I wanna get top surgery done in the future.  But this won't be for a long while yet as I am not out to my mother yet and have no money. But I'm terrified of having surgery and the pain that comes afterwords. How soon after surgery do you feel the pain? How painful is it? And long does the pain last for before if goes away for good?

I've had a few surgeries and the pain wasn't that bad. It'll depend on what you have done and if there are any complications. As with most surgeries the pain won't last forever and you'll soon forget it.

Thanks. I'd like to have bottom surgery too and any other surgeries to make me a full male, but I feel I can't for religious reasons. But having top surgery doesn't seem like a big deal b/c I'm not actual changing my part down there.  As much as I'd like to I feel I can't.

I had a crushing injury once--gunched my index finger in some machinery. I didn't flatten my finger, just put a big ol' dent in it. The initial injury didn't hurt that much (I guess I was in shock), but in the weeks after that, it hurt WAY more than my top surgery ever did.

The first few days after surgery were very uncomfortable for me. Yes, it was moderately painful. But I didn't have to do anything except eat, sleep, and use the toilet. And I was pretty well whacked out on pain medication. And MY CHEST WAS FLAT. That made up for everything.

The worst thing was actually not the pain--well, two things bothered me. First, I had to sleep on my back. If you're not a back sleeper, this can be horrible. Second, I couldn't reach up high for a long time. My ex had already broken up with me by this time, but we still lived together. I hated asking him for help, and it was plain that he hated helping me sometimes. Especially when he wanted to get back to his computer game.

It's not too bad, probably depends on your tolerance.  I had my surgery three days ago so I'm going through this right now.  Right after I didn't feel anything coming off of the anesthesia, and when I did I was given a couple percocets, which worked wonderfully.  I was proscribed vicodin for any remaining pain at home.

The most irritating things are probably sleeping on your back, as previously mentioned; I've experienced more irritation around the drain sites themselves than actual chest pain.  Can't wait to get the drains out on Wednesday to relieve the constant slight tugging/discomfort.

Quote from: Arch on September 19, 2010, 12:21:36 AM
My ex had already broken up with me by this time, but we still lived together. I hated asking him for help, and it was plain that he hated helping me sometimes. Especially when he wanted to get back to his computer game.

Arch - We have to meet in person sometime. You've apparently already lived the next few years of my life.

On pain: How badly did you guys feel you needed the painkillers? Codeine-related painkillers (Percocet, Vicodin, etc) don't work on me. Would it have been tolerable without them?

Quote from: kyril on September 19, 2010, 10:19:57 AM
Arch - We have to meet in person sometime. You've apparently already lived the next few years of my life.

Now, that's a scary thought.

Quote from: kyril on September 19, 2010, 10:19:57 AM
On pain: How badly did you guys feel you needed the painkillers? Codeine-related painkillers (Percocet, Vicodin, etc) don't work on me. Would it have been tolerable without them?

I had Darvocet-N (generic), and it worked very well. I'm not sure how the first two or three days would have been on Ibuprofen alone, but I would have been fine after that with just Ibu. By that time, I was thinking about stopping the Darvocet, but I kept going for a couple more days just in case. After all, I had the stuff, and I had no obligations. So I had four days and one night on the meds.

I didn't find top surgery all that painful, though your movement will be restricted for a while.  You could probably get away with Advil (ibuprofen).  I did take some Percocet the first few days but likely it wasn't really necessary.  I didn't need Percocet after lower surgery either; surprisingly that wasn't very painful either.  Some discomfort, yes, but not painful or unbearable.


Jay

Thanks for the responses.

I actually just came out to my mom today and I didn't think it was going to be for while yet. So now that I'm out to my mom I'm hoping I can make the changes faster now. She thinks, like my grandmother that I'm going to change my mind... but I'm not.  I know 100% for sure I'm in the wrong body and I have to make these changes to feel better about myself.

I have a very low tolerance for pain, so if and when I get top surgery done, I know I'm gunna have to be heavily medicated. I've seen videos and pics of trans guys and the scaring and the whole nipple scaring freak me out, more so the nipple scaring and the drainage.  But it's something I'm gunna have to get over b/c this has to be done.  And my mom is supporting but told me she will always love me no matter what I decide to do, but I think she and my grandmother think there is hope that if I pray real  hard that I will change my mind and want to be a girl. But that will  NEVER happen.  I'm not gunna wake up one day and decide I like guys and wanna be a girl. I've battled this since I was a kid..... I'm 28, almost 29.  Things have got to change now.

