Adrienne,
I would second that about asking your doctor about the pain meds.
One internet site you could use for information about medications is
Drugs.com | Prescription Drugs - Information, Interactions & Side Effects, I found information on there about my medications.
You have to understand that everyone reacts to medication differently, so one person may get relief from one drug and not another. Or the side effects may not be desirable.
Before surgery, I was on percocet as a short-term drug and then oxycontin as a long term medication. So one was short-acting and another long-acting to cover the pain. As soon as I could, I weaned off one drug at a time and didn't have any withdrawal symptoms that I noticed because of getting off of them slowly.
Before I took any medication, I always cleared it with my doctor first. It didn't matter if I had some "extras" in the medicine cabinet, I phoned the doctor first and cleared it with the doctor.
I am allergic to Vicodin and I can tell you that the doc's physician assistant once asked me to take Norco, which is the same drug. I knew that but not everyone would.
So always be alert to what you are taking.
runner