What pain relief should I take to hospital for post section pain?

[Loopylouu]

I wasn't offered much in the way of pain relief after my first section - it was paracetamol, which I find about as useful as fairy dust at the best of times, offered at sporadic times. I actually thought the midwife was joking when she offered me two paracetamol, sadly, she wasn't

I want to be prepared this time, so what shall I take in? Whats the strongest over the counter painkiller I can buy at the chemist?

[rightsaidfred]

If pain relief is written on the drug chart then prn ('as required' the you will have a battle with the nurses/midwives to get it and they miss you out on the drug rounds. When you see the doctor before the CS whether that is pre op assessment or on the day get them to write up diclofenac and lactulose as a regular med instead of prn. If they don't do it then ask the anaesthetist to do it while you are having the CS
Then the nurses can't miss you out or refuse to give it...... they are legally bound to give it to you (you don't have to swallow the tablets but make sure you take them off the nurse even if you don't need them as otherwise they will get it crossed off the chart!)

[zoemaguire]

I'm 3 weeks post section btw, still popping the ibuprofen but doing ok. The hell of the postnatal ward is fading, but I must remember to keep enough anger going to write a snotty complaint letter before i blank it out entirely. It is outrageous that they get away with treating women so badly!

[zoemaguire]

Ask your gp for diclofenac and dihydrocodeine(sp?) prescription. Mine was entirely happy to prescribe in advance when I told her what the (absence of) pain relief options in hospital were. Her words 'how barbaric!'. Good luck! I'll admit though that with elcs I did need more than paracetamol and ibuprofen (didn't get them!), but only for 2 or 3 days. After that para/profen were enough.

[elliejjtiny]

This thread is making me even more desperate for a vbac.

[kiwiscantfly]

This makes for interesting and sad reading. I had DD in Jan 2011 in a very busy hospital the first day back after NY (ELCS breech baby) so they were very short staffed, but I can say they did look after me with regards to pain relief, bf support, not so much. Anyway I digress... I had liquid morphine twice after the birth, and the MW said I should take the one at the beginning of the day softer a DD was born because it would help get me moving. So pleased I followed her advice, I watched two of the other mums refuse and then not cope at all, def in pain too. I was then given diclonofec (sp) and cocodimol (sp) to alternate with, and was told to take them for a week. I did the math and counted the pills in the box (we got to self medicate from the 2nd day) and realised I didn't have enough so asked for more, which thankfully I got. I really think how you recover from a CS depends on how the pain is managed.

Good luck to you all!

[MyDarlingClementine]

I would speak to my doctor and MW and make them aware of only being given paracetomol and make sure I had the normal range of drugs, ours was iboprufen and co codamol or something like that. at home my mw got me difloenci and something else.

[Highlander]

OP - make sure the anaesthetist gives you a rectal diclofenac at the end of the CS.

I took in my own ibuprofen and paracetamol. The ward was actually OK, but I made it clear to them that I had my own stash.

[Goldmandra]

I had horrendous pain after 2nd CS. It was ten times worse than the first time around. The staff cottoned on eventually after they challenged DH for leaving the ward late and he gave them a mouthful about how he wouldn't have had to stay to help me with DD2 if they'd given me enough meds to be able to get out of bed without passing out from the pain.

Within a couple of hours I had a registrar at my bedside prescribing Tramadol and Diclofenac. Such a relief. It's just a shame they didn't listen until DH laid into them.

[Loopylouu]

God, I hope there is room in the private bit for after! I have saved for years to be able to afford not to go through the hell I did with ds (I was left on the postnatal ward when he was taken to SCBU, I overheard some awful speculation from the other women as to why I didn't have my baby, that maybe he was taken into care, or that he was dead, or that I was a surrogate, all within earshot and one of them loudly said that I should be watched incase I snatched someone elses baby. They really were vile. SO I had all that to deal with on top of the pain).

I was just reading about the lindo wing, a midwife comes to check on you every 2 hours, with a torch at night so they don't wake you or the baby if you are sleeping. I want that, dammit! I remember being shaken awake when I finally fell asleep as they wanted to take my BP, half an hour after it had already been done as they had forgotten to write it down.

Sorry, off tangent again, but I am getting more and more stressed about the PN ward as the time draws closer.

[Loopylouu]

I am seeing my consultant tomorrow, will it make any difference if she writes about pain relief in my notes?

[Meglet]

Oh, I went to my GP about the movicol before I had DC2. I said the midwives refused to let me have it last time and could he prescribe it for me and say it was ok to bf with, or else I wouldn't bf. No problems at all.

[Meglet]

You raise hell and complain to your consultant and PALS to ensure you get adequate pain relief.

I was not popular after my ELCS. But after being treated like shit after my EMCS I realised I had to stand up for myself second time around. I wasn't having any more babies so figured I never had to see them again.

My GP was very good actually. He prescribed movicol when I said I wouldn't breastfeed without it (lactulose caused me problems as I have IBS).

Obviously when I had my hysterectomy they couldn't have been more helpful. Or more critical of the post-natal ward treatment of post-cs mums.

[zeldapinwheel]

I had an ELCS and found the staff on the ward after to be lovely

I would recommend taking some mint teabags with you, I had horrendous gas pains after and they were the only thing that helped.

[Loopylouu]

God, dh is another story!

I told him what happened the last time (he's older ds step dad). He is one of those people who always think drs/midwives etc know best and will follow them blindly. He keeps saying to me that they didn't give me pain relief as they know whats best and if they didn't give me any, then it wasn't needed. He was aghast when I said I'd be taking in my own this time.

