Vicodan - How long?

[Sten Osis]

Although I'm taking far fewer vicodan at home than in the hospital, I'm sort of worried about becoming dependent on it. I'm curious how much, how often and how long did folks take vicodan after OHS?

 

[Cooker]

All I took at home was Tylenol 3 for about 2 weeks....

 

[Rachel]

I think this question will vary depending on your body chemistry and your pain threshold - I think the most important guide is how you specifically feel - if you stop taking Vicodin and do not have pain, then switch to something else, but if you're still in pain and need it, then by all means continue taking it!!!!

Vicodin makes me sick and doesn't really relieve pain for me, so I was given Tramadol in the hospital. I used it for the first two days then I used Tylenol for about a week during my recovery. I did need use Tramadol once again at night when I got home, but that was it.

 

[tom in MO]

Your doctor won't let you have enough to get dependent. If pain can keep you from being mobile take it as directed. If it makes you too dopey or if you are mobile, but constipated, start weaning yourself off it.

I started replacing it with acetominophen during the day starting the end of the first week at home. I weaned myself off of it by the third week.

 

[jhc1]

Sten-we're both 6 days post-op. I was never given anything stronger than tylenol, after being disconnected from the PCA pump. trust your docs, and don't be a hero on the pain meds

 

[sood]

I weaned myself off the pain meds gradually as well. I would suggest if you are taking them every x hours, replace one of those doses with something like tylenol instead. Then see how you feel. And then you can continue to wean yourself off it and then eventually off the tylenol the same way. This worked for me.

 

[marc_kowal]

If I recall correctly I was on the pain meds for almost 2 months and I gradually weaned myself off of it. Taking it, I will say made me feel like a different person, and I was able to do more during the day and sleep better at night. My shoulder was hurting me more so then my chest, and if not for the shoulder, I probably could have just done Tylenol.

 

[Jason2012]

Hi Sten,

Interesting topic. I was also given a good amount of hydrocodone and will prob. not even fill my one allowed refill. My surgery was May 28th, and I started to notice what IMO were negative effects of being on opiates this long. I agree with the "don't be a hero" sentiments, these drugs really make the healing process better for a while. You are likely to move around more which aids in flexibility/healing, breathe deeper which is good for recovery, etc.

I think the issue of weening off comes up once any negatives outweigh any minor discomfort like soreness weeks out.

I started to feel this last week like:

- My serotonin was being milked dry or something... when I wasn't on hydrocodone I felt pretty void of any joy/was crabby until I took more.

- Was having what I felt were withdrawal headaches. I am a pansy when it comes to minor ongoing pain and my head felt fuzzy/like I had a minor ongoing headache when I wasn't on it.

So I felt like that all day yesterday. Today I feel better. I bought some regular strength tylenol to take the edge off any soreness I still have. These drugs can affect everyone differently, and the effects I posted above is just my experience theories, am not a doctor and never even played one on TV/etc. etc.

:-] Pardon any typos, on le iPad.

 

[iheart]

Oxycodone was helpful the first few days after surgery. I used only a few after being released, as I found they constipated the heck out of me. After day 7 I switched to over the counter NSAIDs. If you're worried about getting addicted to em, try tapering down with over the counter pain meds.

 

[AZ Don]

Although I didn't have a lot of pain, I found overall I felt a lot better taking Percoset. I probably took it for at least a week after coming home, not round the clock, but often enough. Then I switched to regular Tylenol (and later Ibuprofen), and only if I wasn't feeling well or was going out.

 

[canon4me]

I take Percocet only at night when I go to sleep so I will have a restful night. I have about 5-10 really drenching nights sweats per night and 3-5 per daytime when I'm napping. Sometimes, I take some straight Tylenol during the daytime.

 

[Laggard]

I was on oxy roughly three weeks. I rarely needed it during the day and took it mostly at bedtime as that was when it was most painful.

 

[Sten Osis]

Re: Vicodan - How long?

Today's test was to go without vicodan. The last one was last night at 9pm. This morning I took 250mg of Tylenol. I went for a 2.5 mile walk and then took a nap. So far, so good. No real pain, except when laughing.

 

[epstns]

I used pain meds at prescribed dosage for a few days, maybe a week after arriving home from surgery. Then I started reducing the dosage, using half-tablets instead of whole ones. Eventually I cut it down so that I was only using half-tabs at bedtime to sleep. This worked fine at the time, but may have contributed to disturbances of my sleep patterns once I stopped the meds entirely.

Don't worry about trying to medicate for the potential pain of laughing, coughing or sneezing. As long as you are healing normally, these pains are fleeting and subside rapidly after their cause is gone. If you don't need narcotic meds, I wouldn't use them - at least for me, they had too many side effects. They really messed up my digestive system, almost bringing it to a standstill. It was so bad that even weeks after cessation of the narcotic meds I needed to be readmitted to the hospital to get my digestive system back in operation.

 

[Mom2izzy]

Vicodan - How long?

I started taking just over the counter Tylenol and ibuprofen (not normally recommended) about 3 days out. Not necessarily by choice, but because the "good" stuff makes me nauseous. I think it helped move my recovery along faster. The two best pain killers for me were loosening things up by walking...(as I walked I could just feel myself standing straighter as I walked longer) and therapeutic massages (luckily my sister in law is certified AND made house calls).