Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met with a surgeon today for a consult for significant and urgent surgery. There were a number of things I was unimpressed with but one was that they only give Tylenol. I feel like they would probably give more if a patient was in REALLY bad shape but her take was “some discomfort is normal after major surgery but it should be manageable with Tylenol.” That’s jacked up. We invented medication so that you don’t have to feel pain. Give a patient 3-5 days of pain meds. I’m meeting with other surgeons because this one seems heartless.

You’re unreasonable. A few days of pain is worth not getting hooked on opioids. Our society is so weak and fragile. Earlier generations would laugh at how soft we’ve gotten.

DP- you sound unreasonable. Not most who are prescribed an opioid become addicted.

[Anonymous]

The strong opioid pain meds my husband was given after elbow fracture repair surgery made him very anxious. We had to call for a new prescription for something weaker. Now he asks for weaker options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is higher dose Tylenol than you typically buy. My son and I have both had surgeries where they prescribe the Rx Tylenol as well as stronger stuff like Oxy etc. neither of us have ever used the Oxy etc. if my 9 year old son can do it after an invasive procedure that involved two parts of his body, I think most people can.

Agree. Two people is almost certain to be a representative sample of the general population. Thank you for bring some science to this discussion.

Actual LOL. Thanks, because this thread needed that!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met with a surgeon today for a consult for significant and urgent surgery. There were a number of things I was unimpressed with but one was that they only give Tylenol. I feel like they would probably give more if a patient was in REALLY bad shape but her take was “some discomfort is normal after major surgery but it should be manageable with Tylenol.” That’s jacked up. We invented medication so that you don’t have to feel pain. Give a patient 3-5 days of pain meds. I’m meeting with other surgeons because this one seems heartless.

Apparently your surgery isn't that urgent.

Quit doctor shopping for drugs. Tylenol and ibuprofen will mitigate most pain. Neither has significant side effects, withdrawal symptoms, addiction potential or other complications. You don't need 3-5 days of narcotics, and if you do, you can be prescribed them when you need them. Demanding drugs you probably won't need in advance is drug-seeking behavior. No, you should not have an expectation of 'zero pain' post-surgery. You should anticipate and prepare for discomfort at a level commensurate with whatever procedure you're having done, and be with it for the brief time it's present because that's life in a body. I would strongly suggest you avoid opioids like the plague they are, as the withdrawals kick in after even short-term use, and 3-5 days is more than enough to trigger addiction.

-long-term chronic pain patient who has BTDT with pretty much all of the painkiller options

Asking for pain medication after major surgery is not “drug seeking behavior.” People have lost their minds!

One thing I have always noted on DCUM is the purist mentality; it is so toxic. Pain meds work! There is no prize at the end for enduring crippling pain after a c-section, hysterectomy, bunion removal, or thyroidectomy.

And I am sick of doctors telling me THEY know my body better than I DO. I see no reason to suffer because someone somewhere is addicted to something. Change surgeons and don't look back OP. If you get home from surgery with only Tylenol and have crippiling pain at 2 am, it will be unnecessarily effing miserable getting relief, trust me, I know.

Agreed. And it’s damn clear that one or more posters are in fact opioid addicts (“chronic pain patient”) who are eager to see their own flaws and failures in everyone else.

Y'all would rather start attacking people you don't even know than listen and read and learn.

I've been totally sober for years, sweetie. If you're mad about me trying to prevent someone from walking the road to hell I managed to make it through, well, that's something for you to take up with your medical professionals (though if they've found a cure for being an inflammed and irritable ass on the internet, I don't know about it). Best of luck to you.

You’ll fail and fall again, surprising no one around you. I’ve never had your issues, congratulations on being “totally sober.” Perhaps not having been some crackhead mess like you makes it possible for me to see OP as a human being, have a human concern going into surgery.

Good luck, sweetie. Sweetie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met with a surgeon today for a consult for significant and urgent surgery. There were a number of things I was unimpressed with but one was that they only give Tylenol. I feel like they would probably give more if a patient was in REALLY bad shape but her take was “some discomfort is normal after major surgery but it should be manageable with Tylenol.” That’s jacked up. We invented medication so that you don’t have to feel pain. Give a patient 3-5 days of pain meds. I’m meeting with other surgeons because this one seems heartless.

Apparently your surgery isn't that urgent.

