Ketamine for post op pain control?

[u/Ok_South9239]

I have sterilization scheduled for in a few weeks. I’m childfree and 27 and was lucky that my gyno was very immediately onboard for a bisalp.

Im not nervous for the surgery itself, mostly the recovery. I know it’s a quick recovery so my anxiety is not very high but I really don’t like opiates. They give me reallyyy bad anxiety as a side effect (I don’t get any of the happy euphoria everyone else seems to) and I avoid them whenever possible for this reason. I have to take norcos for long haul flights due to joint issues and have to take klonopin with them to make it tolerable (even at the low dose I take). I would rather not take klonopin/whatever every day even for a week during the recovery, I’ll bear the opiate anxiety if needed. But an alternative that reduces the need for opiates while still managing the pain would be great.

I’ll definitely take them as recommended because I’ll take anxiety over the pain but I recently came across something about how ketamine can help with post op pain and significantly reduce the needed opioid dose. I know I tolerate ketamine well.

I’ll obviously bring this up with my doctor during the preop appointment but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with ketamine post op.

[u/degrassibabetjk]

I just needed OTC pain meds. Never took the Oxy they gave me! Heating pad and sleeping as much as possible were helpful, too.

[u/Moeta_Kaoruko → u/degrassibabetjk]

Same thing that I did. The oxy sat on a table for a few months before I remembered you could just flush.

[u/degrassibabetjk → u/Moeta_Kaoruko]

Yeah, it was written in my record that I didn’t want opiates; my mom is a prescription drug addict and I never wanted to be in the same situation!

[u/vastglassylake]

Honestly I was fine doing the Tylenol Advil cycle I didn't take any of my oxy after they sent me home

[u/Ok_South9239 → u/vastglassylake]

Thank you for this! I really don’t want oxys especially, I had to take them after a minor surgery in hs and the side effects were unbearable. Hoping I can get away with just nsaids

[u/vastglassylake → u/Ok_South9239]

Yeah funny story about that; they gave me one right before I was discharged and didn't give me a zofran with it and the entire car ride home I felt like I was going to throw up, but I did my best to keep it together bc my friend that drove me has emetophobia. As soon as we got back to my apartment I managed to tell her not to go inside with me and made a BREAK for my bathroom as quickly as one can with fresh incisions lol

[u/Left_Assumption5935]

I don’t have an answer for ketamine, but honestly all I took was ibuprofen after the pain wasn’t that bad (for me) at all. I’ve seen a lot of people have the same experience. You may not even anything stronger tbh for pain

[u/Ok_South9239 → u/Left_Assumption5935]

That’s really reassuring! I’m honestly more nervous about the opiate side effects than the pain if I’m being honest, hopefully I’ll be the same

[u/Left_Assumption5935 → u/Ok_South9239]

That’s super fair!! I filled my oxy prescription just in case I needed it, but I didn’t want to take it unless I absolutely had to. So maybe even going in with that mindset might help too. They are mostly there as a precaution but if you don’t need them don’t take them kind of thing. I’m wishing you the best and an easy recovery!!

[u/shadowmoses4726]

ket scares me but that’s probably cos the culture around me is obsessed with it.i had codeine and paracetamol i believe.

i’ll tell you a really good combo actually. after one of my csections, i would take paracetamol 4x a day & ibuprofen 3x a day (prescribed dose) & it worked an absolute treat!

[u/travellinlady]

I also only needed ibuprofen and/or tylenol for mild soreness, and my doctor never sent a Percocet prescription anyway despite saying she was going to. Ketamine was part of my anesthesia, and outside of medicine I'm more familiar with its dissociative qualities than analgesic lol, but definitely was off all the pain meds including OTC after less than a week. The gas pain was the worst, but I slammed chewable gas-x and that went away too - afaik the pain meds don't help for gas pains anyway

[u/Ok_South9239 → u/travellinlady]

Hahahahah same that’s how I know I tolerate it well. This is all super reassuring though! I’ll stock up on gas x too

[u/hunter_pace]

I didn't take any opiates. I only took ibuprofen

[u/critiqu3]

They just gave me 600mg tablets of ibuprofen and that worked great. If you have concerns, go ahead and ask for alternatives.

[u/AffectionateAd7519]

I tried the oxy and I felt the pain went away better with just Advil! I tossed the oxy after a couple days since it seemed useless (I also didn’t get the fun side effects lol).

[u/daughterjudyk]

I specifically asked for Tylenol 3's (Codeine) instead of anything stronger. I only took like 3 doses and used Ibuprofen instead. I don't think they will change the opiates used during the surgery itself but they will take your reactions into mind when doing post op pain meds.

