Future Pain Management

Looking for some insight on future pain management in regards to arthritis.  I had a visit with a podiatrist today and after learning that I had had RNY surgery shook his head and said "They told you that you couldn't take anything for pain, didn't they?" referring to anti-imflamatory drugs.  Arthritis runs in my family and I am concerned that I won't be able to treat the pain effectively as I grow older.  Are there any post-ops who are dealing with arthritis?  How are you managing the pain?  Just curious, as I am not having problems at this time. Thanks

I'm 51, soon to be a post-op, and developed osteoarthritis in my right hip out of the blue about a year ago. PT and NSAIDs (piroxicam) took care of the pain and limp, and to be honest, I was disappointed about having to abandon NSAIDs post-op.  Having stopped them 3 weeks pre-op, I guess that I can say one thing so far--Tylenol (acetaminophen) isn't anywhere near as good as a gen-u-ine NSAID, but it's a hell of a lot better than nothing at all.  Right now, I'm hoping that weight loss and perhaps another session of PT will make the pain go away, and the diagnosis effectively disappear.  We'll see.

check my post on this topic Russ

Hey Stuart... Don;t give up hope yet...as some docs do not allow nsaids my doc perscribed them..on day one in the hospital... My gastric surgeon as also taken out my GB, and did 2 hernia repais...after WLS, and has each time given ibuprophen as the pain reliver... In our support groups we have quizzed several surgeons who have spoken, and it seems that if you stomach can handle nsaids before wls, you can handle hem post wls...likewise..if you were prone to ulcers...nsaids are out of the question.. talk with the surgeon...not the nurse...and tell him your concerns...it could be yes , no or something in the middle... good luck Russ

My surgeon initially said to avoid nsaids but has since said that he is not at all worried about occasional use so long as my previous history indicated no problems with them.

I've taken Aleve (OTC naproxen sodium; Naprosyn) on several different occasions, all short term, since surgery without a problem. A lot of the post-op taboos we have are overly broad and err on the side of caution. That said, don't break a taboo without medical advice/monitoring.