Pain relief

[Wjlips]

My husband was discharged from hospital on Sunday after having bypass surgery and aortic valve replacement. The only pain killer he appears to be sent home with is paracetamol!!

What have other people been prescribed after open heart surgery please?

[Hidden]

I had tramadol , perhaps you should speak to your GP , wishing him better ❤️

[SerenK]

just paracetamol, to be fair after a week at home, I only took two at bedtime because that was the most uncomfortable time.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

I came out on four Tramadol a day which after a week I reduced by one per week. Personally I find Paracetamol as effective as Smarties but Smarties taste better! 😁 Contact your GP as pain slows healing.

And shield him for at least three months! 😷

[Thanksnhs]

I was sent home with, paracetamol and tramadol, due to side effects from meds I have now got Co codamol added by my consultant, mabe a phone call to your gp or hospital could sort out better pain relief, there is nothing worse especially if you can't sleep, wishing your husband a speedy recovery char

[080311]

Hello and welcome to to the forum, I was sent home with paracetamol and co codamal used the co codamal just at night for a couple of weeks. The hospital said to use the paracetamol at regular intervals to make sure there was no pain but again didn’t need anything after a couple of weeks. If your husband is finding the pain is not controlled you need to speak with your GP to get something a bit stronger for a little while.

Wishing him a great recovery

Pauline

[gilreid1]

When I was discharged after bypass I was given tramadol for two days and paracetamol. Was advised to try and manage pain with paracetamol and reduced as soon as I could. I found it no major problems and really only took at night.

Good luck and stay safe

[AubreySo]

I am From Canada and I had By-pass surgery 7weeks ago. I was Discharged with a script for Hydromorphone (oral morphine) to take as needed and Tylenol for lesser degree of pain management. You can talk to your husband’s doctor about it.

[080311 in reply to AubreySo]

Wow oral morphine

[Chappychap]

Paracetamol should pretty much cover it. The first few weeks after bypass surgery aren't exactly a holiday, but to be honest it's more discomfort than actual pain. The key thing is that even if your husband doesn't feel like it, he absolutely must dig deep and get his breathing and walking exercises done. The critical thing following open heart surgery is to reflate all the tiny pockets of collapse within the lungs, and that demands deep breathing/ coughing and longer and longer daily walks.

If he's really struggling then get some co-codamol from the chemist, but remember it's only for three or four days. After that there's an increasing risk of addiction plus like any morphine based pain killer it quickly loses effectiveness without an ever increasing dose and there's lots of unpleasant side effects like cement standard constipation!

Good luck!

[waylay in reply to Chappychap]

Many people don't need increasing doses w/ morphine. Depends on the person

[Shar28]

After his AVR my husband was discharged with paracetamol and cocodamol. He didn’t take the cocodamol because the opiates sent him doolally and stopped the paracetamol fairly soon after because he didn’t felt like that was causing side effects too.

Everyone’s different and as such needs different pain relief from others so perhaps a chat with his GP would be sensible.

Best wishes to you both.

[Blackcatsooty]

Paracetamol should be fine, they worked well enough for me. The hospital pharmasist said it would be best to take Eight a day, and i should take all eight for a few days. Especially before bed.

Colin

[Wjlips]

Thank you so much everyone for your responses. We have got some co codomol for night time now.

[080311]

That’s good news, I found for the first couple of weeks it allowed me to get some decent sleep. I was told to take my paracetamol on a regular basis just to make sure the discomfort was under control. Not to wait for the pain to kick in! I found after about 10 days I didn’t need them at all during the day, please remind him to keep doing his breathing exercises I found them invaluable remember his lungs have taken a hit as well as his heart.

Pauline

[Mikedabike]

Hello there, I would try not to worry too much. Each persons body can react very differently to pain. I had open heart surgery for a mechanical aortic valve in December 2019. Like your husband the only medication I was on was paracetamol. After such a traumatic operation I had expected to be in plenty of pain, but I wasn’t. This puzzled me, but I wasn’t complaining. I returned home after 7 days and stopped taking the paracetamol the next day. If he is not in a great deal of pain then I wouldn’t worry. If his pain levels do start to increase for any reason I would contact your GP straight away. Your husband should be flagged up on their system as having had the surgery and they should (in theory) deal with you promptly.

[Dj1962]

Hi..I just had paracetamol...🙏