TAH How long did you keep taking pain meds?

And how did you decide when to stop? I've been taking the ibuprofen they gave me upon discharge every 6 hours. Feel great as long as I don't over do it. I take the Percocet only at night and mainly because it helps me sleep vs pain control.

I plan to keep taking the ibuprofen until it's gone and then wondering if I should just try going without and see how it goes. I think that will be about two weeks post op. What have others done?

Ambrosia,
I based it upon how I felt. Personally, I wanted to feel a little pain so that I knew I was improving AND it kept me from overdoing.

I was off of the narcotics completely about a week post op and took advil for pain management for about 3 days after that. I'm a little more than 2 weeks post op and haven't taken a pain med for a week.

I also know that I have a high threshold or pain. You have to go by how you feel. I feel like I have a little bit of tenderness around my incision, but overall I feel great.

T

I experienced the same as Theresah34. The sooner I was off pain meds the better my body healed and the less insomnia and nightmares I had. I was training myself to sustain a bit of pain and if I couldnt control it, I would take an ibuprofen and it would go away. By mid 2nd week, I had no sign of pain at all.

I am 14 days post-op today and it was the first day I didn't take any ibuprofen until this evening and no Vicodin at all today. My tolerance for pain is probably about average. I would say, take it if you need it and you'll know when to cut back. Everyone is different.

I stopped taking Tramocet after about 10 days due to major constipation issues, and stopped taking the anti inflammatories at 2 weeks.

I was given a 5 day prescription for percocet when I was discharged. I stretched it for 10 days and used ibuprofen in between. After the prescription ran out, I did take ibuprofen pretty regular for a couple days. Then I was able to take it at bedtime only and a couple times when I overdid it. Now, if I start having pain, I just stop what I'm doing and rest and that usually does the trick. Hope you feel well enough soon that you won't need anything, but in the meantime, don't worry about using your meds to long. If your dr prescribes it, he/she must feel you still need it.

Thanks everyone. I don't really have any pain but I've stayed on the regular med schedule which makes me wonder if I'd have any pain even if I stopped the meds. I don't have many of the ibuprofen left so I think I'll just finish those and then try going without and see how it goes. I think I'll probably be fine.

I had a TAH and I took the prescription pain meds probably for a couple of weeks. Then I switched to Advil and needed it off & on up until my 3rd week and early into my 4th. I'm 6 weeks post-op tomorrow and haven't taken anything for pain in 2 weeks.

I came home from the hospital on Tuesday. I took pain pills Tuesday and Wednesday like clock work. I took two LORTAB 5-500 tablets every six hours and one ALEVE every three hours (halfway between pain meds). On Thursday, I took three LORTABs total all day...and one on Friday. I haven't taken anything since then because any "pain" I've felt has been very minor and hasn't required anything...

I recommend trying to take less and see how it feels. That's what Thursday was for me. And make sure not to do too much h while your on the pain meds. I know I felt invincible and had to remind myself that I'd just had surgery!!

I'm still having pain so not sure if there is something wrong. I'm on week 4. Every day by the afternoon I'm having pain in and around my stomach so I end up taking the pain meds. I was also given a muscle relaxer but stopped taking that after the second week. At first I was taking 2 Percocet 3 times a day. Now I take one hydrocodone in the afternoon and one before bed. There have been some days that I didn't take anything. When I tried to take a couple of ibuprofen my stomach was upset. If I'm just going tohave pain anyway then I should probably just not take anything. It feels like the pains are never going to stop. I'm going back to the doctor Friday and will ask her if I should just try taking acetominophen only instead of heavy pain meds or ibuprofen. Or just tough it out and not take anything.