I can't believe he put you on Darvocet! That's just as effective as Tylenol Extra Strength. When was your surgery? Does your doctor feel that you should be in less pain now and not be needing narcotic pain medication?

Hope things work out for you.

Best wishes,

Marianne

Hi Lilmama,

If you are not getting relief with what your doctor has prescribed, I would call the doctor. When you call, my suggestion would be, to tell them that you have been taking the new medication he prescribed for your pain... but you are not getting any relief. You can then ask if there is something else he could prescribe for you, as you are miserable and need relief. (Don't request a certain medication be prescribed, when you place the call).

Sometimes, doctors can get a little weird when a person requests a certain medication. Even if the medication is listed in your chart and you were taking it for a while. If he wants you to come in for a visit, go in and let him do the talking. Don't mention what worked best for you in the past, unless he asks you.

I have no clue to why he gave you something weaker to take and I wish you the best of luck in getting your pain to a tolerable level.

Take good care,

Tammy

I am a 39 yr old male on Oxycodone. 7.5 mg. Had a 2 level fusion from L4 to S1 on July 27, 2009. I was realistic about the post op pain and the recovery time. What I DID NOT expect were the complications (i.e. horrific constipation) from the oxycodone. The worst was yesterday. I will do my best to explain this as non-graphically as possible. I moved my bowels and average of once every two weeks after my surgery. And I mean I JUST BARELY moved them. I would pass a few things the size of raisinets and even then I could feel there was a lot left behind. Yesterday, it got to the point where I had to MANUALLY remove the stool from my colon with my finger (sorry, disgusting .. I know). I tried an enema, but the stool was so badly impacted, the fluid could not penetrate far enough inward to have an effect on the remaining stool. I tried my best not to push hard, because I know this can cause an aneurysm (many have died on the toilet from pushing too hard believe it or not). I have horrible hemmorhoids now and the slight pushing that i did increased my internal abdominal pressure to the extent that it felt like the screws in my spine were going to shoot out my back. I can barely walk today because of this, and at a little over one month post op, I consider this a set back. It's very depressing. SO,the moral of the story .. for those of you who have not yet had the surgery, opiod pain relievers will make it feel like you have 20 pounds of concrete in your colon. Use metamucil a few days before, the fiber should help the eventual constipation. What a terrible trade off. The pain meds are a necessity post op, but the constipation is yet another painful and unwelcome complication.

I think many of us can relate to what you are experiencing. It took me several months to figure out what I needed to do to help with the severe constipation. I drink at least four 32 ounces of water each day to help combat severe constipation and to maintain overall good health. There are stool softeners that can help a little bit and fish oil capsules are good to take.

For me, I have found the best help through eating certain foods. I eat one bowl of Cheerio's each day and I will eat at least two meals during the week which have a tendency to normally "run straight through me". Say for instance raw onions. I love them, but they have always riled up my intestines... big time. At least once a week, I will eat a bean burro with chopped onions, guacamole and salsa. Homemade egg custard is another thing that gives an enormous boost. Prune juice is supposed to be really, really good in this department... but, I have yet to aquire a taste for that stuff. Cooked cabbage ranks number one for me. There are several others that I have implemented and all are quite healthy. Rich in fiber foods are important, too.

When it's time to... let's say... put the finishing touches on doing your duty, use baby wipes. You can't flush these, but use these instead of toilet paper. I also apply Preparation H after the baby wipe part is done and will have a suppository ready, should the soft tissues feel irritated.

I wish you the best of luck in finding what works effectively, while you are taking your pain medication. Keep experimenting and I'm sure you'll find a combination of things that help with the constipation. Again, you are not alone with this problem.

Good luck!

Tammy

my pain Dr has me take Senna S , I usually take 2 per day, in the evening and 2 stool softners. This routine I have done daily since taking these meds. The diet thing did not work for me. I try to eat raisin bran or shredded wheat, all of those bulky cereals help. But senakot S is a laxitive with stimulant and the softners just help to keep it from hurting, if you know what I mean. Off brand senn s, costs less and can be found at any walmart, kmart, walgreens etc. Good Luck and I hope this helps. I have been there done that, the reason for the nightly routine,

If you are taking opiod pain relievers, you should also be using a stool softener regularly, and by that I mean daily. It will help keep the stools soft. It is not a laxative and no one should routinely be using one, but if you need assistance moving your bowels, then Miralax is a good one that doesn't mess you up too badly.
Oxycodone is one of the worst for constipation.
Everyone should have a bowel movement at least once a day, but I know that after surgery for me, I didn't until almost two weeks later and I thought that I would die.....
Your body can become accustomed to laxatives, so it is truly important that you discuss with a doctor using them more than once in a while.
Sandi

Everyone on Oxy should take the stool softeners and a bowl of shredded wheat everyday. It should do you a world of good. OK, enough on that subject. (for me anyway)

Wow, after having surgery you were given Darvocet. That's baby medication to me. I don't know how long ago your surgery was and I certainly hope that you have a good and full recovery but, if you are like me and the pain turns out to actually be worse after surgery then long term pain management is a must. If it looks like that will be the issue find yourself a neurologist who is also a pain management dr and go from there. Your surgeon will handle your pain on a temporary basis and maybe it's time you found someone who will take you more seriously and actually listen to you. Good luck!

I called and called and called and even emailed my surgeon last week. I was running a high fever, my incision was hot to the touch and it was swollen. He never called me back. I received an email from him finally on friday that said he would call me monday morning. WTH!?! This was serious and I was and still am in a lot of pain!!! I am fed up with trying to communicate to my doctor that I need a stonger pain med and I think something is wrong. I was forced to go to the ER to make sure that there wasn't an infection.
I don't think discussing pain medication and dosage with a doctor should be a crime! As long as it is controlled, it is very effective, and I have since all of this begun switching doctors.
I think a lot of the problem with surgeons is that they think since they did the surgery, that you should be great and out of pain. Which, for 90% of us, is NOT the case. There is some level of pain and I think always will be. The goal is to just control it so that it's tolerable.
It's really upsetting to be treated so poorly by a doctor when you just had surgery 4 wks ago and are still in pain!

Dear Lilmama,

This is absolutely terrible. This doctor is obviously not wanting to help you and I hope you can find another doctor, soon!

Do you have an infection in your incision? I had an abcessed suture and had the same thing happen, as you described. I am glad you went to the ER for treatment.

Could you call the hospital you went to and ask for a referral to see another doctor? I would have a very difficult time seeing this doctor again and would not hesitate to file complaints against him.

I sincerely hope you find someone who will treat you and get your pain to a tolerable level. You don't need this kind of stress right now. Don't give up... there are many caring surgeons out there, in addition to pain management doctors.

I wish you the best of luck.

Take good care,

Tammy

I found for me that after about 10 years of thinking I was lactose intolerant or Iritible Bowel, that my body was rebeling to the pain. And Diah was my normal thing.

I am fairly regular, even on high octane narc. I seemed to have settled into a rather easier rhythum.

I do use a Stool Softner every couple of weeks to make sure that I am ok and nothing is "stopped up"

cheers - C45

Sweetie, go to the ER at once. From what you say it sounds like you have a post op infection and this is a medical emergency. Please let us know how you're doing and I hope you'll be okay. When you get better, I strongly suggest you find another doctor because the one you have evidently doesn't care much about you and you deserve a whole lot better than that. Take care and get well soon.