• BASIC DRUG
    DISCUSSION
    Welcome to Bluelight!
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Benzo Chart Opioids Chart
    Drug Terms Need Help??
    Drugs 101 Brain & Addiction
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums
  • BDD Moderators: Keif’ Richards

I am only getting Tylenol 3 for full shoulder replacement.

Psynaught

Bluelighter
Joined
Sep 12, 2023
Messages
440
My surgery is tomorrow. I know...I know...opiods are dangerous. But shoulder surgeries/replacements are one of the most painful procedures. I have no documented history of opiod abuse. Every time I have had surgeries I have taken what was prescribed as prescribed.

15 years ago I had shoulder surgery and I only took opiod medications for about 7-8 days. I had zero problems with addiction. I took Oxy's and some Vicodin. They were needed. I know we have nerve blocks and other techniques of pain reduction, but there will most likely be a need at some point for something stronger than Tylenol 3's.

I have had many incidents where I suffered needlessly because, IMO, doctors are more concerned about their licenses than they are their patients suffering.

I have lost faith in the medical industry to adequately address pain.
 
I understand your concern, they have cut down drastically on pain medication even after surgery. They did the same thing to me after a total knee replacement last year. (But they gave me Tramadol and a total of 20 Oxy)

If you are in the US they usually set you up with a home health nurse as soon as you get home. Let them know if your pain is not being controlled.

I worried about it a lot beforehand but the pain wasn’t as bad as I had expected and the Tramadol worked for me. They have made a lot of progress in joint replacements. I hope yours goes well.


Try not to worry beforehand, I know it’s hard not to but it’s important to go into surgery rested and with a positive mindset. Let us know how it goes.
 
Last edited:
I understand your concern, they have cut down drastically on pain medication even after surgery. They did the same thing to me after a total knee replacement last year. (But they gave me Tramadol and a total of 20 Oxy)

If you are in the US they usually set you up with a home health nurse as soon as you get home. Let them know if your pain is not being controlled.

I worried about it a lot beforehand but the pain wasn’t as bad as I had expected and the Tramadol worked for me. They have made a lot of progress in joint replacements. I hope yours goes well.


Try not to worry beforehand, I know it’s hard not to but it’s important to go into surgery rested and with a positive mindset. Let us know how it goes.
20 Oxy would probably be plenty. But they are giving me zero.

I have stashed Oxy (had it for 2 years) for such a situation. This will be about the 5th time that doctors have let me suffer unnecessarily after/during medical procedures. All the other times I just kept my mouth shut and did not complain, but I think it is time to fight back.

I am only going to take the Tylenol 3's. When the pain becomes severe I will call my doctor. I am not going to play the 1 to 10 game, I am simply going to tell them that I am in pain. I am not going to ask for any stronger drugs. If they just let me suffer, this time I am going to file a complaint. I have trouble sleeping so will be going into the 6:30 AM surgery with less than 2 hours sleep. In that state I am just going to stay silent and let the Doc do his thing.
 
20 Oxy would probably be plenty. But they are giving me zero.

I have stashed Oxy (had it for 2 years) for such a situation. This will be about the 5th time that doctors have let me suffer unnecessarily after/during medical procedures. All the other times I just kept my mouth shut and did not complain, but I think it is time to fight back.

I am only going to take the Tylenol 3's. When the pain becomes severe I will call my doctor. I am not going to play the 1 to 10 game, I am simply going to tell them that I am in pain. I am not going to ask for any stronger drugs. If they just let me suffer, this time I am going to file a complaint. I have trouble sleeping so will be going into the 6:30 AM surgery with less than 2 hours sleep. In that state I am just going to stay silent and let the Doc do his thing.
It is kinda outrageous to only be giving you codeine for shoulder replacement surgery. Even Google says for "mild to moderate" pain which sounds more like dental work than what your dealing with.

Advice given and your own plan both are sound. If the pain is more than you want to deal with immediately tell your doctor.
 
