How long did you take pain meds post-op?

Hi, me again. New question. I've been reading that some of you don't need a lot of pain meds post-op, and some do. My question is how many days/weeks did you find you had to take them. I am on Day 6 and still needing the Percocets. I was also one that didn't respond well to meds right after surgery, so I'm not surprised that OTC pain meds don't do it for me, but a bit worried that I'm still taking them. Would really like to hear if I am among the "norm" or not.
Thanks!

As I recall I was prescribed approximately one week of narcotic pain pills after I returned home but I only took them for five days because I felt I needed to be clear-headed due to other responsibilities I had at the time.

s,

I took them for 4 days. Now I'm only taking Motrin if I do too much and feel those twinges that come along w/ over-exertion... My doctor told me that I could very well expect to take them for up to two weeks.

I am still taking darvocet and I am 7 days post surgery. I tried motrin yesterday, but didn't work to well. Granted, I only take it 2 times during the day. I had a TAH so this is new territory for me. Normally I have had laps done so not much pain meds were needed, and even after my hernia surgery (mesh was used) I didn't need pain meds for long. My guess is this HUGE horizonal incision across my belly is the reason...LOL! I am starting to feel better though...guess it just takes time...right?

Thanks for sharing ladies. I had a LAVH/LSO, so wondering if taking the still on day 6 is normal? I've had bowel!lower back/hip and vaginal to naval area pain.

hoping: I figure they give you a 15-30 day supply, right? We're all different with different pain levels as well as different tolerance levels; so I would say if you need it and you have it - then take it. Why suffer? You'll get to a point where you won't need them anymore! Don't worry about what everyone else is doing - just focus on making sure YOU are comfortable! 6 days seems really normal to me!!!

I think that you nailed it InlineSk8er - we are all different. I stopped taking the darvocet on day 4. They gave me this awful rash over a large area of my torso. The itching was insane!!! But - all that itching certainly took my mind off of the pain - I quit taking them because the itching was more uncomfortable than the pain -which was pretty high at the time. Benadryl did not even help the itching. Yikes!

Just to point out how much people vary in this, I never took any opiate pain meds post-op, at all. I'm allergic to them. I did Toradol(?) in the hospital and Extra Strength Tylenol at home. And I'm a big baby, but these and a whole lot of Gas Ex seemed to do the trick.

I had Toradol in the hospital because I ended up in the ICU due to breathing tube issues (doctors were being cautious with me because it took them 1 1/2 hours to put the breathing tube and they were afraid to that my trachea would collapse, I am morbidly obese with a very short neck and a fat neck so that was the problem) but they gave it to me to relax me and so I could sleep during the night and be comfortable throughout the morning.

The only time I had to take pain pills was at night and I combined with an ambien because my hips so badly that that was the only way I could sleep for more than 1 hour at a time. I never took pain pills during the day. I only took the pain pill for about a week or so and have not touched them since.

Torodol in hospital then switch to Motrin. I can't take narcotic pain meds due to pancreas duct problems. I opted for the DaVinci approach for this reason and really - pain was much less than I anticipated.