Quit doctor shopping for drugs. Tylenol and ibuprofen will mitigate most pain. Neither has significant side effects, withdrawal symptoms, addiction potential or other complications. You don't need 3-5 days of narcotics, and if you do, you can be prescribed them when you need them. Demanding drugs you probably won't need in advance is drug-seeking behavior. No, you should not have an expectation of 'zero pain' post-surgery. You should anticipate and prepare for discomfort at a level commensurate with whatever procedure you're having done, and be with it for the brief time it's present because that's life in a body. I would strongly suggest you avoid opioids like the plague they are, as the withdrawals kick in after even short-term use, and 3-5 days is more than enough to trigger addiction.

-long-term chronic pain patient who has BTDT with pretty much all of the painkiller options

Asking for pain medication after major surgery is not “drug seeking behavior.” People have lost their minds!

One thing I have always noted on DCUM is the purist mentality; it is so toxic. Pain meds work! There is no prize at the end for enduring crippling pain after a c-section, hysterectomy, bunion removal, or thyroidectomy.

And I am sick of doctors telling me THEY know my body better than I DO. I see no reason to suffer because someone somewhere is addicted to something. Change surgeons and don't look back OP. If you get home from surgery with only Tylenol and have crippiling pain at 2 am, it will be unnecessarily effing miserable getting relief, trust me, I know.

Agreed. And it’s damn clear that one or more posters are in fact opioid addicts (“chronic pain patient”) who are eager to see their own flaws and failures in everyone else.

Y'all would rather start attacking people you don't even know than listen and read and learn.

I've been totally sober for years, sweetie. If you're mad about me trying to prevent someone from walking the road to hell I managed to make it through, well, that's something for you to take up with your medical professionals (though if they've found a cure for being an inflammed and irritable ass on the internet, I don't know about it). Best of luck to you.

It’s interesting. The people I know who are serious about sobriety would not be addressing another person this way. Maybe they are unusual.

If they’re not acting like this thing up there, maybe they’re not yet um “totally sober.”

She’s the equivalent of a dry drunk inching closer to a barstool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Approximately 125 million opioid prescriptions were dispensed to American patients in 2023—with wide variation across states. CDC

Considering that they only can write for 30 days at a time, this number isn't as high as you think.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Wanting narcotics before the surgery even happens and there is pain, and shopping around to find someone who freely gives them out is a pretty big red flag. A lot of docs now only use them in a very controlled way for people whose pain isn’t managed in other ways. They don’t just send people home with bottles of narcotics anymore for just in case reasons.

No this is not a red flag at all. Not wanting to endure pain because one doctor thinks it’s fine for you to suffer when there is a different doctor that will make recovery bearable is not drug shopping.

History has taught us it is crueler and does more harm to patients to give narcotics out without an individualized need than it is to ask patient to try and manage their pain initially with OTC and request stronger meds if needed.

+1 Some of the people on this thread don't have the ability to handle a hangnail without meds that were designed for end-of-life cancer patients.

What if you were okay? What if everything was fine? What if you barely needed the tylenol, healed beautifully, and it wasn't even an issue?

If you’re ok, then you don’t take the pain meds, obviously. I’m single. If I don’t have things at home after a surgery, I wont be able to get them until at least the next day, if I can get a friend to run an errand for me. (Would they even be able to pick up a narcotic for me? I don’t know.) But it drives me crazy how doctors hand you a paper prescription as you’re leaving surgery rather than letting you get everything that’s anticipate-able squared away beforehand.

Narcotic prescriptions often need to have actual signatures, be presented in person, be picked up by a party 18 and older... That's still not a good reason to hand them out in advance of actual need "just in case". They're not "have on hand in case you need it" meds. That's tylenol. They're "special circumstance that justifies jumping through additional hoops" meds, and responsible people should expect that if they want access.

No, no, no, no, no. If the block I was given has worn off by 1am and I am alone with my 6-year-old son, I have no way of getting an RX IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT to alleviate horrendous pain. Why would you expect me, who knows my body, to suffer because of your addiction issues? 2-3 pills as part of the prep is not feeding addiction, FFS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met with a surgeon today for a consult for significant and urgent surgery. There were a number of things I was unimpressed with but one was that they only give Tylenol. I feel like they would probably give more if a patient was in REALLY bad shape but her take was “some discomfort is normal after major surgery but it should be manageable with Tylenol.” That’s jacked up. We invented medication so that you don’t have to feel pain. Give a patient 3-5 days of pain meds. I’m meeting with other surgeons because this one seems heartless.

