Pain Problem!

I had a dental implant put in this week. It's not suppose to cause a lot of pain after the procedure, but of course I had complicatons which made mine worse than normal. The Peridonist said I had the toughest bone he'd ever encountered, thus it kept breaking off the drill bits, etc. Bottom line I have a considerable amount of pain. The pain is releived by Extra Strength Tylenol for about 2 1/2 hours, then it's back. I know I'm not supposed to take the next dose for 4 hours but this isn't pleasant. I've heard of people ending up in the hospital from over dosing on Tylenol so I am a bit concerned about taking them every 2 1/2 hours. Questions: (1) Does anybody know how many of the Extra Strength Tylenol (500 Mg) I can take in a day without causing health problems? (2) Would our mal-absorbtion problem cause the Tylenol not to last the 4 hours until the next dose should be taken? I know call my dentist/doctor but I thought someone could give me their thoughts until I can get through to one of them.

You might think about a small prescription of Vicoden or similar. Dentists usually will prescribe enough for a couple days after such dental work, and it works wonders. The maximum dosage per day is really a personal issue, but a 'safe' amount would be on the bottle. I don't think malabsorbtion would affect the tylenol, but then again, we're all different and for you it may, or it may be that it simply doesn't work on such significant pain for long enough Tek

Pat, I'd recommend going with the label On any 'Over-the-counter' meds. If it'll keep them from getting sued, It'll more than likely be safe for you. I don't know how malabsorption affects it. I'd call the Dentist and get a short-term Pain Med that will work for you. Hope you're feeling better soon. Best Wishes- Dx

Pat, I'm so sorry that you are in such pain. I really think malabsorption "could" be the issue OR it could be that you need a stronger pain med to deal with this. My dentist has prescribed Tylenol with codeine on a couple of procedures I have had in the past. It really helped whereas regular Tylenol didn't touch the pain. Hope you feel better soon. Mary

The dentist was out of the office this morning, but called in a prescription when he arrived. I picked it up at lunch time and took one. It helped with the pain, now we'll see if it last longer than the Tylenol. Thanks for your concern.

Pat, I've noticed since having my RNY that pain meds work faster and don't last as long as they did pre-op. My body just metabolizes them faster than it used to. Tylenol never worked for me before, and it still doesn't so I don't even try it anymore. There is no reason for you to be in so much pain. I would try to get a prescription from the dentist for a day or two. There's lots of good stuff out there that we can take. Linn

The dentist was out of the office this morning. He called in a prescription for Hydrocodone when he came in and I've already taken one. I think this is going to do the trick. He said the pain should be better by tomorrow but the 2nd (Wed) and 3rd (Thur) days are usually the worst. It seems he would have given me a prescription the day the work was done in case I needed something. Guess they don't like giving out pain pills unless the person really needs them. Thanks for caring.

Pat, I'm glad you got the Hydrocodone called in for the pain. In regards to your initial question about Tylenol, the maximum safe dose in a 24 hour period is 4000 mg of Tylenol. Eileen p.s. Hope you feel better soon!!

Anyone else find that vicodin and darvocett do absolutely nothing for them? (ever, pre or post-op) I'd take advil any day of the week over either.

I think I've answered everybody's post on the board or by e-mail. If not please accept my gratitude for your answers. Today is the third day after my dental implant, it still hurts like the devil. The dentist said the second & third days are the worst so hopefully tomorrow will be better. He is surprised at the amount of pain I am experiencing since most people find it uncomfortable but not painful. The same periodonist did two implants for my brother-in-law a few months ago. He described the pain as a 3-4 on the pain scale, mine is easily an 8. The dentist did say there were complications with mine that would make the pain worse but he didn't think it would be this bad. Normally I have a high tolerance to pain, only took 2 pain pills after combination gallbladder & wls for example. Now I'm taking pain pills every 2 hours and still in pain. Tomorrow is another day and hopefull will bring less pain. Hope everybody has a great weekend.