drowsiness / dizziness after surgery

[mrmusicman79]

I just got out of the hospital after having surgery on a mangled hand. Dont want much to discuss the details right now, but I;d like some answers about the meds I received.Its been three days since my surgery and 2 days since my last dose of painkiller (dilaudid, 1mg every 4 hrs I think). Today I'm stillfeeling very tired and a bit dizzy, not too hungry either, just not myself at all. How long will I be like this? I dont mind the 4-6 month wait for my hand to heal, but I;d just like everything else to be back in order, so Icould function as close to normal as possible. This has been very stressful for me.
Thankyou for any advice you can offer.

[Shoreline]

Hey Music, Everyone is going to react differently to different types of anesthesia. 3 days or 4 days post op and still not feeling yourself is pretty normal.

Not taking meds to simply clear you head may be fine, but when it comes to managing the post op pain, there really is no benefit of suffering. If you have gone 24 hours without any pain med, it's not unusual to still need something, perhaps not quite as strong. One of the hydro products would likely work if you not tolerant to these meds.

When it comes time for PT, you will really wish you had pain meds around and without them it can slow your recovery. Using pain meds only for pain and sparingly is not going to turn you into an addict. When we talk about becoming dependent on meds, were talking about chronic pain being treating with pure long acting opiates around the clock for months. Dependence is inevatable for the CP patient using meds around the clock for months, But not post op for a few days or weeks. Especially if you use less and less and move to weaker and weaker meds.

Hope your feeling better soon. My wife has puked for 3 days following surgery from particular anesthetics. It just depends on what they gave you, how long you needed to be out and what kind of recovery time frame and into PT your talking as far as feeling better. Who told you that you would feel good as new in 4 days? It's just not realsistic if you had major recunstruction done, if you only take pain medicine when you need it for pain, Dilaudid only lasts 3-4 hours so it's not like a Dilaudid or Vicodon or percocet today is going to cloud your mind tomorow.The short acting meds have 2-3 hour half-lives meaning by 24 hours, there are just traces in your system and not enough to offer much relief. I would say your doing great if you don't need pain meds 4 days post op.

It's most likely the anesthesia they used that needs to clear your system and it just depends on how much, how long and what kind they used. There are varrious types and degrees of anesthesia from short acting twilight sedation + nerve blocks to deep sedation where you are on a ventilator for a 12 hour surgery.

Good luck, Dave

[mrmusicman79]

I think my surgery lasted about 3 hours. I was extremely dizzy when I first woke up, it was a horrible feeling. I wasnt too nauseated but it messed up my ability to urinate, so they had to use a catheter to get things going again. very unpleasant. It's been 5 days post-op now, I'm certainly feeling more like myself, but still weak, tired, and not able to eat a lot. I have chronic gastritis to start with, so I my meals are very light anyway. My throat is still a bit sore and Im still coughing up some nasty-tasting stuff (from the anesthetic, I guess).
The pain isnt too bad, keeps me awake at night for awhile but not too bad in the daytime. Quite painful though, when I have to do my "exercises" on my stiff finger joints. But I just don;t want to take anymore painkillers at this point. They really didn;t do much for the pain when I was taking them.....
Thanks for the advice, hopefully Ill soon start getting my strength back.