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 

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... .

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.