Pain medication

[Mskmartin 6]

So my I’m having my surgery January 2 and at my preop visit the dr informed me she would be sending me home with only Tylenol and a muscle relaxer. I’m having the procedure outpatient and going home the same day. This makes me nervous. Did you get pain medication after your surgery?

[BigSue 1,389]

I was given a prescription for oxycodone, but I didn't need it and I didn't want to take any chances with it if I didn't absolutely have to. I hardly had any pain (other than gas pain when I first woke up after surgery), which I think is a pretty common experience. I would suggest you ask your doctor if there's a contingency plan for what to do if you experience severe pain.

[Arabesque 7,332]

Was given opioids in hospital for three days & a script of palexia (also an opiod) to take home . I took one that night to ensure I slept but probably didn’t need it and took no more. Pain is always difficult as people have different pain thresholds. If you have a lower pain threshold couldn’t hurt to ask for a script for a small number of opioids just in case.

[Mskmartin 6]

Did you have complications or something that caused you to have to stay three days?

[Arabesque 7,332]

7 minutes ago, Mskmartin said:

Did you have complications or something that caused you to have to stay three days?

My surgeon always keeps his patients in overnight and a second day if they live alone (I do). He kept me a third day as my back went into spasm - not a complication of the surgery just me holding stress in my back where I have a weakness. Was fine otherwise.

He kept my brother in three days too to give him a break from his five children (aged 7-14). I know 🙄. I like to think it was so he’d stronger & his wife wouldn’t have 6 children to look after. 😉

[Bypass2Freedom 763]

So I stayed in hospital after my op for 2 nights which is quite common - I could have only stayed in for 1 night but I was a little bit dehydrated. I had an IV which gave me paracetamol and if pain was ever too much (it rarely was, they gave me some co-codamol).

I was sent home with co-codamol and to be honest I didn't take it once - just rest up as much as you can after your op and you should be okay!

[AmberFL 813]

only was sent home with Tylenol and I was completely fine

[NickelChip 1,254]

I was in the hospital 2 nights and was on toradol via IV. The 2nd night was because I had a minor issue during surgery that made my doctor concerned about a leak. It turned out to be fine, but he was cautious and wanted me to wait until I had imaging done before I was allowed to have anything by mouth. That delayed some of the milestones I needed to complete before I could be discharged, so they kept me the extra night just in case. When I got home, I was only on liquid Tylenol. I took it the first couple of days and then didn't need anything.

[SpartanMaker 784]

So a couple of things here...

1. Regarding hospital stays: Most Gastric Sleeve patients stay only one night in the hospital, but more and more, we're seeing this surgery being done on an outpatient basis. As a general rule, people recover better at home than they do in a hospital, so there's a really good reason to send them home as soon as possible. Gastric Bypass patients tend to stay in the hospital a couple of days, on average. It's just a more involved surgery and the risks of infection, dehydration, etc. are higher.
2. Regarding the question of pain meds: Generally NSAIDS are a no-no after any gastric surgery due to the potential to irritate the lining of your stomach. This pretty much leaves either Tylenol or opioids like hydrocodone or oxycodone. The problem with opioids is that they have a really bad side effect for most people in that they are quite constipating. Because Constipation is a really common problem post gastric surgery to begin with, prescribing opioids is just going to make a bad problem much worse. This is not to say that surgeons will never prescribe them, they certainly will if you really need them, but it's never going to be the first line pain med post gastric surgery.

Bottom line, you'll probably be fine with just Tylenol, but if you really feel like you need something more, your surgeon may be willing to prescribe something stronger. Just be sure you know what you're in for if you go this route, because you may find the pain from opioid induced constipation is worse than the surgical pain!