Well it’s a good thing you have some oxy saved away in the cabinet. I hate that a few bad apples (okay like a lot) have ruined it for the rest of us (I’m one of the few bad apples). It’s completely unfair. It seems as though you have a good plan set out though. Best of luck with your surgery. Oh I forgot to add- Talk to your anesthesiologist about a pain shot after your surgery. I’ve heard some good things about it and it may help..
 
Well it’s a good thing you have some oxy saved away in the cabinet. I hate that a few bad apples (okay like a lot) have ruined it for the rest of us (I’m one of the few bad apples). It’s completely unfair. It seems as though you have a good plan set out though. Best of luck with your surgery. Oh I forgot to add- Talk to your anesthesiologist about a pain shot after your surgery. I’ve heard some good things about it and it may help..
Yes. I will get a nerve block so will be OK the first 2 days. I really do NOT want to have to call the Do office and beg for more pain meds. I won't be able to drive and will have to ask more from my already overburdened wife. It really pisses me off to have to jump through hoops just to get what anyone with a tiny bit of common sense knows they will need. They are ripping my shoulder out and replacing it.

I should not have to rely on meds that were bought on the black market.
 
It is kinda outrageous to only be giving you codeine for shoulder replacement surgery. Even Google says for "mild to moderate" pain which sounds more like dental work than what your dealing with.

Advice given and your own plan both are sound. If the pain is more than you want to deal with immediately tell your doctor.
It is completely outrageous. I just had a prostate procedure with no meds for the procedure (where they basically boil your prostate to shrink it). However afterwards I was fine, I took Tylenol 3's for one day and was good after that.

I grunted from pain during the procedure. My doc said "you were tough, most men scream." Why in the hell would they do a procedure that caused people to scream, with no meds? These docs need to start going through these procedures themselves.
 
Yes. I will get a nerve block so will be OK the first 2 days. I really do NOT want to have to call the Do office and beg for more pain meds. I won't be able to drive and will have to ask more from my already overburdened wife. It really pisses me off to have to jump through hoops just to get what anyone with a tiny bit of common sense knows they will need. They are ripping my shoulder out and replacing it.

I should not have to rely on meds that were bought on the black market.
First of all, I didn’t know that they were black market. I wouldn’t even touch those tbh. 🤷🏻‍♀️
You’ll just have to tell the dr you need something else for the pain. It’s an unfortunate situation indeed.
 
Wow, that's really too bad! One of the problems with codeine, I think, is that some people just can't get as much effect from it as other people. It's a genetic thing. Codeine itself doesn't suppress pain, but the body's enzyme CYP2D6 converts it into morphine. Some people have less ability to do so. Plus it's weaker than oxy or hydro anyhow.
I know you have said in the past that you use kratom. I have read that kratom can inhibit the CYP2D6, which could affect the metabolism of the codeine, maybe make it worse or more dangerous. Also, I have read some people here on BL say that kratom interferes with the effects of other opioids like oxy
I don't claim to understand quite how that interaction would work but it's worth considering. It's also true that kratom suppresses pain itself. I've never used for something major like your surgery, but it does help me for more minor pain. But it might interfere with the codeine
Good luck!
 
Last edited:
Nerve blocks (supraspinal anasthesia) are becoming more and more refined.

Given the option, a nerve block is likely to control pain more and be far safer.
 
Nerve blocks (supraspinal anasthesia) are becoming more and more refined.

Given the option, a nerve block is likely to control pain more and be far safer.
Yeah, they worked tremendously well for me, but only seemed to last like 24 or 36 hours. Do they have longer lasting ones now, or ones that get reapplied? Mine strictly were in effect for my first day or so after the surgery
 
Yeah, they worked tremendously well for me, but only seemed to last like 24 or 36 hours. Do they have longer lasting ones now, or ones that get reapplied? Mine strictly were in effect for my first day or so after the surgery
I don’t think so, that’s how long the one I had lasted also. I definitely knew when it started to wear off.
 
