Withdrawal from pain relief

[Sweetpea86]

Hi sorry for stupid question, I had a c section 19 days ago and when leaving hospital I was giving a course of codine, ibuprofen and paracetamol. The codine course finished Tuesday night and late last night I started feeling ill. I've hardly slept ( I know I have a new born but he only is awake for 2 feeds during night) my joints and muscles are in agony and my skin is sore and irritated. And have the worst headaches ever.

Really worried I never have really took any thing other than paracetamol and the odd ibuprofen.

Has any one had this problem. Don't know how I'm going I to get through the day :(

You wouldn't normally become addicted to codeine that quickly - it's normally a longer term thing, but I suppose it depends how much you've been taking. Codeine does make you sleepy though, so you may just be reverting back to a 'normal' state with a newborn where you're hyper-alert and also in pain/discomfort and now you have nothing to make you sleep. Hopefully it'll pass quickly - is there anything safe to take to help you sleep if you're breastfeeding? Maybe speak to your GP/midwife about that... Hope you feel better soon.

If you're still feeling rough post-CS then contact your midwife right away. There's no need for you to suffer, it's not a normal part of recovery and may be a sign of something like an infection so don't soldier on.

On a slightly different note, I found peppermint tea really helped with post-op wind as well as keeping me well hydrated.