Still in pain days later

[AnxietyDisord3r]

So I had my procedure Thursday and it's Sunday and I'm still very uncomfortable. I was prescribed Vicodin which would in retrospect not be my choice of narcotics because even though my pain is only a 4 or a 5 when the drugs wear off, Vicodin only takes it down to 2/3 and I get waves of crawling sensations. Plus I have had agitation, which I didn't have on codeine. (Codeine made me sleep.) I'd like to know, is this normal or is it a sign of trouble with the incisions or grafts?

I want to wean off the hydrocodone but I'm finding the pulsing discomfort unbearable.

[FTMax]

Hey there,

Do you have a preferred painkiller? Could you call the surgeon's office and see if they could electronically send a prescription for it to a pharmacy near you that someone could pick up? Similarly, if you have something over the counter available, I would give that a shot and see if it induces the same effect or not. Vicodin has hydrocodone and acetaminophen, so you should be experiencing less pain and less inflammation. If that isn't the case, it's probably not working effectively for you for whatever reason.

I didn't have much sensation in my chest while healing. It felt tender if you touched it, but there was no throbbing/pulsing. Does any part of your chest feel warm? Aside from the incisions or grafts, is anything discolored? How much bandaging do you still have on? Do you have drains?

I would definitely get in touch with your surgeon. If you can, have someone take a picture of your chest for you and send it along with an email to the surgeon or a nurse there to take a look at. They should be able to tell you if there is anything you need to be worried about.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

I'm still wrapped in compression bandages, so I have no idea what is even hurting under there. The drains are still in and doing great, can't wait to have them out at this point.

Vicodin is working (I have to take the max dose for a meh reduction in pain level). If I had serious, sweating, 9 or 10 out of 10 pain I would have called the surgeon immediately. Instead, I buzzed the office about the pain management issue but couldn't get through. Gonna try tomorrow morning.

[FTMax]

If you have someone available to help, see if they can re-wrap your bandages for you. They may be too tight. See if that helps. If there's no change, you can tighten it back up. I know the compression binder they had me in made me super sore and I had some weird shooting pains through my shoulder blades with it. I got the okay to stop wearing it early as a result.

And if you have another painkiller option, I'd at least test it out. If you're looking for a good over the counter option, Tylenol makes a version for arthritis that has a higher dose of the good stuff in there. Might be worth a shot just to make sure you're not having a weird reaction to the Vicodin.

[AnxietyDisord3r]

Garramone's office took two days to get back to me (to be fair, I didn't try to reach the emergency line). In that time I've been doing a lot better and sleeping through the night. As long as the pain/discomfort keeps stepping down regularly I think I'm fine. I'm aware there's a small risk of persistent pain post-op.