The post-op depression can be pretty rough. 💜🤗

I talked with my sister when I was going through mine and she likened it to postpartum depression that some new moms go through. It makes sense given that our surgery and recovery is akin (not equivalent) to that experience. Also it took me a 6 weeks to get the strength to walk/stand for more than 30 minutes at a time.

As for the pain full spectrum CBD helped more than the opioids I was prescribed.

...I know it's rough now but it does get better.

Hey sweets, I’m 4 years post and baby I remember that all too well…..your body just went through a very traumatic operation and your brain is still processing healing, pain and your mind is catching up with the fact that you accomplished a major goal. For me 4 years later I’m still not 100% over it lol

It gets better my dear.

I’m a month post op and it’s definitely hard right now. I hope you start to feel better!

and nothing stronger than over the counter paracetamol and ibuprofen

Yo what? Is no one going to address this?

This is extremely fucked up. The first 4 days I was given a morphine drip which I used very liberally, and once released from hospital I was given a prescription for oxycodone. I know opioid painkillers have their risks, but you just had your genitals turned inside out, if there any use case for opioid, this is fucking it.

I cannot believe that your surgeon and the hospital would be so neglectful as to refuse adequate analgesics. If you're in pain (I know I still was at 4 weeks), get in contact and ask for pain relief. This is disgusting.

Since it has only been 1 month you aren't full healed. You can't judge a wedding cake by the half cooked batter. It will get better , just give this all time.

A friend of mine had horribly painful wound dehiscence. Another had a painful complication with a fistula connecting the vagina canal to the rectum. One required surgery and the other did not but they both got resolved and they’re both doing better now.

Hi I'm also a month post op and finding it very hard. I'd never had surgery or even been into hospital before. I wish I'd known before hand just how hard recovery would be. The post op euphoria has passed and I'm in constant pain, very emotional and crying a lot. I hate having to dilate and am seriously considering stopping. But I'm trying to find one task to do each day to motivate myself to get out of bed. Putting a wash on or cooking a meal. It does help take my mind of things for a while. I try to think positively about next week and the week after that and the week after that as I know my body will heal and the pain will diminish and eventually I'll be able to sit down properly again or lay on my side in bed. I know this will just be a memory and I'll be happier than ever because my dreams will have come true and I would have survived.

Sadly I can't speak on post op stuff (yet) but I do recognize pain and frustration when I see it, I just wanted you to know, although zi do not know you. I think your very brave to go through this, the things that trans folks have to go through in the first place is hard all the way around, but I have confidence that in time you will heal and will be glad you did what did 😊 Best of luck to you and keep up the great job. Remember to love yourself, it will get better.

Right there with you. Hospital stay was really traumatic. 4 weeks post-op now and still pretty miserable. Everything is still really swollen and looks like shit. Just tired of feeling gross.

The only thing that has helped me is focusing on the small improvements even if they’re not much like how I noticed the other day was the first time I was able to walk down the stairs without much pain. Anyways, I can’t wait to put this nightmare behind me.

im only 5 weeks post op as well and ive had a lot of similar feelings, i feel so useless and i want to get back into my life. i just try to remember that i went thru quite a lot and itll take time to heal. i have definitely second guessed myself in going thru with this but honestly i feel like thats a normal reaction. i mean really who “wants” to have this surgery? ideally id be born with something i was comfortable with. but i wasnt, so i just try to be grateful for the opportunity to have something ill be happier with long term. even tho i also feel kinda “meh” down there right now i know long term ill like having this a lot more than what i used to have. even if its not perfect. the days where i have felt reallyy down, i spend whatever energy i have leftover to do some self care. try shaving your legs if you havnt done that in a while. try on some yoga pants or your favorite undies or whatever to feel more like yourself, it helps me a lot to see an end goal of sorts.

im sorry about your pain, i was given oxy while in hospital, they wouldnt give u something stronger when asked? they also had me on high dose of advil, tylenol, gabapentin. thankfully now ive been managing just fine with small dose of tylenol, advil, and a little bit of weed. i feel more pain when im depressed. but its gotten better every day. last night i had a quick sharp pain while dilating and then when i went to the bathroom later there was some fresh blood and freaked me out and i started overthinking maybe this was not a great idea am i okay? is there something wrong ? i know im ok and its normal. but my mind is so ready to be back to regular life just remember it will take time. i take a photo every day, and look back to see how much i have already healed. it will get better im sure and the pain wont last forever. you got this! we’ll both be okay 👍

I'm just about 5 months post-op zero-depth and even without dilation, I'm only just starting to feel emotionally better and I still physically feel uncomfortable and weak and uncertain.

I'd had my orchi a few years ago and was going back to the office after like a week and was feeling completely back to normal within a month and I think that definitely gave me the wrong expectations for how hard SRS would hit me.

You're definitely not alone. I was a wreck of anxiety and pain the first two weeks too. After that I was still crying and exhausted and fatigued for like the first three months. I'm still desperately uncomfortable worrying over numbness and I can't sit normally or go for a run BUT it's getting better every day and most of my life has gone about back to normal.

Going on short walks really helped me around month three, though I don't know what the weather is like where you are. Big winter coats are at least good for semi-stealthily making yourself a donut cushion to sit on at restaurants but other than that, it's just taking care of yourself and trying to keep it together a few more months 😣 You can do it!

I feel you sister!

I am also 5 weeks post op. It's a two stage surgery so I am not finished yet, waiting for my second appointment in January. Also got diagnosed with a uretrovaginal fistula, which should fortunatly be fixed quite easily. Still this will increase my hospitalisation time by a week or so.

I also want to have my life back, I am a very active person, running and cycling almost every day before surgery. Now that I will be cleared to do that again from next week on I struggle even more, knowing it won't be possible. If I only imagine sitting on my bike... Or how my pads inside my running tights would look after a 10 km run...

FFS recovery was also tough mentally, but I could not wait to be allowed going for a run. Everything worked like before. Now it is very differnt. I even have my next marathon electrolysis session in between, then a hospital stay because of a check-up for the fistula. And then second surgery a few weeks after, again the supra pubic catheter, so a second" hole" in my pubic area.

Definetly the hardest part of my transition. Wishing you the best with your recovery, we are now as close to our goal as possible!

I'm almost 4 weeks after mine and keep finding this post. I hope things got better for you. I keep looking at stuff like this because some days I wake up and I feel great and others I wake up and feel like my entire existence is a joke and a mistake. I feel like I should be healed and back to work already and I feel guilty for not being productive.

I can't really relate to the pain issues. I had BA and vaginoplasty in one go and was fine on just paracetamol. What hurt most was my lower back, my complete inability to move meant i was very uncomfortable for the first two-three days.

I am almost 2 weeks post-op and mostly recovered, I went out earlier and had beers with friends but the first week I felt like you're describing. Going to the toilet was messy and awful (its still a chore but better now). Feelings of uselessness and "inhumanness" (disruption of gym/work/hobby routine), boredom, depression, feeling "meh" about the result (as it's still mostly a bloody sticky mess) are all feelings I felt. Dilating especially fucking sucks. But it does get a bit better I think. You could try touching the places that have healed a bit and explore around there. And also make sure to get a lot of (light) movement! Helps a lot with healing.

I’m 3 weeks post-op and took ibuprofen and acetaminophen the first week. Then I stopped the ibuprofen and have been using acetaminophen since then. They gave me oxycodone but I didn’t feel like I needed it so never took any. There are times the pain isn’t great but I’ve gotten past them ok-ish. I thought I would be back at work after 4 weeks. How dumb I was! 😀