pain med after surger

[olsonkids4]

Just wondering how long people are on the pain meds after surgery.  And for the ones on here that have kids with chiari...what are options for meds.  My  5yr old hates taking any kind of meds.  Has anyone heard of a pain patch for kids or any other advice on how to get him to take them without holding him down.

[FeyShadow]

Just wanted to give a hint or two if giving liquid meds... When my son was young, he had to have liquid meds for gastric problems.  Either mix them in juice (if the meds are berry flavored, add to some grape juice), applesauce, or make a shake/fruit smoothie.  Kids don't fuss if they don't know it's in there!

Scottie

[pdxmomof3boys]

my son had his tonsils out right before my surgery and he is 4 years old. It was a NIGHTMARE to get him to take his meds. He is a big boy and so had to take LOTS of the liquid pain med to ease the pain. It was horrible! Our pediatrician used to give us tablets that we could cut and crush to put in his food, because the flavoring and dye in pain meds used to make him jittery and so hyper it was dangerous, but the surgeon didn't want to since he doesn't react that way to the dye and flavors anymore. That might be an option -- they have pill crushers at the store that's like a plastic mortar and pestle that you just twist back and forth to make it really powdery so it is easily  masked in food...maybe even dissolvable in something like mylanta, which tastes pretty good and helps ease stomach discomfort from pain meds too. You could take advantage of the food disguise and hide it in something that he is comfortable with and enjoys. Lucas is a big boy, and when he hurts he has MORE fight in him! It's like he's so blinded by the pain he swings with arms and legs and is afraid -- with tonsilectomy he was afraid of more pain from swallowing. Every kid is different.

Good luck! It's hard to see kiddos in so much pain! I was only on full doses of pain meds for the first 2 weeks, but I'm 31 and have three young boys that keep me and my darling husband busy. It takes me a bit longer to heal than kids and I'm pretty good at tolerating pain, but wasn't able to sit and rest for too long. I took much smaller doses of muscle relaxers after the first two weeks and only needed the narcotic pain meds once in awhile, especially if I did too much. Everyone is different! But it helps to have several plans of attack in place so that if something isn't working you have backup. One thing I did learn is that if you don't stay ontop of the pain in the first few weeks it gets to be blinding and at that point, it's hard to get it under control again. One of my more horrible ICU nurses taught me that lesson the hard way!

Rosemarie

[soccero]

I am 16 so kind of a kid and in the hospital I had most of my pain meds thru the if because the pills did not help I am 7 months post op and they still have me on pills but I dnt think I'm the " norm"
Molly

[olsonkids4]

you are right Carolyn no easy solution..but we will figure it out.  

Angie..I think his pain is real, he has never liked any medicine at all even for a cold.  He has alot of developmental delays...he doesnt like anything new and I usually have to trick him into trying new things.  Hoping some of his symptoms will ease up after surgery..but I might be wishful thinking...

[*Stormy*]

That's what I was going to say too...after surgery he will probably be too tired to fight..

With mine for any reason, I would quickly tip them back and use a syringe and squirt it into their cheek (so they don't choke) but you do get those that will spit it back at you! Not really an easy solution here, is there?

Carolyn

[angiebaby78]

I don't want to say that they don't do pain patches for kids because I am not sure about that, but I know that most docs don't like to use them because there is no way to monitor dosing.  

I agree with Selma we are all different with our pain tolerances.  I didn't have to take anything once they turned off my pain drips after my decompression surgery.   After my shunt placement I took some IV toradol for a few days and then nothing.  Lastly after my revision I didn't need anything for pain because I felt fantastic and still do.

I guess the other thing I wonder is...if you DD is fighting you so hard when you are trying to give him pain medicine, is he hurting that bad?  Most kids that I work with that are in pain, don't have a whole lot of fight in them.  

If he is hurting, ask the doc about getting meds that can be crushed and put into a small amount of pudding or ice cream...whatever he likes and then just make sure he eats all of it!

Good luck!
Angie

[selmaS]

Hi....everyone will be diff as to how long they r on meds and to which type will even work....I was offered a liquid form of pain meds...but that med did not sit well with my stomach so I opted for a pill....not having a child in this situation I do not know for sure, but I do know that a good pharmacist can mix compounds to help with taste ect.....so talk this over with the dr that u take ur DD to for suggestions and advice on medicating.

"selma"