meds

Had a total hysterectomy on March 16th-did great.Being spoiled which is fantastic.Had my staples removed today and forgot to ask the dr. ...How long do we keep taking the pain pills?Would anyone out there know.The nurses at the hospital told me to take them around the clock to keep the pain away.How long does it last-when can I quit??Thanks

I quit taking my pain meds around 4 days out, but I have a very high tolerance for pain. Everyone is different, take them until you feel like you don't need them anymore. My dr also gave me a prescription for 800 mg of motrin, those I took more than I did the pain pills.

Best wishes

Wendy

Hi there! I only took the prescription pain meds for the day I came home from the hospital, and 2 more days. They made me feel horrible! Instead, I took ExtraStrength Tylenol for about a week, and that was enough for me.

I quit taking them within a week of being home simiply because they made me sick...I couldn't keep enough food in my stomach to keep up with them. Then I switched to ibuprofin, 4 every 8 hours, and I did that for 6 weeks...probably would have been a shorter amount of time, but I had some complications. Recently, I switched to Tylenol, because I feared the Ibu. was giving me headaches. Interesting, I just had a friend who returned from the hospital exactly two weeks ago today, and she just today started switching to tablets other than her prescription drugs.

Bottom line...you heal better if you are not in pain, so do what you need to do. The doctor would not have given you a whole bottle of meds if he thought you weren't going to use them!

Best wishes to you!!!

Hi,

I had TAH/BSO with a vertical incision and staples, last July. I had percocet the first 2 days in the hospital after surgery. Then I took 600 mg. ibuprofen for about 10 days. But I had very little pain. I was actually more interested in keeping the swelling down. After the ibuprofen ran out, I have not needed anything since. I had a very easy recovery. I hope you will too.

All the best to you.

hi kierra,
I'm a nurse who is blissfully off work for another 3 weeks; anyway, just take them whenever you feel you need them, preferably with food as most narcotics tend to upset the stomach. If he also gave you motrin, really take that with food, as it can cause internal bleeding/ulcers if you don't take it with food! I took percocet and darvocet for 2 weeks, usually twice a day to start, then once a day,now usually I just take a 600mg Motrin in the morning. I had a more extensive surgery tho, I also had a tummy tuck with a tah-bso, which means I had a drain, and 50 staples for the first week. Everyone is different with their pain tolerences, I needed the percocet sometimes because my 2 year old had just hit my belly, lol. Take care! Jeannie