Alright this weird question #2 for me today, but here goes. Can anyone shed light on what kind of painkillers you typically get following LIS?
Is it mild opiates like codeine or hydrocodone (Vicodin), or do they give you the bigger guns like oxycodone (Percocet/Oxycontin), morphine, or hydromorphone? Or do they usually use some other stuff altogether?
I guess as I get closer to saying "enough is enough" and scheduling LIS, I'm just trying to visualize what the entire process is like, from beginning to end. I've never had surgery of any kind before and don't know what level of pain I should expect. Part of me is scared that I'll turn out to be a huge sissy and whatever painkillers I get won't be strong enough.
And I do realize that I'm an enormous wuss for even asking this question, especially considering that my wife has had two much bigger surgeries (gallbladder removal and a C-section) and that lots of folks here have gone through childbirth or other operations. I'm just kind of anxious and obsessive about the whole thing I guess since I'm new to it all.

Good question NG..
This is something i'd also like to know, I don't really like taking tablets as a rule, infact I rarely take painkillers so the thought of some "Industrial strength" ones worries me a little, I would try and go it without the meds if I can, obviously this depends on the level of pain and lets face it, none of us are strangers to agonizing pain.
NG, my wife has had both cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) and C section, what a coincidence LOL.. She's braver than me, I admit it, I always tell her that she's strong, it amazes me just how much.

Wow, NG and Steve, you two are discovering that you are both more alike than different!!

Hi - As a LIS Veterian.....
I was given after both my Operations....
DiHydroCodiene - High Strength &
500MG Paracetemol Tablets - 100!
I need to catch up with my GF (Started new Job today) So will reply with more maybe later....
Jason

I was prescribed Tylenol+Codein first time and Dervocet (sp?) second time .
Needed ONE tablet first time - actually not needed , but was advised to take on as soon as I come home. Since pain was negligible I took plain Tylenol for the next couple of days.
Second time I had 7 cuts done - so more pain , of course. Took Dervocet (sp.?) maybe 2 -3 pills a day for maybe 5... 6 days and some Vallium to relax my spasms (my butt got into the shock due to so much cutting).
After that first week started with plain Tylenol for one more week and than did not need any ...
Healed my 7 cuts in 8 week period.
Hope it helps.
PS: BTW - most people are in LESS pain after the LIS , as you can read from recent posts

Right...An Update....
DiHydroCodiene was advised to take Twice a Day for Two Weeks - Be warned! - This will 'Clog' BM UP!
Effective but was too dangerous to continue using.
Paracetemol was slightly effective but not overally.
The Hospital also stocked my Cupboards up with Lactulose and Fibregel.
To be honest, even with the painkillers and that, It was still almost a week before I was 'Up and About'.

Oh man hrm ok thanks guys. If I get LIS I think I'll talk to the doc first about something stronger. I already take oxycodone and tylenol + codeine sometimes for my chronic chest pain (some kind of chronic inflammation of the sternomanubrial joint) and it doesn't do much for fissure discomfort.
I guess I either have really low pain tolerance or really high drug tolerance, one or the other. When I had my colonoscopy, I woke up in the middle of the procedure (thus my exam was incomplete) even though the doctor told me he gave me 5x the normal amount of Versed and Fentanyl, so I'd like to think the latter :) But I guess it's possible that I'm just a huge sissy lol.
Anyhow thanks, this gives me some info to discuss with the surgeon if and when I get to the point of surgery.

BTW Steve, I'm actually more comfortable with the industrial strength ones myself :) What I don't want is some weak stuff that doesn't adequately kill the pain. Codeine barely does anything for me, and hydrocodone just provides moderate relief. Oxycodone is a lot more effective for me, and I got morphine sulfate in the hospital once, and now that was a painkiller :)
I think I could deal with a gallbladder removal operation, but a C-section I don't think I could handle. I think for me a lot of it is psychological. The gallbladder one can be done laparoscopically, which seems less psychologically disturbing to me than the cuts used in a C-section. LIS just seems disturbing, I think, because my butt is now mostly past the point of MAJOR INCREDIBLE pain, and I'm afraid it will revert to that following surgery.

If it can give you any comfort - nobody ever on this forum was in a worse pain after the LIS then during acute fissure period , as far as I can remember :roll:
Actually it was the same story, over and over again : "yeaaayyy...can't believe I was dreading this so much LOL....I felt so much better as soon as I woke up...blah blah blah LOL " , so yeah ... I think that you are more afraid of the "idea" of somebody cutting you ; ) , than actual pain since you already went through the worst pain there could be :roll:

That's good to know Fiss :) I'm definitely getting close to the breaking point. The discomfort these days is manageable but I'm just tired of it. It'll be my fissure's 1 year birth this May. When it all started, I swore I'd do whatever it took to get rid of the stupid thing, but now here it is almost one year later and I'm still wrestling with it
BTW I have another silly question for you. Since I may (not 100% sure yet but leaning strongly that way) get LIS from the same CRS as you did, do you know how many follow-up appointments there usually are? I guess it will depend on the case but just a general idea would be okay. As you already know it's a bit of a drive and I have kind of a complicated situation at home right now, so I'm trying to see how I could work out the logistics. Also, what exactly do they do at the follow-ups? Do they do things like anuscopies or do they just kind of look inside without a scope?