Post-Op Med Survey

[skoshi314]

Hi Becky,
I was on 10 mg oxycontin (long acting) twice a day for about 1 1/2 months, along with 10 mg oxycodone (short acting) 4 times a day slowly tapering off to no meds at 2 1/2 months. At my 3 month checkup, I was given a prescription for Gabapentin 300mg twice a day for leg pain and restless leg syndrome. I have tried to cut back on that but the RLS comes back when I only take one a day, so I will stay with two a day for now. And yes, my brother said the oxycontin is addicting and I shouldn't take it. There is no way most of us will become addicted to it because who wants to be constipated the rest of our lives or doped up. I can understand the lay person saying you shouldn't take narcotics, but the spine surgeon setting a limit of one month or any of his people?
Sally

Hi Sally!
That's almost exactly the regime my surgeon had me on. It's amazing because I've not found anyone else with this same recipe. At first, I was on 2-10 mg oxycontin every 12 hours and 2-5 mg OxyIR (oxycodone immediate release) every 4 hours. I found the oxycontin was fantastic for about 9 hours but those last 3 hours were a killer. So, with my husband's help because I was not in my right mind, I began staggering the oxycontin. I would take 1, then 4 hours later, I'd take the other one. It seemed to work well for me.

I am now down to 1 oxycontin every 8-10 hours (depends how long I can go) and 1 OxyIR every 6 hours. I'm also taking Neurontin (Gabapentin) twice a day, but I was taking that long before surgery. This seems to be an OK schedule. I'm not pain free, but it stays between 4 and 6 most of the time. The six comes when I've waited too long for the oxycontin.

[skoshi314]

BECKY, I am also numb on the left side of my spine, wrapping all the way around to my belly button and down the left side of my stomach to the pubic bone. It also goes about six inches down my left thigh, only on the front side. There's slight numbness on the top of my right thigh. Underneath the numb skin level, I feel pain, especially when I press my fingers against it. Dr. Boachie's nurse says that this will go away between 6 weeks and 3 months. I'm seven weeks out and the truth is, I AM getting more sensations in those areas. Sometimes it's a bit prickly, but tolerable.

Ginger,
When you described feeling pain underneath the numb skin, I had a lightbulb moment! I knew there was something but I couldn't really describe it. Crazy, maybe the meds ARE messing with my head! Thanks for the description. I feel a little more sane being able to describe the sensation.

[Qikdraw]

Qikdraw-- you had me rolling on the floor (well-- if I could, I woulda been!) You are definitely a funny guy! How many spicy feet have you eaten??? Does that make them more palatable???

LOL

I really do need to proof read a bit more.

Spicy FOOD! I meant FOOD!

*sigh*

I'm really not going to get any breaks around here am I?

Brad

[Qikdraw]

Hey, Qikdraw, I'm with Susie Bee. I've never tried spicy foot, but I'm open to anything as long as it isn't seafood!

Actually its really quite nice, a little bit of curry, and just a tiny fraction of cayenne pepper, to give it that spice. Here is what I recommend:

(serves 2)
1 foot (right or left it doesn't matter)
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cayenne

Combine all ingredients. Heat oven to 350.
Now what I do is grab a 9x13 pan, put tinfoil inside, (it makes cleaning easier) place the foot in, along with a bit of water. Baste the foot with the mixture, but don't use it all. Cover with more foil. Cook for about 30-40 minutes, then remove cover, drain out juices, (which can be used to make a nice gravy) and baste again with mixture, repeating every 10 minutes. This gives it a nice coating of that great mixture. You can also turn the heat up while doing the repeated basting to crisp up the skin nice.

This is nice with rice, and if you make a gravy with the juices adds a nice flavour with the rice.

Seriously, I hope you know this is all in a very light-hearted spirit. There just aren't that many men on the forum so we like to take advantage of the ones that are here!

Well I'd say you can take advantage of me all you want, but I think my wife would have issue with that. Thats ok, I'm used to getting ribbed, tease all you want. If you haven't notced I am a very light hearted guy.

Brad

P.S. That recipe is actually good with chicken, you can add the cayenne or not. It really is very good.

[JamieR]

I am glad Pam mentioned something about the itching. It is the most anoying symptom I have at this time, trying to itch something I can't get to. The other thing I really hate, is itching a spot where my skin is still numb, it is the weirdest feeling. It is like you can feel it but you can't at the same time. I feel like I will never be able to enjoy a good back scratch again.

[titaniumed]

Post-op Med Survey

What about the pre-op med survey? You know there was this one time in San Francisco in 67 at a dead show and uh never mind Im just kidding! He He

Becky, the people that are wondering why you are still on the pain meds at 1 month post, have no clue. Serious invasive surgerys require long periods of time to heal and everyone is different. Your own pain levels and how you handle the pain will dictate your medication outcome.