[GingerMaman]

I asked for pain relief and was only given it 12 hours after it. I took pain relief in but was so out of it, that forgot I even had it on me. I would recommend you tell your spouse that you have some in your bag, so he can remind you. It's bloody ridiculous how they are not willing to give pain relief because the dr hasn't signed it off.

[Slebmum]

I was given diclofenac and paracetamol. I asked every four hours as I read on here it was best to keep on top of the pain and not wait for it to get worse before taking painkillers again. Best advice ever as I didn't have any pain at all.

You can buy dicolfenac over the counter as Voltareze so I'd take a stash of that with you if they think they'll be like that again. Take it every four hours regardless of if you are in pain or not.

[Loopylouu]

Gosh, well I was awake half the night worrying about the post natal experience after thinking it all through yesterday!

I am hoping to go to the private wing of the hospital after the birth, but I am not holding my breath as a) it's the Lindo Wing at St. Marys and priority goes to private patients (I am having my baby on the NHS as the lovely private consultant took pity on me as I am not loaded and said she'd do it on the NHS if I can manage to hold on until the one day she can fit me in!), since the royal birth it's become v popular and so I reckon it will be full and b) you have to get a dr to sign you off to go there - ever tried finding a dr on a postnatal ward?? i'll have to be very pushy.

Have a feeling I will end up on the dire NHS postnatal ward. I saw it on the tour, St. Mary's is so old that it looks like a Victorian workhouse.

Dh thinks it's crazy that I am more worried about aftercare than the actual operation, but after such a bad experience last time (different hospital) I am expecting the worst.

[amandine07]

HappyAsEyeAm
Thank you, it was 8 weeks ago so I remember every detail clearly!
Once I left the PN ward things got better & better...feeling like I'm well recovered but not quite totally back to normal yet.

Lactulose- you need at least 10 or 15mls twice a day with lots of water to have any effect. In hindsight I should've started taking it prior to the CS...again, I struggled to get them to give it to me on the ward & had fucking horrendous constipation, it was impacted and almost needed my GP to prescribe me an enema.

My first poo was hidious I was in tears! Plus, having spent nearly a hour on the loo I sat there thinking over & over my experiences on the PN ward, begging for pain relief, being rationed lactulose like it was gold dust or something...and then feeling really angry at how the midwives had treated me....!

Apologies it feels good to rant on here...I hope this helps prepare other women, just in case they have a similarly shit PN ward!

[amandine07]

Loopylouu
Very interesting comments you have made about your post-CS treatment!

I too had the vague feeling that I was being treated pretty harshly with the difficulties in getting adequate pain relief & little digging comments regarding CS.

At the time I pushed it to the back of my mind and thought "surely not, these are healthcare professionals"!
But the more I reflect on the experience, the more I wish I could've given a few of them a punch in the face!

Honestly, the day after was the worst as my meds had been late the evening of my CS so I was playing catch up with analgesia...plus I was then literally dragged out of bed to the shower.

I wanted to get up & about but I was begging for some pain relief prior to this which would've helped me along.

Oh god the more I think about it, the more I realise how awful it was...sorry, but those members of staff were pretty evil in my opinion, totally lacking in compassion & professionalism.

Also, I remember the women in the bed next to me had an emergency CS, staff were rushing about to get her pain relief before making her get up.

If I could've crawled out the door I would've self discharged...was such a relief to go home so I could be more in control of my pain relief medications.

Thank you for starting this thread OP!

Women need to realise that you can be reassured by the doctors but once you reach the PN ward you really are at the mercy of the staff there- it's a place doctors avoid and only come if there's a big problem.

Also I'd be blunt and say if you're having a CS for maternal request, take your own meds too including laxatives! You may find, as I did, that the midwives are not keen on providing analgesia.

I'm not having a pop at midwives, I'm just saying that in my experience I think I was judged for having a maternal request CS and treated appallingly.
I wrote a very long & detailed letter to PALS afterwards!

[HappyAsEyeAm]

Amandine07, Sorry for all the typos, I was posting in an enormous rush. I know, its shocking isn't it. I hope you're recovering ok if your c section was recent.

Op, good luck with being a pain in the arse. Yes, you can buy voltarol over the counter.

[elliejjtiny]

When I had DS4 the drugs trolley came at 6:00, 10:00 and 2:00. I made sure that was also my expressing time so I would always be awake and sat on my bed at drug time. We could have codeine, paracetamol and ibuprofen. We were also allowed morphine but that was only meant to be given on day 1. I asked for it on day 3 for afterpains from hell and the midwife said no but the student midwife had 4 children and persuaded her that afterpains with a 4th really are that bad. I was still in agony after all that lot though. I've done childbirth with no pain relief but the post C-section pain was worse.

[Loopylouu]

Ok, so Can I buy volterol over the counter?

The stuff I took during my mc contained codeine, so I guess that's out of the question.

I have already spoken to my lovely consultant about my worries re pain relief, she tried to reassure me that all will be well, but I am not holding out hope after my experience of midwives on the PN ward the last time!

I hope that this time round will be better, I just want a backup if I am left in agony again at 2am.

[littleducks]

When I had dc3 codeine is no longer given to breast feeding mothers (pretty recent as dr prescribed it but pharmacist came round and said it wasn't suitable and only a few MWs knew about this)

I found this via google;

(1) (4).pdf

[TheScience]

If you do take codeine, it is worth reading this if you are going to breastfeed - www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk/dibm/codeine_for_website_july_2013%20(1)%20(4).pdf

[TheScience]

That sounds awful! I was given morphine and diclofenac just after a forceps birth.

You can get diclofenac (voltarol) or ibuprofen otc to take in, but only take one or the other not both.