As I said, supraspinal analgesia is sort of the 'big new thing' as for people for whom surgery poses significant risk, it shifts the balance so the surgery is the better option.

For ages fentanyl was a very common agent but there are some newer agents that last for a lot longer. If memory serves 14-methoxymetopon is supposed to be active in the picogram range and the analgesia lasts for 48-72 hours. There is no practical reason why a patient couldn't be given a second round of medication after that time.

But I am acutely aware that anesthetists are absolute masters of their domain of knowledge. So what I say is just what I'm told by the clinicians I know.
 
Nerve blocks (supraspinal anasthesia) are becoming more and more refined.

Given the option, a nerve block is likely to control pain more and be far safer.
Had the surgery yesterday. Everyone was great on their team. They made me wait for more than 6 hours (got there at 6:30 AM on 2 hours sleep). But Anasthesiologist gave me Versed....OMG I was high as a kite and the time went fast. The nerve block was amazing, no feeling/pain for more than 24 hours. Didn't take anything except Journavx and gabopentin.

They gave me a bunch of Tylenol 3's. and Also some Vicodin. No Oxy. I slept great last night, although my sling is killing my neck. Was only in a bit of pain this afternoon...until I did my first set of recovery exercises. They told me to start immediately....so I did. Extremely painful! And getting shirt/sling off and on hurt. I chewed up a Tylenol 3 afterward. Next time I do exercises I will take out one of my Oxy stash and take half a 30 mg 30 minutes before. Otherwise I am not going to take anything. As my nerve block wears off that may change. In retrospect, they should give at least a small handful of Oxys for the times of extreme pain. Think about it: Your bones are cut out and replaced by artificial parts.

But thanks everyone on this forum for keeping me in check. Its good to have people remind me of the serious consequences of abusing pain meds.
 
Yeah, they worked tremendously well for me, but only seemed to last like 24 or 36 hours. Do they have longer lasting ones now, or ones that get reapplied? Mine strictly were in effect for my first day or so after the surgery
Mine is starting to wear off after 24 hours.
 
First of all, I didn’t know that they were black market. I wouldn’t even touch those tbh. 🤷🏻‍♀️
You’ll just have to tell the dr you need something else for the pain. It’s an unfortunate situation indeed.
I used to be able to get real Oxy from a shady Nigerian pharmacy. Real pharmacists. I have been saving them for 2 years. The pharmacy went out of business. They probably just took the money and ran. I can get fentanyl that has been tested. Remember, the illegal market is the product of bad decisions made by our politicians and medical leaders.
 
Fckn shook little btch ass doc…..me and my brother were 17 wisdom teeth out, we got large jar of 60 tablets each, Percocet 5/325mg Oxycodone….mom took our jars away after day, too much…didn’t even know what they were 20 years ago

T3 are for a 17 year old kid dental work

An adult should be on oral Oxycodone, Dilaudid or MS Contin …..do they think DEA is kicking door in for small script for a patient in low therapeutic doses with no repeats …like fuck u

I want my sealed factory bottle of 100 tablet powerful Opioid Narcotics and Dopaminergic stimulant and fuck off !!!!

Probably some nerdy little fuck, ohhh controlled substances, oh no…..is he drug seaking? lol oh no….i better be safe and prescribe T3’s ….great job Harold you’re making a difference in the opioid epidemic

To every fcker M.D. Doc out there……I just went over your head, other channels, refer all to a “Specialist” to agreed with me, replaced a doc that was a bitch, please transfer my file to ….. thanks

Good doctors treat very respectfully, and no B..S them, I’ve told true stuff, they were mad, but continued to treat, sorry doc, I need you to know exactly what’s going on, so you can treat me accordingly, perhaps we can do a slight dose increase or add an XR formulation…..what do you think, Doc ?

To all the solid doctors out there Ching Xo ;) Cheers 🍻
 
Top