Anybody have any remedies for pain preop

I have had severe back pain for months now and just last month found out from an ultrasound that I have an enlarged uterus and cysts on my right ovary. The pain is bad but nothing has helped so far. I sit and type all day at my job and am in pain most of the time. If anyone found something useful that helped their pain I would appreciate hearing. I am scheduled for surgery Sept 6th.

Thanks,

Ann

Hi,

I am sorry you are having pain and nothing is working. I would let the dr know so you can best be instructed on what to take and how long prior to your surgery ,as some meds may interfere with surgery or cause possible complications during the surgery.

Have you tried a heating pad for some comfort? Take care and hope the dr can help you with something soon.

s

Ann,
In this past year before my surgery (7/11/05), my pain became debilitating. The only thing that would even take the edge off, was 1500 mg. of Vicodin, mixed with 800mg Ibuprophen, and then curl up in my bed with a heating pad. On the very worst days this meant I could not go to work.

Obviously, I could not go on forever that way, which led to my decision to have the surgery and stop putting it off. The surgery was 4 weeks ago today and I have never felt better! I am no longer in pain and it's such a wonderfully strange feeling. Also, one of the benefits of having severe pain before surgery, is that the post-surgical discomfort, at least in my case, didn't seem to phase me. There has been no discomfort since surgery that can compare with what I went through pre-op. Since I have been home from the castle, I have only needed Ibuprophen, so I also did not become addicted to pain meds.

I hope you find an answer that works for you, and know that you will most likely feel relief from your pain once you have had surgery!

Good luck to you!



Jennifer

Thanks for your replies. I took two Vicodin last night and 0.25 mg of Xanax and 50 mg of trazodone. The problem with my doctor is that he is on vacation for three weeks (I heard he is in France) and I have an appt with him next Thursday but until then am making it the best I can. Sept 6th is the first opening he has for surgery. I thought he would refer me to one of his partners but I guess they don't consider this an emergency. If they were having the pain I think they would be in more of a hurry though. He is a really good doctor though and I trust him so that is worth a lot.

Thanks again,

Ann

I have seen posts where women are commenting that they took over the counter pain meds like Advil or Tylenol because of concern that they would become addicted to the prescription pain medicine given to them. LADIES PLEASE!!!!!! If you have pain you need to take the appropriate pain medicine. If OTC meds relieve it that is fine but if not, you need to take the prescription medicine. Studies have shown that less than 1% of patients will become addicted to pain medicine and those most likely to become addicted in that group are patients who had a prior addiction. Pain needs to be relieved to allow for your body to heal properly! Do not let fear of addiction prevent you from taking the pain medicine when you need it.

MDHCRN,
I agree with you 100%!At the hospital where my husband works, there is a poster in the pain mgmt. classroom that reads "You are not addicted to painkillers if you are using them for pain". The problem for me was, when I was going through a particularly rough time (pre-op), the pharmacy techs and docs office nurse would give me a hard time on frequent refills. My doc had no problem with it and said I could have what I needed to manage the pain, but some people are very judgemental. If those people could have been in my body, for even a few seconds, they would keep their mouths shut!

When I had knee surgery a few years back, I could not keep any pain meds down and my recovery suffered as a result. I could not bend my knee without excruciating pain and as a result, scar tissue grew over the joint, preventing me from bending it at all. I found another doctor to perform the surgery to remove the scar tissue. Pain mngmt was his priority and I was not released from the hospital until I could take the meds orally without getting sick. It made all the difference in the world!

I have a full bottle of Vicodan sitting on my nightstand right now. I honestly have not needed them since getting home from the castle!

Jennifer

My surgery isn't until Sept 20th. I'm in so much pain that percocet doesn't work by itself. I have been given duragesic patches until then. Some days I need to supplement with Percocet or Demerol, but for the most part the patches provide a consistant dose of pain relief and allow me to function. If I could stay on these forever, I just might consider not have the surgery, but alas that isn't possible.

Rhonda