You’re unreasonable. A few days of pain is worth not getting hooked on opioids. Our society is so weak and fragile. Earlier generations would laugh at how soft we’ve gotten.

If a few days on pain meds makes you an addict, you are the weak one, not us normal people with self-control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this study shared at Harvard's website states that women are more likely to be prescribed sedatives than pain meds.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/women-and-pain-disparities-in-experience-and-treatment-2017100912562

Allopathic medicine hates women.

[Anonymous]

With knee replacement surgery they tell you to get ahead of the pain.
My DH tried to skip the heavy duty pain meds and it was not pretty for a few days.

He definitely needed the stronger drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I met with a surgeon today for a consult for significant and urgent surgery. There were a number of things I was unimpressed with but one was that they only give Tylenol. I feel like they would probably give more if a patient was in REALLY bad shape but her take was “some discomfort is normal after major surgery but it should be manageable with Tylenol.” That’s jacked up. We invented medication so that you don’t have to feel pain. Give a patient 3-5 days of pain meds. I’m meeting with other surgeons because this one seems heartless.

Apparently your surgery isn't that urgent.

Quit doctor shopping for drugs. Tylenol and ibuprofen will mitigate most pain. Neither has significant side effects, withdrawal symptoms, addiction potential or other complications. You don't need 3-5 days of narcotics, and if you do, you can be prescribed them when you need them. Demanding drugs you probably won't need in advance is drug-seeking behavior. No, you should not have an expectation of 'zero pain' post-surgery. You should anticipate and prepare for discomfort at a level commensurate with whatever procedure you're having done, and be with it for the brief time it's present because that's life in a body. I would strongly suggest you avoid opioids like the plague they are, as the withdrawals kick in after even short-term use, and 3-5 days is more than enough to trigger addiction.

-long-term chronic pain patient who has BTDT with pretty much all of the painkiller options

Asking for pain medication after major surgery is not “drug seeking behavior.” People have lost their minds!

One thing I have always noted on DCUM is the purist mentality; it is so toxic. Pain meds work! There is no prize at the end for enduring crippling pain after a c-section, hysterectomy, bunion removal, or thyroidectomy.

And I am sick of doctors telling me THEY know my body better than I DO. I see no reason to suffer because someone somewhere is addicted to something. Change surgeons and don't look back OP. If you get home from surgery with only Tylenol and have crippiling pain at 2 am, it will be unnecessarily effing miserable getting relief, trust me, I know.

I don't know about purist, but there is certainly a lot of rigid thinking. Some people are going to need opioids. If your surgeon has decided that opiods are not part of his practice, look elsewhere. What else has he decided that isn't necessary?

People who truly need opioids don't have trouble getting them. OP doesn't currently need opioids, which is why they're not being given a prescription for opioids. An awful lot of ill-informed people bought the Sackler family's bullshit about how opioids are for everyone and not addictive and blah, blah, blah. It's crap. OP is making a scene in advance over something they're unlikely to even need. If your surgeon doesn't prescribe opiates when you don't need them, they're a good surgeon and you should listen to their professional advice on the subject and not whatever marketing you bought into.

+1

OP will have the score the drugs via a less scrupulous physician.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With knee replacement surgery they tell you to get ahead of the pain.
My DH tried to skip the heavy duty pain meds and it was not pretty for a few days.

He definitely needed the stronger drugs.

I think it depends on the surgery.

Has OP disclosed what it is yet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With knee replacement surgery they tell you to get ahead of the pain.
My DH tried to skip the heavy duty pain meds and it was not pretty for a few days.

He definitely needed the stronger drugs.

Ftr, if you didn't already know, knee replacement surgery is just about the worst, most painful surgery (burns though are more painful).

Unless OP is having knee replacement surgery, your DH's experience just shows that she likely doesn't need heavy duty pain meds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don’t be a baby. Pain is temporary. Tylenol is sufficient.

Spoken like someone who hadn’t had real pain or who does care about other people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is higher dose Tylenol than you typically buy. My son and I have both had surgeries where they prescribe the Rx Tylenol as well as stronger stuff like Oxy etc. neither of us have ever used the Oxy etc. if my 9 year old son can do it after an invasive procedure that involved two parts of his body, I think most people can.

I am one of the open heart surgery posters from above. My sternum was literally sawn in half, as well as my ribcage bent open for access.

I'm not saying that everyone needs my level of pain tolerance, but there is a reason for the protocol of starting with Tylenol and Ibuprofen, and then seeing if more is needed.