the surgery. It rised to 8-9 about 3 months after the surgery. Now it has been stable 4-5 for a quit long time.

Hi everyone.  I might be one of the few but I had almost NO pain whatsoever after surgery.  When i woke up all I felt was a little (and I mean little) pressure down there.  When they would come in to take my vitals they would ask "on a scale of 1 to 10 what is your pain level with 10 being highest" and I would always say 1 maybeeeeeee 2.  I didnt have morphine at all and I only took a percocet the last 2 days due to being in that damned bed so long I was miserable.  The biggest pain i remember was the drain because i was lying on it for 2 days and it got sore, but after that was removed that was a bigger relief than when they removed my packing and catheter.  Dilation for me, hasnt been bad at all and the 2nd week I was already up to the 2nd one and 3 days after that I tried the biggest one and it went it easily.  Now Dr. Bowers told me that she was able to give me almost 7 inches and that I would be to the biggest one much sooner than most and all of it was true.  i thought she was feeding me a bunch of BS but she wasnt.  My first dilation took all of the dilator.  Now what they dont tell you is that it goes in easily due to the fact the packing was removed but 2 hrs later that sucka tightens up damned near closed.  Now it was a struggle getting it in but nothing excruciating and it took about 3 mins to get it in.  Now I was told to dilate 3 times a day for 15 mins.  I sometimes leave that sucka in for an hr.  Maybe that is why I am further along than others.  The only pain I can tell you is that when i left the office right after the packing was removed, it felt like i had a penis and someone was pulling me upward by it.  Well I was told that would subside and it did. 

I am exactly 4 weeks post now and I send videos and pics to the nurse and she says everything is healing faster than normal.  Also i was a vegetarian and ate organically for 5 yrs now and I was in excellent shape. 

I went back to work 2 weeks post of surgery and my life is normal again.  I am NOT having sex for a while and it is contingent on the appearance of my vagina moreso than the 6 weeks dr bowers said I have to wait to have sex.  I met a lady at the morning after house who had surgery 5 days prior to mine and she had absolutely no pain also.  So all in all I think it is a mind set and what I did was NOT read any forums until AFTER my surgery because I knew that I was going to do it and I didnt need any discouragement.   Just start running, exercising, eating organically and stop eating fast food totally and you will see how well you do post surgery because we are what we eat.  I took a bag of tangerines with me and when i was discharged from the hospital, I immediately went to the grocery store and bought FRESH pineapple, grapes, apples and more tangerines because REAL VITAMIN C heals not that stuff in a pill or bottle. 

If you take my advice, you will fair very well but GET IN SHAPE is the key.

Quote from: missyzanta on June 01, 2010, 11:43:58 PM
I sometimes leave that sucka in for an hr.

I would be careful about leaving it in too long.  If the gel hardens (dries), you will have difficulty getting that sucka back out.  Just sayin... ::)

- Kate

Quote from: missyzanta on June 01, 2010, 11:43:58 PM
Just start running, exercising, eating organically and stop eating fast food totally and you will see how well you do post surgery because we are what we eat.  I took a bag of tangerines with me and when i was discharged from the hospital, I immediately went to the grocery store and bought FRESH pineapple, grapes, apples and more tangerines because REAL VITAMIN C heals not that stuff in a pill or bottle. 

If you take my advice, you will fair very well but GET IN SHAPE is the key.

Hi Missy.  Yours is the lifestyle I lead except I'm not totally veg--I do eat fish and eggs--workout lots and supplement.  My surgery is in September.  Let's see if it works the same for me as it did for you :)

Quote from: K8 on June 02, 2010, 06:02:54 PM
I would be careful about leaving it in too long.  If the gel hardens (dries), you will have difficulty getting that sucka back out.  Just sayin... ::)

- Kate

It makes a popping sound when you take it out after leaving it in that long...

not that I know anything about that. :icon_redface:

-Sandy(who falls asleep while dilating)

No, I am a pescitarian, I eat seafood and eggs also.  Trust me, if you are in good shape, you will be fine with minimal problems.  Just stop reading too many posts because you will hear more problems than success stories because people who have problems usually post more than people who dont.  It can go either way but there are more success stories than failures, you just dont hear about them.

