C-section without medication?

UFMADDIE09 · November 2012

Hi ladies,

I will be having my second c-section in April and I was just wondering if anyone has or even knows if you can go without any meds after the surgery? My first c-section went horrible afterwards.

The morphine made me projectile vomit causing extreme pain so I had to be taken off of it and then the nurses kept ignoring me and I went 16 hours without any pain meds and then another 11 hours after they finally gave me my pills.

I almost just want to say forget the pain meds since I really didn't have any when I needed them last time, but is that possible?

jb2rn · November 2012

Do you mean no narcotics? I think that is what you mean.

Yes, it totally can be done. I live in Germany and they don't give you narcotics. It would have been very nice to have some the first night and the following day or so, but I got through it.

However, I did take 600mg of Ibuprophen every 8 hours or so, as well as Paracetamol every 6 hours (their version of Acetaminophen). Both those medications helped a lot.

pepomntpat · November 2012

You can ask for no narcotics. After the first night I just had IV ibuprofen.

RayRay007 · November 2012

I think I had morphine in my IV during the surgery, but after that it was just tylenol and naproxen/ibuprofen. You don't have to have narcotics.

AZ123 · November 2012

You should talk about this with the anesthesologist before you go into surgery. I did the second time around and told the dr how I reacted horribly the first time with vomiting. He gave me something to help with that. They are responsible for your pain management during and after.

nwallace · November 2012

Yes it's possible. I wasn't given anything narcotics and was only offered pain killers. I took only one and don't think it really even worked. I plan on using nothing afterwards again.

MichelleL1118 · November 2012

I wasn't given morphine with either of my c/s, and for both I was only given ibuprofen for the first 24ish hours. After the spinal had fully worn off, I was allowed narcotics *if* I requested them (specific doses of specific meds, as written on the doc's orders) and my pain rated at a certain level on a scale of 1-10. I was not told what # I had to rate the pain at to get the narcotics, and if I didn't rate my pain high enough on the scale, I could only have ibuprofen (which they brought me every 6 hours, whether I requested it or not). I imagine you could refuse meds if you really don't want them, although I wouldn't recommend refusing the ibuprofen at least.

lil_jen051708 · November 2012

I only took ibuprofen after surgery so yes it is possible. Talk with your dr before and be open with your nurses after surgery. Also be on the same page as your H so he can be your advocate if needed.

annabelle.27 · November 2012

You can. You might not be very comfortable but it can be done.

HarrietNJMommy · November 2012

Yes, it can be done. I've done it after each of my c-sections (I've had 4 of them). I don't take any pain meds and I've been fine.

GL to you!

UFMADDIE09 · November 2012

Thank you all for all the replies! Yes, I meant narcotics, I wasn't asked about using them they were automatically given to me, so now I know different. I had an emergency c-section due to abruption and I wasn't really in the place to even think about what could or could not be done.

Thank you all so much! It is also very nice to see some of you have gone multiple times without any meds whatsoever. If anything I will stick with the Ibuprofen and 100% no automatic morphine drip

capulet · November 2012

RayRay007:
I think I had morphine in my IV during the surgery, but after that it was just tylenol and naproxen/ibuprofen. You don't have to have narcotics.

This. I didn't take percs after my second c/s because they made me itchy the first time. I did have the morphine drip, but they also gave me anti-nausea meds because I had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner (my water broke right after, oops). And that worked - I did vomit right after surgery with DD, but didn't after I had DS, after eating a much larger meal and closer to surgery. So that might be an option too.

mommytoconnor · November 2012

I'm an OB nurse and I'm sorry your nurses didn't responsd to your pain. I can tell you that some patients don't take anything at all, they don' have that much pain. Others want as much and more than we are able to give to them. It all depends on your pain tolerance.

JG362009 · November 2012

I just had ibuprofen after the spinal wore off and I was completely fine. I was totally off ibuprofen at about 1.5/2 weeks. You should be fine and definitely don't have to take narcotics.

dor79 · November 2012

After whatever medication wore off after my c-section I asked for no more meds. They made me sign a waiver of refusal.

VineyardMel · November 2012

I'm allergic to narcotics. I declined the Duramorph in my spinal and just took Ibuprofen post-op. I discussed this at length with my OB while PG and with the anesthesiologist before the surgery (she tried to talk me out of it, BTW, because she said I'd need it but I was just fine).

1026pumpkin · November 2012

Let the anesthesiologist know about your experience with nausea since they can give you something when they start to help prevent it.

I didn't take anything afterwards and I felt fine. My nurses came to check on me every few hours to make sure I was feeling ok and didn't need anything. They seemed surprised that I didn't want the meds, but didn't push anything and didn't make me sign any waivers.

You can also ask your doctor to write orders for both Tylenol and narcotics. If you start to develop pain, try just starting with the Tylenol. It is better to keep the pain in check because if you wait until you're really suffering, it can be a lot harder to manage the pain. The reason I say to ask your doctor for both is that I once had surgery and the doc only ordered Vicodin- the nurses were not allowed to give me plain Tylenol because he hadn't ordered it and they didn't want to page him in the middle of the night to ask for an order.

Shawnee11507 · November 2012

I didn't have morphine. After my spinal wore off I took the Ibuprofen 800 mg for maybe 2 weeks. I did need to take some Percocet in-between for the first 1.5 days. I tried not to, but it was too much.

Nwlywed07 · November 2012

They injected morphine into my spine when they did my spinal before hand. I was so sick afterwards from the morphine that I plan on asking for none next time. I really would like to enjoy the whole 12 hours after delivery instead of puking non-stop.

Afterwards I did Ibuprofen 800 for about a week like clockwork. After that I was good to go.

Mrs.PinkPearls · November 2012

I'm sure it can be done. They gave me so much meds I had no idea what I was even on. I still don't know what they gave me. I was really out of it the first few days in the hospital.

tiredmamma · November 2012

I took Tylenol after both my c-sections and did just fine. I also have bad reactions to pain killers, and the discomfort from the surgery just isn't worth those side effects!