I am scheduled to be banded on August 13th. I can't take Vicodin or anything with hydrocodone. You see I had to take Narco's for 5 months after shoulder surgery and went through some serious withdrawals even after weaning off of them slowly. My PCP advised me to not take them again. Does anyone know of an alternative pain medicine? I am thinking about seeing my PCP again before surgery to see if it would be okay to take it just for a few days but I probably already know the answer.

After the birth of my son I took something called Arnica Montana. It is usually a gel for sprains and strains. It helps with swelling and bruising. They also make a pill form. They are teeny tiny pills. I only needed one dose after the birth of my son and I felt great. Of course I had a very easy, all natural delivery but it may help. I'm planning on taking it after my banding surgery as well.

Hope that helps!

Good luck

How about tramadol (brand name Ultram)? It's an opiate, but less addictive than narcotics like VIcodin. I take it daily for chronic pain (fibro & myofascial pain syndrome). It doesn't make me high and I haven't had an side effects. I'm probably habituated to it and would have to be careful weaning off it, but it's been working well for over a year and I haven't needed to increase the dose.

I got liquid morphine, and it worked wonderfully. Initially, I was on liquid codeine, but it didn't handle all of my pain, and I wound up back at the hospital a few days later, where I was prescribed the morphine. I only had to take 3cc's at a time, which was 1/3 of the max dose they said I could safely take at home.

I did get stoned from it though, so if you are prone to abuse/withdrawal stuff, maybe it wouldn't be a good option either.

Have any of you ever used Ultracet? It is a tramadol/acetaminophen combo. I took darvocet when I had my gall bladder surgery 10 years ago. But I know we can't get that anymore.

I haven't used Ultracet, but the doctor who prescribes my tramadol says that when you take the two meds together, it "boosts" the pain relieving effect.