finding a pain med

Is anyone taking anything that works for pain but allows some manner of mobility?

I have tried oxycontin -works great, but can' think straight let along drive; vicodin - no pain relief whatsoever; motrin 800 -- also no relief; and dilaidin -- 2mg tabs just put me out in a semi conscious state.

I am in my third week and would like to start moving around, e.g, picking up kids from school. Since stopping the oxycontin I feel like I got hit by a bus.

I had a complicated hysterectomy with bladder repair so my doc is willing to give me more pain meds as needed. Lots of lower ab and back soreness and bladder pain from contractions.

Thanks in advance!

I know exactly what you mean about the pain meds - I took two different kinds after my surgery and was in a semi-consious state the whole time but I wasn't in any pain!

After two weeks of this post op, I got off everything and just took tylenol (two extra strength) every four hours for the first few days and it worked just fine - I was then able to start driving and going to public places without people looking at me like I was drunk.

I still got some pain, especially when I moved around - getting up and down and out of bed was the worst - but it was manageable. Not sure that helps you, but it worked well for me - I felt so much better once I was lucid again.

Hugs,
Cat

Nothing but time worked for me. You might need to give your body another week or two to heal. You only get one chance to recouperate so don't rush it. One or two weeks is not long to wait.

I just took my last Percocet this morning. After that, I have about 15 Darvocets. After that, I'm "on my own." However, my surgery was fairly straight-forward: partial abdominal hysterectomy, keeping my cervix and ovaries. Still, I have a bad history with chemical dependency. When OxyContin first came out, my primary care put me on the smallest dose to help with severe fibromyalgia pain. Naturally, what happened was predictable: over time, the dosage lost is potency and she had to put me on booster OxyIR pills. A few times I took more than I was supposed to, and it took a long time to admit to myself that i had a problem. I was also on prednisone to help with inflammation. I gained 60 pounds and was bedridden and looked AWFUL. In the end, I quit cold turkey. It was two bad weeks, but not as bad as I thought. I lost all the weight and look GREAT now, but still take meds for a bipolar disorder.

THAT SAID, I AM NOT SAYING YOU ARE DEPENDENT ON DRUGS! GOODNESS GRACIOUS, I'm just concerned that you get the best possible pain relief that will NOT cloud your judgment, etc. OxyContin IS awfully addictive, as is Vicodin. Have you ever heard of Ultram? My primary care gives me that for moderate pain that I can use anytime. It "mimics" opiates but is not as dangerous as far as the addictive factor.

Currently, I have found that the Darvocet has been pretty good for moderate pain, with no real side effects. However, it doesn't BEGIN to touch the REALLY bad pain. On a scale of 1-10, ten being the worst, how would you rate your pain. Is it constant throughout the day, or worse during particular times of the day? Sorry I'm rambling. ANOTHER thing the doctor could consider is fitting you with a portable morphine pump that you could wear just until you've healed up a bit more. Those things are safe and reliable. In the right dosage, you should not be "totally snowed." I had one for about 12 hours while I was in the hospital two weeks ago (the Demerol wasn't working and I was MISERABLE). It was the best 12 hours of my whole experience because I didn't even FEEL drugged!

Let us know what happens, sweetie! Sorry I rambled on so much, but that's the side effects of the last of MY Percocets!

The pain isn't so bad, about a 5 if I'm just laying on the couch. But I was hoping to be up and about a little more as I was on the oxycontin, at least puttering about the house but I really can't do anything at the moment.

At night it gets worse maybe about a 7 and trouble getting comforable.

Maybe I will just bite it during the day and take tylenol with codeine at night and see if it works.

Between the last the 3 surgeries, I'm practically a pharmacy here with just about every pain killer, in limited quantities.

hey ekosh..have you tried toradol..im not sure of the spelling..but ive taken that..its non narcotic..but is a presc pain med..i have had issues with addiction..post surgeries..its too much energy for me to have to go through all the mind and physical stuff after the pain goes.. so opted this time for ice/heating pads/otc meds and rest..not that i like toughing it out..but know that after i was released from the hosp it would not be so great for me to have hard drugs as i call em laying around my house....toradol has worked pretty good for me..did have me a little sleepy..not sure if that was the drug or just me being worn..but it helped..maybe your doctor knows about it..?
not gonna rant on..but sheese hospitals still dont get it about addicition..so please do take the best care of you ok..

I've used Percocet following each of my surgeries and it has worked great. Since my doc is out of state, I've downgraded to Darvocet when I've run out of Percocet (he always sends me home with about 50 - 60 Percocet following surgery) and they have helped the pain just fine.

Best of luck to you! I hope you find something that helps your pain.

I was concerned taking pain meds for so long but My dr told me that while your bodys trying to heal the pain meds let it do that.Its been over three weeks for me and im still taking darvecet a couple times aday when I over do it and he says its normal ( but rest) Its embarresing to have to ask for refills all the time but dont hurt because you dont want to ask.My Drs killing me with 30 tabs at a time and im always calling when im out.(24 hours in advance) My Dr said this is like rehab one step forword and sometimes two steps back but ill get there and so will you.Walking helps and so dos doing a craft of some sort of you like crafting.Ive started talking to people ive met here on yahoo and thats alot of fun to and helps

Hi, I am a fan of Darvocet, myself. I have never had a bad reaction to this one. I find that one eases minor pain, and if I need to take 2, I do get a little whippy, but it works for more severe pain. The hopsital was giving me Demerol by IV for pain, then as it eased, they offered the Darvoset and it is a charm!!!!!!!!!! I agree with the time in healing also, I was on pain meds only the 1st 3 dys home and weaned off them and tried to rest as much as possible that first week and it must have worked............I feel pretty good today and I am now at my 11th day post op!!!!!!!!!!!1

It''s always interesting to see how we all react differently to pain and pain meds. My doc was concerned about how to best manage my pain for surgery and we agreed on the morphine pump with more frequent dosing. I happened to wake up too soon and was in screaming #10 pain in the recovery room before they could get anything in me. Seems I never ever got on top of that pain. Also, they had a big attitude about it. (not the doc's but the various nurses)

I've had back issues for years and have found vicodans to be the only thing that seems to work while not making me feel dopey. I work full time in a high level gov. job and do just fine. Somedays are tougher to get through pain wise, but I've been on the same dosage for over 2 years now.

With the hyst they sent me home with oxycodone. I swear, it didnt touch the pain. I've had abdominal surgery before and never had this much pain. I was given a refil of 50 at my 3 week check up and I finally switched back to vicodans and they worked fine. Ive also tryed the long acting morphine and it just made me throw up. I guess it's just an individual thing. The point is this:
We become tolerant to pain meds if used for long periods of time. That is a Big differeence to addicted. When you no longer feel the need for the pain meds, you will just phase them down and then off.. it usually happens that way. At 3 weeks, I still needed help with the pain. I know I was trying to do to much and we need to also remember that healing takes a long time. Don't try to tough it out and make sure you get enough pain releif to keep you comfortable (resting) and doing minimal moving around.. at 3 weeks you still shouldn't be bending alot and picking anything more than 5 lbs. up. If you need extra pain control at night, take it if it helps you get through the night. I ibuprofen or tylenol helps during the day and 1/2 the dose of narcotic pain meds.. then you are starting to heal and are getting ready to switch over. Most people will not become addicts. You need to heal and you need to just slowly recover at your own pace. People should not be made to feel guilty about asking for a refill. I've seen some really rude docs as well as nursing staff... it's a shame. Pain does not have to be endured. You will heal faster if you're comfortable.