After my 11 days in the hospital, I was pushing hard to be released and went home and started with Oxycodone 5/325 every 4 hours. That was like candy after all the morphine,dilauid,and lortab at the hospital. About 10 days post, I was switched over to Percoset 7.5/325. I took those till about 4 weeks post and figured Id quit "cold turkey" before it riipped my guts apart. That was interesting!!! the pain went up very high for about 5 days and I gave in and re-started again at a much smaller dose. One week later, the constipation set in and I dropped a bomb (x-lax) That evening was fun,fun,fun. The pain levels were on redline and I must have read the x-lax instructions 30 times!!!
They guarantee that if you take a dose in the evening, something will happen by morning. They are correct! Of course I had no electrolytes, and I felt like a 12 volt battery with 1 volt left. Thats when I decided no more. That was at 46 days last March 16th. Yes, the pain continued and I had to supply nutrients for my body to heal and after another 5 days I started feeling better.

This is an example of one of the hard ways to get off the drugs. My neighbor has been on opiates for the last 27 years. He has 1 level fused down low. I just didnt feel like I wanted to continue slamming my motor neurons with a baseball bat.

They didnt tell me, but I guess you are supposed to cut back slowly. I learned the hard way.

Its amazing what the human body can handle.

Im almost 6 mos post and I feel pretty darn good. Ive taken 2 tylenols since March 16th.

[skoshi314]

Very funny, Brad! That's quite a sense of humor you've got there! Seriously, it's nice to know you can take a joke in the manner intended. Life is just too short to get too serious!

And along came titanuimed! The men are making quite a showing in this thread!

Titaniumed, it certainly sounds like you picked the most difficult path to get to the other side. I've always heard that what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, but that's a tough way to get stronger! Thank you for the insight. I think this would be easier if there was a set of instructions for everybody. I have no desire to become addicted, but I don't relish the idea of being in pain. I think I just need to learn to trust myself and I'll know what's right.

It's always nice to get a man's perspective on things. I have finally learned in my 45 short years on earth that there really are things women can learn from men! My husband is THRILLED I finally admitted that!

I think I'm going to bed now. I'm beginning to be in pain and I'm not due for meds for another several hours. See, I'm learning to listen to myself!

[Qikdraw]

It's always nice to get a man's perspective on things. I have finally learned in my 45 short years on earth that there really are things women can learn from men! My husband is THRILLED I finally admitted that!

I need to show this to my wife. When I am right on something, she just says I made a correct assumption based on available information.

Brad

[txmarinemom]

I am glad Pam mentioned something about the itching. It is the most anoying symptom I have at this time, trying to itch something I can't get to. The other thing I really hate, is itching a spot where my skin is still numb, it is the weirdest feeling. It is like you can feel it but you can't at the same time. I feel like I will never be able to enjoy a good back scratch again.

It is bizarre to have an itch on numb skin, and funny ... I have had the EXACT same thought about a good back scratch!

I'm actually going for my first post-op deep tissue massage on Monday (my regular pre-op massage guy actually has another regular client with a LONG fusion). I'm only doing an hour (pre-op, it was 2 each time), so I'll have to report back on how it goes.

Hanson said it's fine to let them really work the trap/lower lumbar area (my fusion's T4-L1), and hopefully it will aid in the stretching I've been doing. I REALLY need someone to work the trigger points to the side of the glutes!

My back's still numb in places, but I can definitely feel pressure when it's touched. Back scratches I can live without, but if it's ruined my massage, I'm gonna be miffed!

Regards,
Pam

[Theresa]

Becky,

After my surgery in 2004 I was taking 10/325 mg of vicodin 4 times a day, Robaxin 750 mg 3 times a day. I had weaned down to about 1 to 2 vicoin a day and 1 Robaxin a day around 10 months.

After my second surgery in 2006 I was taking 10/325 mg of vicodin 4 times a day, robaxin 750 mg 3 times a day, and I think the last one was skelaxin, it was another form of muscle relaxer. Went off the skelaxin after about 4 months because it made me so sleepy. At about one year out I was put on Lyrica which worked great for all the nerve problems. After about 8 months I started swelling and had to stop the Lyrica. As soon as I stopped the swelling went away. About this same time I was put on 30 mg Kadien (brand name for Morphen) twice a day and I was able to cut down on the vicodin to 2 times a day.

