Decreased pain med and feeling down and irritable.

I am 10 days post op and decreased my pain medication from every four hours to only at night. I started feeling really down, irritable and really out of sorts. I'm getting ready for bed so I took my medication, as directed by the doctor. I feel so much better now but I find it worrisome that I would have such a reaction to decreasing it. I hope it doesn't mean that when I go off of it completely I'm going to have an emotional melt down. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, what did you do about it??

I didn't take any pain meds post op.  My Dr did not give them to me because of my sleep apnea.  But, I would recommend trying to come off the narcotics.  There are a lot of horemones stored in your fat cells. As your fat melts away, the horemones get released causing some moodiness.  I was depressed for about a week or so.  Hang in there. 

Yeah, that makes sense. I am coming off of them but I personally could not imagine not having the pain medications after this surgery. I work in the health field and have seen many people get addicted. I am thinking about calling the doctor or nurse practitioner tomorrow to run it by them. I also noticed that about half hour after taking it my stomach loosened up and I could eat again. So weird! For the past 6 hours I've been walking around saying "I'm so full, I'm so full!" and all I had eaten today was half a yogurt, half a jello, and drank about 20 oz of water so I new I couldn't actually be that full, right?? Narcotics sure are powerful on the body. As a side note, and maybe TMI, after not having a "cycle" for about two years I have suddenly started again so I'm sure that has impacted my mood also. Thanks for sharing your experiences, very helpful!

Yes, I do remember feeling this way as well.  However, what I discovered is that what I worried about never materialized, as is generally the case with most those things we worry about...

I think as long as you are decreasing the meds slowly rather than all at once, you're likely feeling the worst of it right now.  Also, in addition to the decrease in the medications, your hormones are also likely in high gear, and I also think the anesthesia tends to do a little bit of an emotional job on us as well.

What to do, white knuckle it and trust that this, too, will pass...

Welcome to the losers bench!! 

you might be trying to wean off the pain med too soon. if you are hurting,take the meds *as prescribed*. it is people who don't take the med as prescribed that often get in trouble with addiction.

Unresolved pain cn hamper your recovery and you are already seeing tht pain is causing you to close up and not be able to eat. 10 days out is still early and I wouldn't push myself that much if I was you.

It is not unusual to still have pain 3 week later. Some do some don't.

take care

Narcotic pain medication causes euphoria.  So, when you stop them, so does that false euphoria.  It will take several days to a week for you to find your own natural feeling of well-being.  To jump-start your own mental well-being, take lots of walks.  Exercise will release endorphins which will create that well-being and happiness you are currently lacking. 

Wishing you well!!

I am so grateful for all of this feedback! I decided to take a walk at a local green house for beautiful scenery and healing. It is weird to not feel hungry.

If you're in pain, take the meds.  For the first week or so after surgery I needed them at night so I could sleep, and if I overdid it during the day I would hit a wall at about 5PM and need them then, too.  And like you, sometimes after surgery I could only eat if I WASN'T in pain.

And narcotics don't cause euphoria in everyone.  They don't in me.  They just knock me out.  I take them occasionally for really horrid migraines (the kind that make me daydream about guillotines.) I have never been "high" in any sense of the word.

You won't get addicted if you ONLY take them for pain.  And if you're in pain there's no reason to be a martyr.  That's what the meds are there for.

Thank you for the encouragement. One day at a time I guess.

Don't worry about it - first, there are hormones released as you lose weight rapidly plus anytime you have major surgery with complete anesthesia you can be moody for quite some time afterwards. Duke's shrink told us we might have depression, mood swings, irritability, etc. post-op so I was prepared for it . . . but I'm not sure my husband was lol