To not want strong painkillers after c-section?

This is definitely a case by case thing - I only took paracetamol and was completely painfree, the morning after I walked down to the NICU to be with my baby but the lady in the next bed was on morphine and cried for 2 days after hers....I was fine. Good luck xx

I just had paracetamol. I can’t take ibuprofen and didn’t want any codeine as it makes me feel odd. I felt absolutely fine, I wasn’t in pain. The key is to get up as soon as the numbing feeling goes. They encouraged me to move about as soon as I could. I went home soon after so was only in for 12hrs in the end. I loved my section, was such a great experience.

In for a week. I was down to panadol only after 36 or 48 hours. I had twinges of pain but didn’t mind them. After five days, some girls were still in morphine drivers!

Talk to your medical team. You can’t necessarily tell your needs from here.

sure i did two with no oramorph or codeine. Diclofenac, paracetamol and the knowledge that vomiting (from taking a morphine derivative) was going to make it all a lot more painful saw me through. It hurts but movement is the best thing, just hard to get started.

You'd be lucky. I got paracetamol.

I also managed totally fine with paracetamol and ibuprofen! They started giving me something in the drip with morphine that made me feel dizzy and sick so I quickly told them to turn it off and just took my own OTC painkillers from there.

The pain is basically gone if you're just half sitting or lying on the bed. It's only when you stand up, walk or sit that the pain is going to flare. So take the painkillers just before you plan to take a shower or go to the loo.

If your previous reaction was stomach issues or sickness you can ask for anti sickness or reflux meds along side

I told them about an adverse reaction to morphine following a previous surgery and the adjusted the pain meds accordingly.

I was fine after both my EMCS without opioids. Spinal block then diclofenac suppository in theatre the oral diclofenac and paracetamol alternating every 2 hours for a week or so. Not being constipated makes a massive difference to pain levels, so lots and lots of fluids as well as high fibre foods.

I’m allergic to codeine and nsaids so went with tramadol and oxy. IV paracetamol was really good with the pain too. Talk with the consultant and come up with pain med options. I suggest you tell them that you are also allergic to coedine so they don’t force you to try coedine again (I was told this about a different med by my OBGYN). I didn’t want morphine as I didn’t want to completely trip out on it so they offered the above. Good luck and try not to be too worried which is easier said than done

I just had paracetamol and ibuprofen and walked to the park on day 2 - everybody is different!

I coped fine with just paracetamol / ibuprofen. I was offered oramorph (sp?) at the hospital if I felt I needed it but if I took it I probably would have had to stay another night and I wanted to get the hell off that ward :)

I only had paracetamol and ibuprofen, but I feel compared to others in the hospital and friends who’ve had c-sections I was quite lucky recovery and pain wise.

I was only offered paracetamol and ibuprofen with my first two c-section. The last one I was given something else that made me feel dizzy, so I clearly told them I didn't want anything but paracetamol and ibuprofen. They complied. Paracetamol and ibuprofen was enough for me.

I mainly managed on paracetamol and Ibuprofen because my baby was in NICU and they refused to give me stronger stuff during the day as I had to keep leaving the ward. At night I had oramorph and dihydrocodine when the pain was more obvious.

One bit of advice though is don't take plain codine as it delays milk production.

IV paracetamol is great, I didn’t need anything else. IME you have to ask for pain relief, the default is to not get it if you aren’t complaining of pain, so you shouldn’t be having it pushed on you

You might be ok but you might not. I needed something stronger than paracetamol and ibuprofen for the first 3 days after both my sections - had dihydrocodeine the first time and oramorph the second. Without them I'd have been unable to mobilise or care for my baby. By day 4 I was fine on paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Fine to state your preference but I would have a think about what you would choose if you do need something stronger, which is a real possibility.

As PPs have said, talk to those caring for you - I had an emergency C section, and it was a very calm and positive experience. I feel very lucky.

I think I had a couple of doses of something stronger than paracetamol/ibuprofen afterwards in hospital, but that was because they were offered and I said yes. They weren't forced or pushed on me at all, and I took them orally. I think I would have struggled to sleep that first night without some strong painkillers, but otherwise I think I'd have been v sore but fine. I was given something stronger to bring home with me the next day, but I didn't need to take any by that stage, I was fine with paracetamol.

If you discuss your worries and previous reactions, I'm sure you can agree a plan to manage the pain without anything you feel uncomfortable about. Good luck!

Your anethetist is probably the best person to talk to. They won't make you take strong pain medication but you might find you need to. You could ask about anaesthetic pain blocks, I don't know if they're an NHS thing, they use local aesthetic and are supposed to last long enough for you not to need any strong pain medication post csection. A transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block is the most common one used post csection, it involves injection of local anesthetic around the abdominal muscles to provide targeted pain relief.

I didn’t need anything other than paracetamol but if you need it then you need it.

It is major surgery, and everyone is different afterward, I imagine. It’s many years since I had mine so things will probably be different now but I had some sort of painkillers via suppository right after my section, no idea what they were and couldn’t have cared less. Then I had a morphine drip, but it was on demand, I could press a button whenever I needed it. I never used it because I was lucky and somehow didn’t really have much pain. I didn’t take any other painkillers. My roommate maxed out on her button all the time, obviously she had a lot more pain than me.

When I had my c-section I was just given paracetamol and ibuprofen on a schedule and oramorph when needed. It depends what your situation is really. I was traipsing back and forth to nicu, sterilizing bottles etc after my elective c-section so I needed all the oramorph I could get. My emergency c-section baby was out of nicu and breastfeeding on day 5 so the pain was a lot more manageable then. You can absolutely say no to morphine if you want to, lots of women just have paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I was ok with ibuprofen and paracetamol afterwards. Tbh it is hard to get pain relief in a lot of recovery wards! The codeine can lead to nasty constipation, so I avoided it and was ok. Everyone reacts differently though. Good luck!