YOU WILL BE FINE and dont make the mistake I did, reading all these forums telling me that i need to purchase a whole lot of stuff.  half of the things i bought werent even opened.  you will be able to go to the local store and get what you need when you are released from the hospital.  i drove myself from the hospital to walmart then to my hotel.  i had some discomfort because it will be hard to sit upright but i reclined the seat in the car a little but i could stand straight up or lay completely down without any pain at all.  Dont be scared, if this is what is intended for you, you will be fine and when u wake up you will say, "was that it?  i should have done this a longtime ago".

Quote from: missyzanta on June 02, 2010, 10:45:50 PM
  Dont be scared, if this is what is intended for you, you will be fine and when u wake up you will say, "was that it?  i should have done this a longtime ago".

That's what happen with my orchie. Sweet Post! :)

Quote from: missyzanta on June 02, 2010, 10:45:50 PM
you will hear more problems than success stories because people who have problems usually post more than people who dont.  It can go either way but there are more success stories than failures, you just dont hear about them.

if this is what is intended for you, you will be fine and when u wake up you will say, "was that it?  i should have done this a longtime ago".

I agree.  I was pretty rough for a few days, but since day four I've taken nothing but an occassional ibuprofen.  Even with the pain of the first few days, what I got in exchange was worth ten times the hardship.

If this is what you need, it is worth any difficulty.

- Kate

whoa whoa whoa!  I did not belittle anyone and I didn't say that if it is intended to be taken in a bad way.  Wasn't insinuating anything, but was offering encouragement.  I said "there are more problems posted than success stories".  Of course pain is different to everyone but, i read all of the horror stories for years and opted out of surgery, but I couldn't take it anymore and had to STOP reading all of the horror stories because there are more successes than failures.  There is a greater chance of NOT experiencing excruciating pain than experiencing it.  Now that's the truth. 

Some experience a lot of pain and some only a little, but I think that the prospect of pain should not deter someone from doing what they need to do.

What I have received – peace, a feeling of being "right" for the first time in my life, and being able to live fully for the rest of my life – is worth all that I had to go through to get it.  I was lucky in that it didn't cost me a lot, but I would have paid any price for it.  The pain was temporary, but I get to be Kate forever. :)

- Kate

From a couple of past experiences I know already that I can withstand intense prolonged pain, but of course I'd rather not. Actually I'm looking forward to posting again in this thread in a couple weeks or so whether it hurts or not ;)

Yes, I was worried about the pain before I finally had my surgery, its was a concern but it did not rule my life.  I heard that some girls, when they had surgery ended up on drugs and I was worried in that sense that I was going to need drugs to take care of the pain and that some girls took a long time recovering.

However, after surgery, it was not a big issue, because I only had spasms of pain post two weeks for a few months afterwards

I realized at the time and afterwards that I have a high threshold for pain.  So in a sense I took the pain in my stride.

I would go through it again without hesitation and no reservations.   Why? because of the surgery I was able to live my life freely and openly and any pain that was associated with the surgery was inconsequential to my happiness.

FairyGirl, you will be all right and like others before you, you will come through with flying colors. Like K8 said, "but I think that the prospect of pain should not deter someone from doing what they need to do." and that is, live your life to the fullest, regardless of the pain level.

Kind regards
Sarah B

I think you will be fine FairyGirl.  For me it wasn't so much pain as it was discomfort.  I was aware that something had been done down there, kind of hard not to be.  But, as for acute pain, not so much. 

I'm excited for you, it's fun to watch you girls get ready for surgery because it makes me remember mine.  I remember the butterflies.  Kind of like a wedding of sorts  :D

oh I really don't care how much it hurts- there is nothing that would ever deter me from this no matter how much pain is involved. I'm sure I'll be fine too ;)

like a wedding, haha I like that :laugh:

I would say that it was mild to moderate, about a 3 to 4.

Though it was exacerbated by the fact that I also had another BA at the same
time. Quite frankly the BA was more painful, and had me popping Paracetamol
like Tic-Tacs.

I will say the sutures in my vagina were a somewhat uncomfortable, I joke and
tell people it felt like barb-wire in there, which was far from the truth.

All in all not particularly painful.