@shelton13

I am glad to hear you are going through pain management. What type of pain are you having?

My RNY was not for weight loss. It was because of a large paraesophageal (sliding hiatal) hernia. More of my story if you wish to read at my blog.. no ads: https://zarogasnook.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-long-time-passing.html

My last surgery was open, so I still have a lot of pain from it. I also have achalasia. I thought I might wind up in the ER last night with it.. but finally all is well. It put me off the charts with pain last night... I could not swallow food nor water so taking pain meds not an option. I also have Barrett's esophagus.

@grandmar Did a great job talking about pain meds. When our stomachs go through change it effects the way they work. I lost a few small sections of my stomach during my surgeries. Pain medication was not much of a problem until the last surgery.. the open one. Liquid Tylenol and arthritic rubs took care of most of the pain along with moist heating pad and ice packs. The moist heat helped the most. I have microwavable heating pads much like physical therapist use. I have to be careful and not burn myself. Microwaves have gotten more powerful and it takes about half the time now to heat it to appropriate temp for me.

Oral medications... time release as mentioned do not work well for most who have had any kind of abdominal surgery involving the stomach. Before all my surgeries I tried Tramadol.. I think I had an allergy to it or it was the one that made me depressed .. I am too lazy to look at my med list right now to know for sure. I took Lyrica for awhile. I would wake up at night gasping for breath. I discontinued.. it wasn't helping with the nerve pain anyway. I also took Zanflex for awhile. It did not help either.. tried Flexeril... didn't help. For sleep I tried sleep Melatonin, no sleep and a headache, Ambient.. no sleep, it made me restless. I do take a half of a 5mg Valium tablet to help with sleep sometimes. Best sleep I get is on the sofa in a room between 66°-68°... cold enough I need a blanket. The back of the sofa keeps me from rolling too far onto my back. I will sleep with one or two pillows under my head.. depends on how well I am breathing with allergies or if Achalasia is occurring... placed in a wedge way and not stack directly on top of first pillow. I use another standard size pillow that is old and thin and place between my knees. That one helps back pain and keeps my leg from putting too much pressure on the knee I had surgery on. I have a travel size pillow I place on my left hip. My left shoulder and ribs took a beating in the open surgery on that side... that is the side that was cut.

For pain I take Oxycodone 5mg. Not something they want me to take because ???? sorry I don't remember. But so far it is all that works for me. I take living life over excruciating pain and sitting around. When the med kicks in I have a very mild headache for 30-45 minutes. I endure pain when I have to drive... safer for all if I skip a dose or two. Right now my back is not doing so well, so the oxycodone is at 4-5 pills within 24 hours. I am seeing my pain specialist and it seems to be sacral dysfunction. It is better after an injection.. which rarely they do work. In 2017 he gave me an injection in my ribcage that blocked a nerve. I can sit back in a chair now. We have had a lot of low weather fronts come through and with those my arthritis acts up. I use a version of Aspercreme. They now sell Voltran over the counter and it helps some people. I am allergic to it. When my back isn't hurting so bad I will only take two Oxycodone in a day.

With any medication.. prescription or over the counter.. try and either get liquid or chewable or crushable. They will work better. You may have to try different medications to see what works best for you. Even before my surgeries at the Mayo Clinic I was low on Vitamin D. It helps all of the other vitamins absorb. At one time my Vitamin D did not even register. I tried the high dose of Vitamin D, but they made my body hurt like the flu. I take a chewable multi-vitamin daily. Flintstone or store brand. I don't like gummies.. not particularly fond of the flavors of any chewable vitamin. After a couple of years on just those my Vitamin D went up to 22. I added a 400 iu gel pill and I now have my Vitamin D up to 31. I tried increasing it up another 400 iu last week, but my muscles started aching again. They do make some Vitamin D that melts on or under .. forget which way. I may look into them again. I am also on a monthly B12 injection.

You might want to have a vitamin blood panel done to see what you are low on. You can then adjust your diet to include more and or take appropriate vitamins. Having them balanced can cut your pain down.

Be aware that you are more susceptible to pancreatitis and learn the symptoms. I have been blessed not to have it.

I did not mean to be so long.. chalk it up to not much sleep the last few nights. 🥱

ZeeGee