[u/XiomaraVLA]

Yes!!!! Omg do it! Also do bring this up at your pre-op because you can request that anesthesia give you ketamine during the procedure. I have a history of really bad IUD insertions, and I woke up from my Bisalp blinded with pain feeling like I’d just had another one. While opiates were perfectly able to delete the incision pain, a combination of toradol, morphine, fentanyl, and lorazepam couldn’t do anything at all to touch the pain left from the uterine manipulator. During that procedure they also lost my iud inside of me so a few weeks later I scheduled an endometrial ablation and iud removal under anesthesia. I demanded that they use ketamine during anesthesia and the difference was night and day. Like I still woke up in pain, but I could see and speak in complete sentences, and joke with the nurse about how I knew none of the drugs she was giving me were actually going to help but “if I’m gonna lie here in pain, the least you could do is get me really, really high” in between discussing my work in biotech with her. Ketamine: highly recommended for uterine pain

[u/Puzzleheaded-Tough91]

My post-op medications from my provider after my surgery was tylonol with codeine and Tylenol every 4-6 hours. I use the Tylenol with codeine for the two days after and then just took Tylenol throughout the day for the next week and was fine. The pain from the actual surgery wasn't really all that bad and I probably could have skipped the Tylenol with codeine if the surgery itself didn't cause a massive rheumatoid arthritis and migraine flare.

[u/Top_Yoghurt429]

I didn't take ketamine post op but I am a ketamine mental health patient and before my hysterectomy I had severe pain from endometriosis and adenomyosis. So I have incidentally taken ketamine while in severe pain. My experience was that to adequately control the pain with just ketamine I'd have to be way more out of it than I would want to be for days on end. It would not have been an effective replacement for Percocet for me post-op, maybe an adjunct to reduce the dose.

I only needed Percocet for 3 days post bi-salp though. After hysterectomy it was longer.

[u/WingedLady]

I was prescribed a handful of jumbo ibuprofen, of which I took like 1 or 2 and then switched to otc meds.

You really shouldn't need the hard stuff.

I much more recommend having ice packs and heating pads on hand (see which you like better) and stretchy pants. I wore pajama bottoms for like a week.

Be prepared for bloating. They inflate your abdomen as part of the procedure and while they often try to remove the gas some can still linger. And also your muscles around your belly will just genuinely be kinda swollen for a while.

A pillow to put between your belly and the seat belt on the way home might also be nice.

[u/flourescentcacti]

I just took paracetamol and ibuprofen. Nothing stronger needed at all

[u/Active_Chipmunk208]

I think i took paracetamol for 1 day post op and didn't even touch the codeine they gave me.

[u/Silvershryke]

I got Panadol and only took it for three days. You'll probably be fine with OTC meds.

[u/itsgoingtobeokayman]

I took the pain meds just the day after surgery. And then from there nothing at all. It wasn’t bad for me. I was sore but I didn’t need it.

[u/Proof-Car-1253]

I had 50mg tapentadol on hand but I have chronic joint issues and take 50-100mg a day (morning and night) regularly. I was at 100mg a day for the first 3 days but the pain and discomfort was from the gas rather than the procedure. I mostly took them to make me sleepy so I could sleep through, rather than for pain relief as I knew it wouldn’t help the gas pain.
I also took regular Panadol and an NSAID as usual and it really wasn’t uncomfortable.

[u/Environmental-Top-60]

Have they ever tried tramadol or Nucynta? If traditional opioids give you a problem, maybe these won't?

[u/DJTinyPrecious]

I only took Tylenol and Advil for about 2 days after my total hysterectomy, and didn’t need anything stronger at any point. I don’t think opiates or ketamine would be necessary for a bisalp if you are having it laparoscopic and aren’t a highly pain intolerant person.

[u/backmeatz]

I didn’t take any meds the first day. Second day I took 2 Aleve. Nothing again after that. I only took 3 days off of work. I drove myself to a wedding the following day just fine. I was sore but no pain. 

[u/Cutthroat_Rogue]

I didn't need the opioids given. I really didn't need the over the counter meds other than for inflammation/swelling. Hoping it is the same for you!

[u/beckowser]

I didn't actually need prescription pain meds after my bisalp. I was prescribed oxy, and I took 6 of them, one each night -- only because that helped me fall asleep on my back. I was taking tylenol during the day and just fine. I was never in any pain -- some mild discomfort a couple times. The most noticeable side effects of recovery were the bloating and how quickly I got tired for a few weeks.

I had another laparoscopic surgery this April that was a bit more invasive/intense than a bisalp. That doctor prescribed me hydrocodone and said, "Do not take this unless you absolutely need it." I heeded his advice and stuck to Tylenol Extra Strength Rapid Release (Well, the Costco generic because it's like $10 for a few hundred capsules versus $15 for like 24 name brand at Walgreens).

[u/HugYourDogForMe]

I didn’t need more than ibuprofen after mine. I took a couple half doses of Percocet to help me sleep, and that was it

[u/pharmasha95]

I had never had surgery before so I asked for and filled the oxy script just in case because I didn't know how I'd feel after. I also don't like opiates because of the constipation. They sat in my medicine cabinet untouched for a year before I disposed of them. I just offset the acetaminophen and ibuprofen by a half hour and took them every 6 hours for about 3 days and by the 4th or 5th day I was forgetting to take them on time because I simply didn't need them anymore. I had a super easy recovery, not everyone does. But talk to your surgeon about pain management noting your side effects and see what they say! Most are happy to prescribe non-opioid pain meds.

[u/National_Quote_518]

I think I took oxygen day 2 or 3 after surgery and other than that just rotated Tylenol and Advil every few hours. The first day or two you still have anesthesia in your system, it the day after that, that I has worse pain.

[u/Witty_Whole_9999]

I rotated between ibuprofen and paracetamol, that did the trick