Post Surgery Pain

Pain

by Jimmy Dinfla - 2018-07-15 07:21:40

I had an ICD implanted and your description is exactly what I experienced.  Extra strength acetaminophen helped a little.  So did ice packs and heat packs.  It took several weeks to recover from the surgery and about six months before it felt OK to lay on my left side using a baby pillow between my arm and chest.  A year plus later, I still use the baby pillow.

Your body has gone through a trauma so just give yourself some time to heal from the surgery.  The good news is: you'll recover!

same

by bluevelvetcake - 2018-07-15 11:11:44

I am a side sleeper as well. it took four weeks before I could sleep on my sides with any level of comfort. It felt like my boobs were either pulling it down when I was on my right side or painfully poking into my armpit on my left side. To make matters worse, I'm a sleeper with my hands under my cheek..

These last two weeks have gotten a lot better but I sometimes have to adjust my hands higher up under my face or put them down by my side which sucks but better than it was. 

It will get better, it just sucks right now. 

This too shall pass.

by Gotrhythm - 2018-07-15 13:44:35

Everyone is different in how they experience pain and how much pain they experience. 

When you can't sleep everything hurts worse. The first most important thing is to keep reminding yourself that this is a temporary problem. It will go away in time.

The suggestions already given are good. I'm a great believer in the therapeutic powers of ice.

I too am a side sleeper and sleeping on my back really doesn't work for me. I found that by propping pillows at my back and leaning on them, I could achieve a position that was neither side nor back. It was however enough to take the pressure off the pacemaker while allowing me to be not exactly on my back. I also rolled a pillow and wedged it against my front to prevent rolling too far forward. In that position I could get to sleep, and sleep deeply enought to feel rested--something I cannot do on my back. Gradually over time I was able to sleep on my side without pillows.

But no sooner had I returned to sleeping on my side(s) than I broke my wrist and had to go through the whole finding-a-way-to-sleep-thing again. (!) Healing from a broken bone took much longer.

I feel your pain..

by Electric Elise - 2018-07-15 16:31:50

.. and i mean that literally. Had my dual chamber PM surgery July 6th and I’m going through the exact same thing. It does get better, even from one week to the next.. so give it time and patience (easier said than done, I know!!) I had NEVER been able to sleep on my back until a week ago - and now here I am doing it like it’s nothing. Stay strong and remember - a year from now you’ll look back on all this and you’ll wonder if it actually happened to you!

sleeping

by Tracey_E - 2018-07-15 20:20:51

It was more than a month until I could sleep on my side again. A small pillow and sleeping in an athletic bra both helped. I hugged the pillow to keep me from rolling onto my side in my sleep, and I used it as support so I was halfway between on my back and on my side, if that makes sense. I was able to sleep on my right side much sooner than the left, between the pillow and the bra, everything stayed in place and didn't pull. 

Sleep

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-15 20:47:26

I slept in a recliner for two months.  I'm normally a stomach sleeper but will roll from side to side, as well.  I'lll get leg cramps if I sleep on my back (kept a pillow under my legs in the recliner).  I had bypass surgery in 2014 and slept in a recliner for five months, then.  We have a recliner next to the bed in the bedroom for such fin times.  ;-)

Pain and sleep

by Ljm24 - 2018-07-18 01:03:17

was your placement sub muscular?  Am on 5 th pacemaker for ablation induced 3rd degree heartblock. First time sub muscular. Was more pain than between skin and myscle. I am at 4 weeks and sore