Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 09:08     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 09:00     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:57     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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.


Ask the people you know to help you start your own recovery program, because it sounds like you need it. Nobody healthy goes this hard on a stranger, and PP wasn't being anything more or less than direct. You're overreacting, probably because you're triggered (and not sober yourself). Let it go or, in recovery language, "drop the rock".
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:56     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:53     Subject: Re:Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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


I'll take being passed out for the next 3 years.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:52     Subject: Re:Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 08:51     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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.


Are you a woman? I remember reading how doctors are less inclined to give pain meds to women--and also to anyone who says they experienced child abuse.

"Emergency rooms are less likely to give pain meds to women"

https://www.science.org/content/article/emergency-rooms-are-less-likely-give-female-patients-pain-medication
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 07:45     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:Women fill more opiod prescriptions than men. In 2019, there were 47 opiod prescriptions for opiods per 100 people, by 2023 this decreased to 37 opioid prescriptions for 100 people. In 2017, 55% of women reported opioid use vs 42% of men. in 2019, almost 1 in 4 women were being prescribed narcotics annually and for women who filled a narcotics prescroption, they filled it on average 3.6 times in a year.

8.6 million Americans reported misusing opiods in 2023.

The statistics do not support the underprescribing of opioids to women.


It’s opioid.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 07:13     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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?
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 07:09     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:Look OP the doctor isn’t a good match for you so move on. You are also giving a lot of red flags as a patient with this “urgent” surgery that clearly can’t be too urgent. It isn’t a travel experience. It’s surgery and you should expect some discomfort and uncomfortableness.
Your doctor is correct IMO to not release pathology in a portal. My mom learned of her cancer this way and it was traumatic as she sat and waited for answers.
100% team doctor.


Uh…
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 07:02     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 07:01     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
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


NP. I don’t disagree with you, but how exactly does one “anticipate and prepare for discomfort” if one has never had surgery before? I’m asking this honestly—I have never had surgery or any super painful situation, and I have no idea what to expect, should the situation arise.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 06:53     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:I think you're over reacting. Most surgeries people do just fine with Tylenol, and dont need the heavy duty Oxycontin or Vicoden that they used to prescribe like candy and people got addicted. Sounds to me like this surgeon has learned from the past and is being appropriate going foreword.


Foreword. lol.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 06:34     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Give me the big guns and in and excuse if I need at home. Don’t have me be in terrible pain and in need of stronger meds without them.


Or what? Seriously. What is going to happen if you're in pain for a few days? Either you're going to live, because you had surgery and one of the after-effects is pain, or you're at risk of death because of some complication, like an infection, in which case that pain is giving you some very important feedback and you probably shouldn't be doped out of your mind on narcotics to the point you don't get the message.

One of the biggest predictors of post-surgical pain is your attitude. Be mad, but that's hard facts. Imagine disaster and it'll hurt more. Imagine you'll be fine and you probably will be, and will likely have much less pain as you recover. All pain is processed by the mind.


This is false. Many of us have surgery to prolong life but we’re still dying. You’re very lucky if your surgery is life-saving with temporary pain.
Anonymous
Post 08/16/2025 06:32     Subject: Surgeon only gives Tylenol after surgery
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.