Sarah,
It is a real red flag when i hear doctors trying to get patients to go down to a medication like Tylenol one week post-op. My spine doctor (neuro) let me taper off pain medications slowly and when I started getting an increase in pain at six months post-op ADR surgery, he said I could start taking narcotics again. I haven't had a problem with medications with him which really makes me more relaxed knowing that I don't have to justify my pain levels to my doctor.
I read that only three percent of people who take medications for pain have a problem with addiction. We might become tolerant to medications as a natural physiological process but we take medications for pain and not for the "high". Actually, pain meds do not give me a high at all, they just help the pain.
I did go to an orthopaedic surgeon before my surgery that told me he wanted me to get off pain medication 30 days after fusion surgery and that really made bells go off in my head, knowing that is kind of a blanket statement about pain and pain medication.
That turned me off that doctor. Plus the fact that he dismissed ADRs.
I would tell your doctor: "Don't you think I will heal better with my pain under control?" and "Isn't it important to taper off these medications slowly?"
These are two legitimate questions that a doctor should be able to address.
If he balks, maybe get some info off the internet about pain control and healing. Everyone heals on their own schedule and pain is subjective. Your pain is your pain and if you need to control it, that is your right as a patient. Any doctor that does not try to help you control pain, is not a good doctor.
runner
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