Vicodin limits: Pharmacy Vs doctor

[Boo I need a valve]

I had my AVR on 8/15 and was moved to Vikodin on 8/18. Any thoughts of the following.

In the hospital, they were giving me pain killer every 4 hours with the philosophy that uncontrolled pain only slows the recovery. Sometimes we switched meds, so I dont know what we actually achieved, but at two tablets every 4 hours, that equates to 12 tablets per day.

The pharmasist filled the Vikodin perscription with the comments: 1 to 2 tablets every 4 to 6 hours, Max 8 per day.

Anyway, bottom line, to keep the pain under control I am more in line with about 10 tablets per day.

Anyone got any comments on this... take more tablets to keep the pain away, or scale back to the pharmasist recommendations?

Adrian

 

[Cooker]

Adrian,

I happen to have some Vicodin on hand so I grabbed the bottle to read the warnings. It says taking to much can cause breathing problems. If you are taking ten with a maximum of eight I do not think it would be a problem with breathing. But let me say that I am not a doctor. If you are having that much pain call your doctor. I think it is a good idea to follow directions on doses.

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[tobagotwo]

There are other painkillers available. Perhaps you could move to Tramadol or one of the other, less dangerous types. If you're developing a need cycle for the pills, you should consider getting onto something you won't need as much. I will point out that there are members on this site who went through this surgery with only Tylenol. (Note: do not mix prescription painkillers with over-the-counter painkillers unless it's specifically recommended by your doctor.)

You will rapidly come to a point where you won't need them, anyway, So by the time you could get it all straightened out, it will be past history.

We've had several people start to become addicted to narcotic painkillers after surgery, and they had difficulty getting off of them. Unless you have had complications, by a week after surgery, your need for painkillers should have reduced, rather than remained the same.

The pharmacist's comments likely reflect the doctor's prescribing information. I would go with the eight that the doctor ordered, and look to eliminate one or two of those each day. Be sure you're getting up and moving around as much as you can, as that will begin to help general aches from the surgery. While you need lots of sleep and naps, recovery from heart surgery isn't accomplished entirely in bed.

Best wishes,

 

[sonavogel]

May I respectfully second the motion to consider Tramadol (Ultram)? I love it--it's never fogged me up, and although it is not as heavy-handed as Vicodin in the painkilling dept., it does work. And I've never developed a dependency on/for it.

Vicodin makes me nervous. I know too many people who end up tossing them back like mints because once they began with it, they couldn't stop without feeling pain.

Hope you feel better soon!

 

[bvdr]

Years ago I had a very bad back. In my memory it remains the worst pain in have ever encountered. I went through months of PT, several epidural injections and then finally curative surgery. This process spanned several months. At the time I was an RN in the emergency department and a routine part of an RN's duties was to screen the patients who were being admitted to the chemical dependency unit. It was an eye opener and I lost all notion that chemical dependency and addiction happened to a select group of people. It can happen to absolutely anyone under the right circumstances but steps can be taken to minimize the risk. I was so concerned that it could happen to me that I immediately took a few preventative steps and I would suggest the same to you. If your prescription says you can take one or two tablets then start taking only one every other time for a day or two then discontinue taking two tablets altogether. Then start to increase the intervals between your tablets. If your prescription says every 4-6 hours then limit yourself to every 6 hours at the minimum but aim for 7 or 8 hrs. Also, do not refill this prescription. Request something milder like Tramadol or Darvocet but you have got to get off the Vicodin. If you still have problems with pain then get the root cause addressed. The problem with chemical dependency can become a monster you don't want to battle when you should be enjoying the benefits of an improved heart.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Interesting comments from everyone.

For my 3rd OHS, everyone is recommending a Right Thorocotomy, through the RIBS. I have been told that RIB PAIN can last for MANY weeks, maybe even 8 or more.

What is the Best and SAFEST method of Pain Management for prolonged pain?

'AL'

 

[bvdr]

Interesting comments from everyone.

For my 3rd OHS, everyone is recommending a Right Thorocotomy, through the RIBS. I have been told that RIB PAIN can last for MANY weeks, maybe even 8 or more.

