Pain Mgmt Options

What are some good pain magmt options, and what has worked for you?

I am still amazed at how little pain I had post op!

I had the PCA pump with morphine in it for 24 hours only and then some oral meds. By the time I left the hospital on day 4 I wasn't taking anything other than ibuprofen.

I had a morphine pump and got some toradol in the hospital. Once I came home, I rotated between motrin and darvocet the first few days. I weaned off the darvocet and just used motrin for another few weeks.

See you on the post op boards!

I am using tylenol and motrin for post op pain management ...

i was only on narcotics for a few days post op...

a nice alternative to medicine is a hot shower...works wonders!!! (check with your dr first)


good luck!!

I had morphine in a PCA for the first day or so at the hospital and then switched to tylenol 3 (vicodin) for a week or so. Unlike the other ladies, I was in a fair amount of pain for the first couple weeks and then I was able to use regular ibuprofen and tylenol.

I had a pca pump for the first 18 hours or so, then I was sent home with percocet. After the first 5-6 days I probably wouldn't have taken anymore, but I ended up back in the hospital because of an infection. So it was about 2 weeks after surgery that I was just taking motrin I couldn't believe how well the motrin worked! I would recommed that for the first couple of days or so you take the amount of whatever you have at the prescibed times you don't want to skip one thinking you feel great, then are doubled over later...That happened to me! Good Luck hope everything goes well!

I had an epidural along with my general anesthesia because I am allergic to many pain medications. The epidural was supposed to stay for three days, but had to come out at a day and a half because the tiny catheter had worked out a bit from my spine. This compromised the sterile field and posed a risk of spinal abcess. I didn't know before a few moments before entering the OR that this could be done. It was, along with meds for nausea, absolutely amazing! When I came off the epidural, I was given darvocet for a day and sent home with a prescription for the same. Felt queasy on it after a day at home, so I stopped.....good thing I did. Turns out, I was allergic to that one too! The head to toe hives took my mind off of my incision for sure! I really only needed periodic over the counter (mostly advil) after that. I was sore, but not in pain.

Best wishes to you.

Barb A.

I received morphine the day of and the morning after surgery, a total of about 24 hours. It was not on a PCA pump but was given IV push. The doctor has ordered 4 to 8 units every 3 to 4 hours depending on my pain, but my blood pressure was so low that even when my pain was a 9 out of 10, they would only give me 4 units at a time. But they would give the remaining 4 units about 2 hours later after re-checking my blood pressure. Now that I am home, I am using Lorcet Plus and ibuprofen for pain, but I am having a surprisingly small amount of pain.. The worst of the pan is from gas and so I am using Gas X for that. I think that is the best advise I got from anyone on this site. And, as your docotr permits, a hot shower will help relax the muscles and ease the pain. I wish you the best of luck with your trip to the Castle and look forward to seeing you in the post-op boards.

Melissa
TVH/BSO 3/3/09
d&c, ablations, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy 2000, 2003, 2005
so far no hrt

I had morphine in my PCA device after surgery, and then they switched me to Vicodin alternated with ibuprofen.

For me, it was several weeks before I was able to go without some narcotic pain medicine. This was probably due to the fact that I had a very large incision (hip-to-hip) and it took ten weeks for the incision to close all the way.

Pain management is, of course, a big concern when it comes to major surgery that requires such a long recovery. To help put your mind at ease you might want to speak with your doc about how he handles pain mgt. in a 'typical' recovery. I've heard of doc's who won't give enough med's, tho that's rare but it happens, to doc's who give out rx's long past when they should. My suggestion would be if you get the former (stingy doc who doesn't care about your pain) go to your pcp/gp, even get a referral to a pain mgt. specialist or consult with another doc and explain the situation if it's really extreme.

I had morphine until it was time for me to get up and walk, then vicodin, which didn't work well for me so I insisted on something stronger and my doc gave me percocet. I had complications that aren't the norm, so also needed a script for dilaudid, a step down from morphine, unfortunately it simply didn't work for me, but at the same time I was receiving additional treatment and my body decided to cooperate and get with the recovery process, so I went back to percocet. I'm over 3 weeks out and still taking percocet, and I probably will be for another six weeks or so because I have to go to therapy that will cause me a lot of discomfort. I have a great doc who has been very good about giving me med's I need (pain, anti-inflammatory, anti-nausea), but again, if I had a problem, I would see a pain mgt. specialist.

Good luck to you with your surgery, and remember to advocate for yourself, or have someone with you who will act as your advocate, when it comes to pain and any other issues that may arise during your recovery.