Prescription Pain Relief, Did you need it?

I am allergic to common RX pain relievers.  No Codeine, Vicodin, Morphine, etc.  I see that many people are told to have Liquid Tylenol to use at home, but a friend of mine (that I am no longer in touch with) that had the sleeve had a morphine drip in the hospital and still had substantial pain (likely from the gas) I wonder what they might use on me given I am allergic to so much of it, and NSAIDS are not allowed.  I know this is something to discuss with the Dr's but I am still curious if the pain was strong enough that you absolutely needed a RX pain reliever.

I use essential oils for pain relief, mostly DoTeRRA Deep Blue for my knees. Hopefully nothing else will be necessary... What kind of pain do you get? 

 I had knee arthroscopy in February. It has been a long recovery and I had some pretty substantial pain every day.I could only walk sort distances and really struggles with any sort of incline. My sister is big into essential oils. I'm a nurse and I always thought they were sort of voodoo. But about 3 weeks ago she gave me an oil called Panaway. It had relief almost immediately. I started using it several times a day. I don't know if it was the massage or the oil but within 2 weeks I was virtually pain-free. In fact, I went camping in the mountains last weekend and I was just fine walking on uneven ground. I am not using the oil at all now.

It probably won't hurt to try essential oils and it's a heckuva lot better than using chemicals for pain. I'm a believer now.

Panaway is amazing.  I would definitely recommend stocking up on it.  YL oils has a hard time keeping stock so when it's available, bit the bullet and buy 2 or 3.  I've heard DoTerra is also really good.  Usually people just choose a brand and sort of stick with them.  

(Speaking of oils - my dog chewed up the cord to my diffuser and I'm DYING of a sore throat and so sad I can't diffuse my oils!  haha)  

I had a Dilaudid pain pump in the hospital and it did help. Dilaudid is pretty strong stuff but I only needed it for about 3 days. I had a bad reaction to Lortab, but I can take Percocet so I had that for another 2 days. After that it was Arthritis-strength Tylenol.

Gas wasn't a terribly bad problem for me. Gas-X strips came to the rescue.  I had diarrhea for about 3 weeks, which in my opinion is way better than constipation. It wasn't terrible though and once I started soft foods it took care of itself.

I did have a lot of pain and needed pain meds for a bit. I had a morphine pump for the first day and a half but it made me a bit nauseous. Once I switched to liquid Percocet I felt a lot better. I needed it for a good week or so after surgery. Every for hours,  then a bit less,  then staggered with liquid Tylenol,  then just at night and eventually only tylenol. 

I think pain management is a large part of the healing process as it gives your body a break and mend itself. 

I would talk more with your surgeon about pain management because I would hate for you to be stuck with no relief. My roommate had little pain at all,  but I was in a good deal of pain. And I'm not an over-exaggerator by any means! 

I'm not sure what kind of pain medicine they gave me in the hospital but it wasn't a morphine pump. It was something they could put in my IV when I asked for it. I only really needed the IV pain medicine for about the first 24 hours after surgery. After that I think I would have been fine without it if it would have given me any problems. I came home with something called "Supradol" but I'm not sure what the American equivalent would be. My surgery was in Mexico and I wasn't sent home with any narcotic pain medicine, and didn't really need it. The Supradol was just a step up from Tylenol to me. After I got home I just took liquid Tylenol and was fine. I came home on day 3 after surgery. I haven't tried essential oils, but that might be a good idea to try since you already know you have problems with RX pain relievers. Also, I would definitely discuss this with your surgeon. I hope you're able to find something that will work for you.

One of the good things about VSG is that we are NOT limited as to what meds we can take.  Dr. Alvarez sent me home with big ol' horse pills for pain (what there was of it; this is not a painful surgery, generally speaking).  By the time I was back home three days post-op, I went right back to the multiple pills I take regularly.

--Dorothy

I was given morphine in the hospital- as soon as I came around enough I stopped it.  Morphine made me nauseous and with subsequent surgeries skipping it due to allergies (much better).  They presecribed Loritab for home use.  I think I took maybe 3 doses and threw out the remaining about a year later, with more than 3/4 of hte prescription left.