LAVH: Upcoming hysterectomy (8/11): What oral pain med did YOUR doc prescribe?

In my pre-op appointment I was told I will be "sent home" with a prescription for Tylenol with codeine. That is what my dentist gave me for a procedure and I don't think it will be enough!

Nurse said my doc quit prescribing Vicodin a year ago. ???

1) Did you get your prescription so it was filled and ready for you when got home?

2) What did you get?

3) Were / are you satisfied with the pain relief?

Thank you!

1. My hospital arranged to have the Rx sent to my room for discharge time but that didn't work. DH walked to the hospital pharmacy and they were out. Plus, since the drug is a narcotic, they won't even tell you over the phone if they have it or not. He ended up bringing me home first then going back out to get my Rx.

2. Percocet

3. Yes. Took it for 3 days post-op then moved on to OTC Tylenol and Aleve.

I am on Percocet now and have not even had the surgery.
That is because I have over 25 fibroids and they are in cystic degeneration that is when the blood supply has stopped to the fibroid and I had to go to the E.R. because I thought it was my appendix - it was excruciating and this is just like getting the Uterine Artery Embolization - when the blood supply stops - only difference is I do not think these fibroids have shrunk like this procedure will do for your fibroids.

Anyways, I would tell your doctor to send you to pain management if that is not good enough because from what I hear - It is a lot of pain afterwords and codeine was not strong enough for me preop and I have not even had surgery yet. Best of luck.

I was given prescriptions for tylenol with codeine and motrin 600 which I never filled because I still had all of mine left over from my d&c which I had never taken. I didn't need to take anything, and had really no pain to speak of.

I had abdominal surgery and was in the hospital for three days. While I was there, I had dilaudid. However, by the morning of the third day I was off dilaudid and experiencing no pain, just soreness and twingey-ness. I was released with *no* pain med scrips, just advice to take ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen for minor pain, call the hospital back for major pain. I never had to call the hospital. I took "extra-strength" (400 mg) ibuprofen pretty regularly the first week, occasionally the second.

From what I've read on this list, everyone's experience of pain and pain meds is really different. Some sisters find the side effects of narcotic meds harder to deal with than the pain itself. I'd suggest trying to avoid guessing ahead of time how much (or how little) pain you're going to be in. Rather the important thing is that when you get your pain meds scrip, also ask whom you're supposed to call/what you're supposed to do if the meds aren't sufficient and you're in major pain. That way you have your scrip plus you also have a back-up plan.

1) No, my husband took me home first and then got my prescription filled. I has home the same day as the surgery. I had some of the same medicine leftover from a couple months prior so I took that until my prescription was filled.

2) Hydrocodone with Acetaminophen (5-500) - generic Vicodin

3) Yes, it worked really well without any bad side effects. I took it faithfully on schedule for 5 - 6 days and then started to use it only as needed. My last dose was 9 days post-op. I was also alternating Ibuprofen with it. I used the Ibuprofen for a longer time period but at decreasing doses and increasing time between doses. I was off everything by 2 weeks.

I had LAVH and only needed extra strength Tylenol for the discomfort. Never had real pain. I could not take an narcotic meds due to having ulcerative colitis. I was nervous about this, but wound up never needed anything stronger.

wow you are tough ladies - I have a low pain tolerance!!!

I'm hoping for OPANA - KIDDING - Percocet and hope to be off of this within a week after surgery.

Don't panic!

I had complications with my hysterectomy, yet pain was not an issue. I don't remember much of the first day and assume they automatically gave me meds. I asked for meds once the second day. That was it. I never needed pain meds for surgery pain after that--none, not even OTC meds. So I was never even given a script for pain meds of any kind. So you could be just fine.

I have been prescribed both acetaminophen (Tylenol) with codeine and Vicodin over the years. In ways, I actually think the Tylenol with codeine was more effective for me. It was also what has prescribed when my family members have broken bones and had surgery. Both meds are an acetaminophen base with a type of narcotic. It isn't that one is necessarily stronger than the other, and it isn't that you necessarily need strong pain meds after surgery. You simply need a pain med that works for you. Remember, the narcotic part doesn't actually do anything for your pain--it simply fakes your brain out so you think you aren't in pain. The Tylenol part is what can help with inflammation, and that is why an ibuprofen product can be helpful, too.

	Quote:
Originally Posted by quintana67 wow you are tough ladies - I have a low pain tolerance!!!...

You wouldn't think of me as "tough" if you'd seen me curled up on the floor in pain with menstrual cramps, back in the days when those were still an issue. :-) I wouldn't say either that I have a high pain tolerance. I think it's more like in my particular case, healing from my hysterectomy simply didn't involve a lot of pain. (Except when I tried doing something stupid. Do *not* try to do a plank in your third week after surgery. That counts as "stupid.")

Wishing you too a pain-free recovery! (Avoid being stupid, okay?)