Do not ever take these "pain meds, i.e. oxycodone and other strong opiods. Doctors hand them out like Kleenex. Many surgeons prescribe them routinely, even for very minor surgeries, before the patient even mentions having any pain. DO NOT TAKE THEM unless you are actively dying of cancer or some other incurable condition.
If you are hospitalized, do not allow these medications to be given to you except upon your request, for each administration, when the pain is excruciating and other medications and pain control measures have been tried and failed. I remember being in the hospital after a surgery and a nurse arguing with me that I need to get these drugs (by IV) because it's important to "head off the pain". I didn't have any pain that required any medication at all -- not even aspirin or tylenol -- and I never developed any such pain from that surgery.
Do not ever take these "pain meds, i.e. oxycodone and other strong opiods. Doctors hand them out like Kleenex. Many surgeons prescribe them routinely, even for very minor surgeries, before the patient even mentions having any pain. DO NOT TAKE THEM unless you are actively dying of cancer or some other incurable condition.
If you are hospitalized, do not allow these medications to be given to you except upon your request, for each administration, when the pain is excruciating and other medications and pain control measures have been tried and failed. I remember being in the hospital after a surgery and a nurse arguing with me that I need to get these drugs (by IV) because it's important to "head off the pain". I didn't have any pain that required any medication at all -- not even aspirin or tylenol -- and I never developed any such pain from that surgery.