There was some pain/discomfort after surgery for me, but I stayed on my painkiller regimen which helped significantly. Now and then things would ache, and there was soreness if I moved wrong, but it was not stabbing or constant pain. It was certainly bearable and did not prevent me from doing some significant walking around.

Also, I wasn't allowed to take ibuprofen, I had to stick with tylenol as my secondary painkiller, and that is what I used after the prescription drugs were finished. But I'd say that two weeks after surgery I didn't need anything for it.

So yeah, overall I'd say there's 'discomfort' to look forward to, rather than any significant pain.

Quote from: M.Grimm on September 19, 2010, 05:02:04 PM
Also, I wasn't allowed to take ibuprofen, I had to stick with tylenol as my secondary painkiller, and that is what I used after the prescription drugs were finished. But I'd say that two weeks after surgery I didn't need anything for it.

Actually, I think I was taking Tylenol, too. Ibu was on the list of meds not to take. but it worked fine.

Quote from: Dominick_81 on September 19, 2010, 03:31:40 PM
I have a very low tolerance for pain, so if and when I get top surgery done, I know I'm gunna have to be heavily medicated.

Not necessarily. I have low pain tolerance (might as well admit it). But I guess you know your body best, and better safe than sorry.

Thank you guys for all your responses.

Hm. No ibuprofen is a scary thought. I use that stuff all the time, it's the only thing that works (besides IV morphine, and they won't let me take that home)

Regarding Ibuprofen: you can't use it pre-op, but I was prescribed ibuprofen by my gyn after my hysto at a whopping 600mg 4x daily with no issues, and I used a much lower dose post-op top surgery.

I did have some post-op bleeding from lower surgery and stopped taking ibuprofen, but after consulting with my MD here in the us post-op she doubted that the ibuprofen contributed to the bleeding (I was bleeding from my vaginectomy site, which is the bloodiest part of the procedure).


Jay

I had never had any type of surgery, so I had no idea what to expect. I just recently got over my needle phobia so surgery was a big step. I got a script of 40 vicoden (sp?) for the pain after surgery, i only took 2. One the night of surgery before i went to bed and 1 the day after.  After that I would just take tylenol in the morning and before i went to bed for about a week.  i didnt really have any pain at all. it was just sore, something like a super intense chest workout for the first time. It wasn't nearly as bad as i thought it would be. I was super relieved!

That's awesome, Jet...I can't remember; did you have DI, peri, or keyhole? (Or some variation on one of these?)

I had DI, so lots of tissue was removed. I'm not sure whether DI usually causes more pain than the other types of surgery. I had a revision six months after--he cut away some excess skin and did lipo in a couple of spots--and I didn't need pain meds at all. But even keyhole on a small chest is more invasive than my minor postsurgical revision.

Hey arch, I had DI with Dr Garramone. I was really small chested though, i could have had peri but i think the DI results usually look better. So I didn't have to have a lot of tissue removed, that could make a difference....i'm not sure.

I can totally relate to parker, i was nervous as hell never having had surgery before.  I didn't take any of the vicodin just extra strength tylenol for 2 days, it was more uncomfortable than painful.  i'm 4 days post op now with no pain at all, like he said its just like being really really sore.  The actually compression bandage he uses is the worst part for me.  It is tighter than my binder was, and so itchy i feel like i am going crazy lol.  2 more days till this thing is off and i can see my chest!

Quote from: jet3 on October 02, 2010, 11:54:40 AM
Hey arch, I had DI with Dr Garramone. I was really small chested though, i could have had peri but i think the DI results usually look better. So I didn't have to have a lot of tissue removed, that could make a difference....i'm not sure.

Pain varies from person to person, but it seems to me that if the doc takes out lots of tissue it will hurt more.

I couldn't tell from your pic that you had had DI. I guess your scars are well placed. (Mine aren't very well placed, but the scars have faded somewhat.)

Judahliam congrats bro! im stoked for you! the first time you see your chest is amazing! let us know how it goes.

Arch, yea my scars are placed pretty well. they are thin too, they didn't stretch to much, which is awesome! I was really good for about the first month using my scar gaurd and silicone strips, but now i'm not so good haha