After my third surgery in 2007 I was taking 10/325 mg of vicodin 3 times a day, robaxin 750mg 3 times a day, 30 mg of Kadien twice a day, and we decided to try neurotin twice a day. That was good for about 4 months and swelling started again, just not as bad as the lyrica. The lyrica is a newer formula and is known for having the swelling issues, usually neurotin doesn't have the selling issue.

So basically since my first surgery in 2004 I have not been off pain meds completely. I have been going to a pain management specialist since 2005. He has also given me trigger point injections into my rib area in between the ribs where I have problems with spasms and in my neck, shoulders, and under the shoulder blades for big knots. I also get deep tissue massages to try to work the multi layers of knots. Last week I was in Colorado Springs visiting our daughter and I was able to cut back some on my medicines up there. For some reason I wasn't hurting as much. I'm wondering if it has to do with the altitude and the air pressure?????? We got back last Monday and all week I have been in misery after the car ride. But I think it also has to do with me cutting back on some of the meds and I'm feeling everything again. Today it was bearable now that I have been back on my meds correctly for a few days!!!!

Someone also asked something about only having a month's worth of meds. That is all I get, I have to call the vicodin and robaxin in each month for approval. The Kadien requires that I see the pain management dr every two months and I have to pick up a written prescription from his office every month. It is written on special paper that causes the ink to vanish in 7 days if you haven't filled it by then. It's considered a Schedule II controlled drug.

Don't worry about how long you are still on your meds, if your body needs them so that you can live a "normal" life then you need to take them. If your surgeon is giving you problems about still being on them go see a pain management specialist or have your surgeon refer you to one. The surgeons are not long term pain specialist when it comes to medicines.

[amae28]

i am a little over two weeks post op- I am on oxycontin every 8 hours and one darvacet every four hours. it seems to be working pretty well but my doc said no refills so we'll see.

[trishthedish]

Reality is for people who can't handle drugs...

From this last surgery I came home on:
Fentanyl 50mcg patch q72h
Norco 10/325 every 4hrs, alternating w/Dilaudid 4mg every 4hrs
Ambien 10mg at bedtime
Valium 5-10mg four times daily for muscle spasm
Cymbalta 60mg and Lexapro 20mg daily (supposedly to replace the neurotransmitters "washed out" during the surgery by the huge amounts of fluids they say I received).

Now, I am a pharmacist myself, and I do like to see my livelihood supported, but not by any one single patient, and especially not by just me!

So in a month I sort of titrated down to:
2 norco 3-4 times daily
5mg valium twice a daily
Lexapro 20mg daily

2 months out now, I do the above regimen, minus the Lexapro.

I will have my 2 month checkup this Friday and I plan to ask to switch the valium to robaxin. And, sorry, but I am not at a place where I can give up the Norco. I think my soreness and outright remaining surgical pain still warrant taking it.

Talking about taking a trip and never leaving the farm

[StevieRayFan]

I know this thread is "old", but I just wanted to say as a new member that the info in this Topic has made me realize I have been under medicating myself and needlessly suffering. I do not have Scoliosis, but had a lumbar fusion in late Oct 2008, so I'm on my 11th week out now. Since Dec I have been intentionally taking the absolute LEAST amount of Norco (none during the day) and approximately 25 mil at night plus my normal Ambien for sleep.

I called my surgeon's RN, and she said NO... do NOT wait till the end of the day to take meds if I am in pain during the day (I am).

Though I do not have Scoliosis issues, I do hope I am welcome here. My issues are all lumbar and sciatic. I've been searching for over a month for a good board, and this is as close as I can get to perfect.

Thank you.

[Nancy Joy]

I am going to assume your name is Steve. Please correct that if needed. Welcome to our forum. I think your problem would be very similar. I used to do what you did and then my motto became- why suffer needlessly? I read over and over the body heals faster when it is not also battling pain and I believe it. Also, if you let pain get ahead of meds, it can be very hard to get under control again. No, I am not a drug addict and am taking very little now but I sure take it when I need it. I am glad you had the courage to speak up and best wishes to you on your recovery also.

[StevieRayFan]

Nancy, thanks. No, my name is Paul.. I'm a Stevie Ray Vaughn fan. Do you like Blues? I'm going to work on my Profile and signature a little tonight. I've been welcomed here, and on another thread. I'm very happy I found this board. Though are respective issues are not exact, they are similar, especially with the spine. I've had two surgeries in 08, and one was cervical at 4-levels, and then they got my lumbar in Oct. I would imagine that there are some similar issues regarding recovery... I'm guessing. I agree with you. I think it can go both ways with helping and supporting one another. ONLY within the last few weeks have I been ABLE to sit for more than a few minutes at a time... so the timing is perfect for me insofar as this board is concerned, and computer use.

Thanks again!

Paul