when do I start working through the pain?

I had my LAVH with the removal of my cervix on Tuesday the 16th, and went home on Weds the 17th. Everything went well, except for the gas that migrated up into my right shoulder making it very difficult to take a breath in without a sharp pain. Eventually that went away by the time I got home on weds about 5pm.

I have been up and around, even had a outing yesterday, (40 min was plenty long enough).

I have been taking less pain meds simply because I'm not sure how long I should be taking them. My pain is minimal, but every so often my belly starts to hurt, I imagine the stitches they put internally.

At what point should I start ignoring the pain and quit the pills altogether?
everyone is saying that the recovery time is so much shorter than in the past, that I think I am not allowing myself time to heal, afraid is shouldn't take as long. I hope this makes sense... I really apprecite your website, and maybe someone can calm me down a bit?

Don't rush yourself because of what other people tell you! Everyone is different and you need to do what works for you.

I haven't even had an outing yet, we were going on one yesterdayjust to get out of the house but I had a couple of friends stop by and that wore me out all by itself which was really odd for me. I haven't been taking much pain meds either the last couple of days, just Motrin 800 but yesterday after one of my friends left I must have done something to tweak my insides, not sure what, but something was hurting so I did end up taking 2 Tylenol 3 which helped. I figure if you are in pain it's not helping your body heal at all and it makes me more irritable and stressed out. The Tyl 3 doesn't make me tired or loopy so it's a good one for me to take in the middle of the day.

The meds are there if you need them, so if you are feeling sore and it's really getting to you, take one or two of them and let your body relax. Modern day medicine is wonderful but at time, the pain meds and rest are really what you may need.

I personally came home on a Saturday evening and had stopped meds completely by Monday morning. We all have different pain tolerances, I had had a laprasopic procedure a few months before so I was prepared for the pain.
If you feel like you need the meds then by all means take them. The worse thing you can do is push yourself!

Thank you for your responses I really appreciate them! I did take a percocet this afternoon and stayed in bed and I feel much better now. I am going to try and get up now a move about a bit and see how it goes.

Are you taking prescription pain meds or OTC?

They were giving me Percocet in the hospital and sent me home with a prescription that I filled immediately, but it made me really nauseous. Once I figured out it was the Percocet causing the nausea, I was anxious to get off it. Second day home I switched to ibuprofen, alternated with Tylenol, and that has been managing my pain well. The first day or so it was just adequate, but each day it's gotten better.

For several days I was taking ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, whether I felt like I needed it or not, just to stay ahead of the pain. It's what I always did for my menstrual cramps, too. I'm on day 11 post-op and finally down to just taking them when I actually feel pain, which yesterday was two doses of ibuprofen and one of acetominophen.

Looking at your sugery date, six days after mine, I don't think you should be worrying about quitting pain meds yet. Start easing off them slowly, maybe, but there's no rush. Unless you're getting unpleasant side effects, like the nausea I got from the Percocet.

I have had no unpleasant side effects from the percocet