Anti-inflammtory drugs

Hi,

I am 14 years post op and recently had arthroscopic knee surgery.  Does anyone know of anything I can take for swelling?  I am aware I can't take any oral anti-inflammatory drugs and Tylenol is NOT helping.

Any suggestions will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Robin

this is a question to ask your surgeon. Recommendations from us could be risky. 

Thank you

There are some herbal combination that work long term.  They are slow to start working and they have to be taken longer terms. Things like ginger, turmeric, boswellia, etc etc etc.... Unfortunately some available OTC in most stores- like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc..Are totally useless.  

Knowing the company that makes it and making sure the herbal stuff is not old makes s difference. I personally use Gaia Herb brand.  Plus a few others that I know from experience. 

For a quick relief - I found icing works great. 20 min ice - 40 min no ice, repeat 3 times. 

Acupuncture works great for me. And tense units- little electric stimulation electrodes . 

Ice is my new best friend but it really doesn't help.  Thank you

Robin

What Gwen said.  Because there is some evidence that even transdermal or IV NSAIDS can cause health problems post-RnY.  I've personally used a Flector patch, but that was back when I thought only oral meds could cause ulcers and such. 

It sucks because NSAIDS work better than narcotics with swelling and such.  If you recently had knee surgery I can't imagine why they are restricting you to Tylenol only?  I totally believe that they are, but all of my docs have prescribed opiates for me with no problems when they realized I can't use NSAIDS.  Will they consider giving you a pain patch such as Fentanyl? Or maybe you can do your follow up with a doc who is a bit more understanding?

I can't even get my head around how much you must be hurting right now.  It makes me sad when people are left to suffer. What passes for pain control in this country is shameful. 

Good luck; I hope the pain is over soon.

I have found my doctors will always provide me with a narcotic of some sort following surgery like this. At one point my doctor prescribed a fentanyl patch for my back pain. Starting that was the absolute worst decision of my life. They are very strong but what is worse is that I found that it took nearly 24 hours for it to start working, it would work great for 24 hours and then I went into the worst withdrawals until I could put the next patch on 24 for hours later. So I was constantly either zoned out or suffering from withdrawal.

i used the patch at 50mc for 3 months and had decided after the first 4 weeks that I needed to get rid of these horrible things. It took 2 full months to wean me off of them. The entire time I was either sick from withdrawing or sleeping because of the strength.

seriously will never allow a doctor to put me back on that stuff. i had one of my doctors tell me this drug is meant for end stage dying patients and should never be given for a acute surgical situation nor a chronic pain patient. 

Then in again I have trouble with pain killers. I am very sensitive and get migraines if they are too strong so surgeons struggle and end up asking me what works best. For me Dilaudid which is very strong for right after surgery and then norco if it is something mild. 

'I hate narcotics so I tend to get off them as quickly as possible.

Thanks...my doctor gave me Norco and its too strong so I take 1/2 and 2 Tylenol.  Hopefully this is the start of week 3 and things will get better.

Robin

I would be very very careful taking tylenol with norco unless your doctor told you to do so. Norco has tylenol in it and you can very easily overdose on tylenol. I know that doesn't sound scary but trust me it is. 

In December my sister n law combined Percocet and tylenol. Apparently she had a lot of pain one day and took too much. She started feeling awful and thenext morning asked hubby to take her to the er. She walked in at 11:00am and by 7:00pm she was on life support.

we were told she needed a new liver immediately or she would die. They gave her a 10% chance of surviving the night. Thankfully she did and wwe we're informed the next day that she did not qualify for a new liver because there was fluid around her heart and she would not survive the surgery. We were then told she had to fight hard and her liver might come back.

thiss all happened in early December, she was in the icu on life support for 4 weeks and finally things started to improve. Her liver came back but her kidneys did not. They sent her to a care facility where she had to rehab.

this last Tuesday she came home from the hospital however her kidneys do not function and she has to have dialysis Everett other day for 4 hours a day.

when this happened my hubby and I started researching how often this occurs and it is frightening how quickly it can happen.

please be careful and don't mix norco with tylenol unless your doctor gave you very specific instructions.

It was my surgeons idea for me to take 1/2 a Norco and 1 Tylenol .  I can't do pain meds either, most have asa which being a weight loss surgery patient I can't take!

its terrible being in pain and there is nothing I can take,

Things seem better today and I have been icing all day, tomorrow I have PT and it always help

i appreciate your reply 

robin