How long did you take pain meds after surgery?

I had surgery 4 days ago.  They sent me home 2 days ago with 30 pain pills and the instructions to take 1 every three hours for pain.  That being said, I was on 3 pills ever 3 hours in the hospital... one did not do it on Friday, so I took 2.  

Did you have to call in for a refill?  I have already weaned myself down to 1 pill every 4 hours or so.  But good grief, I feel so much better when I have it in my system.  I have a lot of pain from where they took out my band port and where the drain was.

I don't want them to think I am taking too much, but even at 1 pill every 3 hours, 30 pills is only like 4 days worth.

I don't remember exactly.  five or six days, maybe?  I did not have to ask for a refill, but if you need one, then call.  And you might as well use them as often as prescribed.

I took my prescription pain meds for a full week on schedule to prevent pain. Week 2 I took regular Tylenol for the pain and that worked. By the end of the second week, I did not need anything else.

I'm 5 days post op and I stopped taking my pain meds by the 3rd day.
I don't think you're taking too much if you're just going off of the directions

I will be 2 weeks out tomorrow. I took mine pretty much every 4 hours for the first week, then over this past week have weaned off of them. The past two days I have no needed anything except Tylenol. 

after i got out of the hospital (open rxy) i took them for a day then switched to just tylenol

I only took pain meds the day I came home and the following evening.  All in all, very little.

Never took any pain meds except for regular strength Tylenol. Even in the hospital I didn't use the morphine pump as it gave me a headache. Everyone is different. Good luck.

I took mine for the first week

Everyone experiences pain differently. I was sent home w/ 30 count of 2mg Dilaudid tabs. I took half tabs every 4 hours for 4 days and then half tabs 2 doses every night to sleep (laying down was more uncomfortable than any other position) for another 3 days. Then I switched to Tylenol.

As a nurse (and to prevent dependence), I'd suggest taking the single tab for a doses or 2 and see if it works. I understand it didn't work at first, but IME the pain really falls off quickly after the first few days as the swelling goes down. You may also try spacing out the dose gradually.....30 minutes longer the first few times, 1 hour the next few times. Pain meds are supposed to keep you comfortable, not entirely take away the pain, so on a scale of 1-10, if your pain is 4 or less, it's considered well managed. 5 or higher, and you need another dose or a higher dose. Make sense? I'm not saying don't take it, I'm just saying that as you heal, test a little here and there to see of you need to take as much as you were taking at first. All that being said, if you need more, call your doc.

You may also call and check if Tylenol can be taken with your pain med. Each med works a little differently in the body and sometimes Tylenol is more effective for certain types of pain. For instance, about 3 days out of the hospital I had an excrutiating headache that I couldn't ditch. The pain meds did not help my headache. My surgeon's nurse told me I could take Tylenol with my pain med and that did the trick.