C section painkiller

[AlexandraMum]

Hi girls, I live in UK and I will go to do the elective c section with my first pregnancy.
I know post operation I have to be in hospital for 3-4 days to ensure the recovery goes well.
However I m not sure what painkillers they give in Uk for c section recovery who does breastfeeding. If you have experience about this I would be very happy to hear from you. What painkillers you had and how did you manage the pain?
Thanks a lot.

Very useful knowledge. Thanks girls. I will go with paracetamol and ibuprofen and I will ask for something stronger when I go home, just in case I need it.

From your answers I see that oramorph it's the most common drug on discharge if you need something extra on top of paracetamol and ibuprofen.

I was out same day and I had oramorph as my pain relief.

I was never even offered oramorph. Just the paracetamol and ibuprofen.

They can put a pain relieving substance in at the end of the surgery to give you longer post-operative pain relief once the spinal has worn off. I found it worked very well and did not find it painful afterwards. They also offer morphine tablets if you want them then more basic painkillers. However this was a while ago but it was NHS.

If you are going to be in a private hospital, discuss it with your consultant beforehand. S/he will reassure you. I had a good array of strong painkillers prescribed by mine! It was a shock when I had my third on the NHS to be discharged with the bare minimum. I ended up going to out of hours I was in so much pain and they have me diclofenac there.

I had paracetamol. I wasn't offered ibruprofen strangely enough! I only took it for the first 48 hours then I was ok without, think I took paracetamol before I went to bed for a few days afterwards so I could sleep a bit better as I was really uncomfortable turning over etc. As PP said weirdly enough I was sent home with dihydracodiene even though I hadn't taken it in the hospital 😳 Mine wasn't elective though it was emergency with some complications during labour (pre-eclampsia) so I was in for 5 days afterwards.

@fastandthecurious Ibuprofen (and diclofenac) are both contraindicated in pre-eclampsia so that’s most likely why they didn’t prescribe it for you.

@Greybeardy ahh thank you for that! It was probably explained to me at the time but I'd had a tough time and don't remember much :)

@AlexandraMum you can have the oramorph in hospital straight after if you need it

@im2sad great news. And I can ask tables to take at home as well?

@im2sad I heard that morphine does not help the uterus to heal and some doctors don't give this pill for this reason. Any of you heard this being true?

I had morphine initially then a combo of anti inflammatory and painkillers.

I had diclofenac and paracetamol. It was enough for me, I was quite dilligent about taking them on schedule though.

I was given paracetamol, ibruprofen and dihydracodiene which I very very much needed for the first 4 days or so. Then dropped the dihydracodiene and once I left (I was in for 10 days) just continued the paracetamol/ibuprofen for another week or so. Everyones pain management is different. I can't imagine some PP saying they weren't in any pain and didn't need anything strong!

Oh and when I missed a few does, it was totally unbearable for me so I had to ensure I was really on top of it the first week. I also found if I had a full bladder it made the pain a lot worse so ensured I went to the toilet really regularly.
Good luck!

First time (not planned , quite a lot of vigorous rummaging), I only had paracetamol/ ibuprofen and it was fine. The earlier you get up and shuffle about the better I believe. Second time, they gave some kind of opiate (oramorph?) and it made me high as a kit and very sick. Puking with a fresh wound was horrific. Refused anything but paracetamol after that - also they expect you to do a poo before you leave hospital so any oramorph / co codamol is only going to make that process more complicated! Good luck!

When I had my c section in 2018 I was discharged 24 hours after surgery. Pain relief was one dose of diclofenac straight after surgery. Following this I had oramorph whenever it was offered. They sent me home with ibuprofen and paracetamol to take every 4 hours.

I'm another one who had diclifenac suppositories and then paracetamol and ibuprofen. I was fine as long I kept taking them. I needed diclifenac and ibuprofen after my vbac!
Ask if you need more painkillers

The oramorph is a liquid shot (not the greatest taste but get it down you quickly).

I go for my csection on Tuesday but mine will be a little different as I need a GA. I was told that I can have a PCA machine next to my bed which is a patient controlled anaesthetic machine - as the pain increases, I can press a button and the machine will pump more into my drip. I've used it before for major spinal surgery and tbh it made me a little spaced out as it was a strong concoction but it works to control the pain.

Can you try some hypnobirthing before you go in? I know it's not a conventional vaginal birth which is what the classes mainly discuss, but I think it might help you to stop focussing on the pain. You're getting worked up about something that hasn't happened yet which will make you tense and anxious and not conducive to good pain management.

I was offered morphine after surgery when the spinal block wore off. I refused it after my second because I reacted badly to it after my first. I was given tramadol with both. Then discharged with paracetamol and ibuprofen.

If you're going private, then you probably won't have this happen, but I'm appalled at home many women are foisted out of hospital 24 hours after major surgery. If you had any other operation, this wouldn't happen. If you need to stay longer, insist that you do. I stayed for 5 days after my first and 4 days after my second. Both NHS hospitals.

I'm in the uk was out within 24 hours and I'm expected to be out within 24 hours second time around. I was given diclafenic at hospital and the told to take pracetemol and brufen at home

@MrMeeseekslookatme

I was offered morphine after surgery when the spinal block wore off. I refused it after my second because I reacted badly to it after my first. I was given tramadol with both. Then discharged with paracetamol and ibuprofen.

If you're going private, then you probably won't have this happen, but I'm appalled at home many women are foisted out of hospital 24 hours after major surgery. If you had any other operation, this wouldn't happen. If you need to stay longer, insist that you do. I stayed for 5 days after my first and 4 days after my second. Both NHS hospitals.

I was happy to go home 12hrs later. And after my 2nd, I wanted to be at home with my eldest. I think if you're in pain still or having problems with recovery, you should of course ask to stay but for many women, they're ready to go home. I was up and about a couple of hours after each Cs and as I said previously, needed no painkillers at all. I was more than ready to go home.

It isn't just women either. My Dad had his hip replaced recently and most of the men on his ward were on a 6hr recovery and went home the same day. The evidence shows that up and about ASAP aids recovery.

[quote AlexandraMum]@im2sad I heard that morphine does not help the uterus to heal and some doctors don't give this pill for this reason. Any of you heard this being true? [/quote]
I’ve been on morphine / other opioids for over 15 years - apart from my emcs I’ve had 7 other surgeries and have never had healing issues or been told it could slow healing. It’s the most common painkiller given after major surgery so I think that’s unlikely to be an issue.

If you had any other operation, this wouldn't happen.

No, in fact for most surgeries you’d be lucky to get an overnight stay at all. I’ve had 9 surgeries in total, only my emcs, gallbladder and one laparoscopy got an overnight stay.