What is the Best and SAFEST method of Pain Management for prolonged pain?

'AL'

Al, I don't want to hijack this thread but my rib pain was mainly because of muscle spasms in the rib cage. Muscle relaxers helped as well as Morphine tablets when I first was discharged. When the morphine was gone I just stuck with Tylenol and that worked pretty well.

 

[Philip B]

Pain Issues

Pain Issues

Vicodin was great stuff following my AVR surgery. I was concerned about getting to like it too much. Both my surgeon and cardiologist advised me to keep taking it as long as I felt that I needed it.

For awhile I was taking it every four hours, but after hearing stories about people getting addicted to pain meds, I started weaning myself off. I think I was totally off the vicodin at four or five weeks post-op.

Personally, I tend to agree with those who believe excessive pain interferes with the healing process; however, individuals define excessive differently. It would probably be a good idea to visit with your surgeon and/or cardiologist about your pain meds and make some decisions about how much pain you can handle as you begin to reduce the meds. Good luck.

-Philip

 

[Traveler]

pain issues

pain issues

In my case Tramadol worked great until I tried to get off it. I used it for about 5 weeks and then tried to stop it quickly and had to back off of it slowly. So there is some dependency issues.

 

[Marguerite53]

I agree with Cooker. This is something best discussed with your doctor or nurse.

I also agree that it is smart to keep the pain level tolerable as it helps the healing process.

We all experience pain differently. You need to work with your health care provider to find the right dosage. Soon you will find that you can wean yourself off of them. I weaned myself very slowly, very slowly. And I was certainly fine once off of them. No dependency. But I stayed on them for quite awhile.

Good luck. Hang in there.

Marguerite

 

[Cooker]

This morning on the news there was a report that they (doctors) are being encouraged to tighten up on Hydrocodone (Vicodin). It is very addictive. Ever seen the TV show "House"?

I also agree that good pain management is essential to recovery.

 

[Boo I need a valve]

Thanks Everyone

Thanks Everyone

Thanks for the really great responses.

I may be in good shape: my pain was down quite a bit yesterday, and I had a 7 pill day. I am on track for that again today.

I like the suggestion of alternate drugs. In the hospital they were giving me "Perkoset?" which they seemed pretty anxious to wean me off of. I assume for addiction reasons.
I never gave it a second thought.

I'll talk to my doc about trying the same with Tramadol.

Adrian

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Once I left the hospital, I needed only the sedative to help me sleep at night. Tylenol worked for everything else. However, when I developed fluid, the pain was quite intense. They prescribed vicodin and I took 5/500 mg every 4 hours for quite a while. I had no problem with addiction. However, I want to repeat, "Don't mix prescription & non-prescription drugs." Even with the Vicodin I was having a great deal of pain, so I was taking Tylenol in between doses. I didn't realize that Vicodin also contains Acetominophen so was probably overdosing myself. Luckily, once the Prednisone kicked in, the pain lessened and I could survive with 1-2 Vicodin a day. That probably lasted for about 2 weeks until the fluid had lessened signicantly.

 

[Hank]

Different for different folks

Different for different folks

It's all different for different folks.

I have an extremely high tolerance to pain medications, anesthetics, analgesics and even surgical general anestesia. I woke up during my valve replacement surgery while they were beginnig to wire my sternum closed. I could hear the team talking and telling joke. I was still under the paralytic drugs so I could not move but I was VERY PAINFULLY AWARE that chest was splayed out wide for all to gawk at. They quickly noticed that my vitals showed signs of awakening and becoming aware so they ddosed me up bigtime to knock me back out.

That experience still haunts me to this day,

I warned them before that I would need triple what a normal guy size would need and they didn't wana go there. Well they learnde the hard way that I was serious!

After surgery, they gave percocet to take home. 1 tablet every 6 hours for pain, What a joke! I took what I needed for thepain which was actually 2 tablets every 2 hours! until they ere gone. The pills I mean.The pain never stopped once, Whenever I finally get a doctor hat can understand my situation, he leave to go do work study for someone in a nother locaton.