Pain relief after a caesar

[alexsdad]

Hi everyone,

My wife had a caesar on Monday and since she and little Alex are doing so well they let us all go home early.
My wife is still feeling a bit of pain. The hospital gave us a packet of di-gesic which she can take every 6 hours, but they arent really getting her all the way through.
We are a little worried about taking too much as we dont want it to get in to our baby girl through the breast milk.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I dont think she will need pain relief for too much longer as she seems to be improving quite quickly, but I dont like to see her in pain either - watching the pain my wife is going through feeding bubs breaks my heart as it is!
We've been supplementing the di-gesic with some regular panadol so far but she is still getting sore.

Thanks
Jim

[Nai]

I was given voltaren and panadol to take for 2 weeks after both of my c/s. The main thing is to make sure that the pain relief is taken regularly as once the pain is felt it is harder to manage. I would take my drugs at aleternate intervals eg. take voltaren, then 3 hrs later take panadol, then 3 hours later take voltaren etc.

Also ensure that she is resting completely - if she is uncomfortable she shouldn't be moving around too much or lifting anything at all. Even things like you bringing the baby to her and making sure she doesn't do anything for 2 weeks after the c/s will help her recovery.

[Camme~Lot]

I think she can have something with codeine in it? Go to the pharmacy and see if they can recommend something. I remember I needed codeine after my first one, but not my second.

[Mishca]

Jim, I was on panadine Forte for 4 weeks after my c/s with my first child and I was breastfeeding. If she calls her OB they should give her a script for it, or if shes not comfortable taking that just Panadine is ok. I hope she feels better soon. Congrats on your baby girl!

[STARRYSKY]

hi, congratulations to you and your wife!
I was put on endone 10mg 2, 3x a day, paracetamol 2 every 4 hrs and voltaren every 6 hrs, from birth, then sent home (after 5 days) with enough to last a week. was told to see gp for repeat rxs.
mind you, i didnt like the way the endone made me, I was soooo out of it, and still in pain.
when I saw my gp, he told me that ibuprofen was a better anti inflammatory to take in regards to breastfeeding, (gave me a rx for brufen, which is 400mg tabs as opposed to nurofen which is 200mg) as i said before i didnt like the endone so I weaned myself off and started taking paracetamol and codeine tabs (with 10mg codeine, a little stronger than normal panadeine but not so strong as the forte) and that was manageable.
I did have a lot of pain, and the breastfeeding didnt help (with cx and so forth) i also got an infection which probably contributed to the amount of pain I was in.
see your gp, or alternatively see if the hospital has a womens clinic or post natal service where she could go to discuss her pain management options. its not fair for her to have to suffer when you both should be enjoying this time time in your life to its full extent!
once again congratulations, and i hope your wife will be feeling a lot better very soon.
xx

[Lukesmum]

Congratulations on the arrival of your little girl. I took Panadine Forte for about 10 days after both my c-sections and I was breastfeeding. I had to go to a gp to get the prescription. It made such a difference. Straight panadol didn't work for me at all. I would definately pop into a gp and get some stronger pain relief. Your wife will feel so much better. Keep taking it when scheduled. If you miss one and then take it again when the pain is worse it takes longer to get the pain back under control again.

[kelebek]

Congragulations on the birth of your little girl

If you can't get into a chemist or dr today because of the public holiday, try calling the hospital to see if you can pick and get the pain relief for your wife.

I was breastfeeding and on Ponstan and panadiene for about 2 weeks after the my ceaser. The first week I was taking it alternatively every 2/3 hours. As someone else said it is important in that first week to take it regularly even if she doesn't feel like it cause with surgical pain it is better to stay on top of the pain relief then to catch up so to speak. The 2nd week I didn't always have the panediene and occasionaly used panadol.

If you are worried about constipation (sorry if TMI but codiene can cause that) try and get something like metamucil (sp) and lots of vegetables etc... which is all good for producing milk anyway.

HTH

[jackrose]

Congratulations on the new addition to the family!!

I just wanted to second the advice on the metamucil.... not everyone reacts to codeine with constipation but if your wife does... it is not a pleasant situation to be in! Often the effects of the abdominal surgery with a CS can cause digestive disruption which is then made worse by some medications so take njd's advice to avoid any possible complications !

[~Kim~]

Indocid suppositories will give 12 hour relief. I found them the best.

[alexsdad]

Thanks everyone for your help. I've picked up some panadol that has a longer sustained release and some benefibre. Fingers crossed she can get through the night ok. If not we'll head to a GP tomorrow. You've all been a great help!

[christy]

After the first 12 hours, I was on just panadol every 4 hours. I didn't have any other pain relief. It was very hard at first to do things like roll over or pick up bubs for a few days but after that things settled down. Goodluck!

[Rachel_K]

Hi there,

My gp and ob both recomended taking it regularly although at times it didn't feel like you needed it. Voltaron and Panadeine forte well anything with codeine. I breastfed and the best way round this is to take painrelief just after feeding.

On the more natural side I found using heat packs worked as they were not only soothing for the sight but kinda nice and soothing inside.

Congrats on bub. hope you feel better soon mum! ( And dad!)

[Marydean]

Please do not add panadol/paracetamol while your wife is taking Digesic because it already has a megadose of paracetamol in it. I was recommended to take Voltaren for a while after my CS, along with the Digesic. Otherwise see your GP and have them assess your wife's wound etc, it could be more painful because there is a problem there, kwim?

I hope she is feeling much better soon.

[blackduckies]

Congrats on the birth of your baby girl.
I think it would be a good idea to see a doc also, after my first c-section I was in a lot of pain for a long time in total 16 weeks, it turned out i had an infection that came from the inside out. Since I have had 2 more sections, left hospital after 5 days on panadol forte,(very managable pain)the key is... take any pain meds before the pain starts, don't let her do too much, if bed is a problem perhaps a few nights in a recliner chair or lots of pillows, and baby close by so she is'nt worried about how bubs is doing further away. Let the wound have air, I also used betadine this time around twice a day. Perhaps bubs on a pillow for breast feeding, or a towel something for padding, they do have a way of sticking their little toes in
Good luck and hope she is feeling better soon. (((((housework etc can wait!!!))))

[Sammiejane]

Hi Jim, Congratulations to you and your wife and welcome to the wold little Alex

Originally Posted by Marydean

Please do not add panadol/paracetamol while your wife is taking Digesic because it already has a megadose of paracetamol in it. I was recommended to take Voltaren for a while after my CS, along with the Digesic. Otherwise see your GP and have them assess your wife's wound etc, it could be more painful because there is a problem there, kwim?

I hope she is feeling much better soon.

Thats exactly what i was going to post.
Paracetamol can be extremely harmful if you exceed the recommended daily dose (which is 4 grams) each panadol/panadeine/panadiene forte tablet has 500mg in it, so you would usually consume 1 gram each time you take a dose (2 tablets)
Di-gesic contains 325mg in each tablet, so this needs to be considered when using other medications.

I would second the Voltaren, it is an anti-inflammatory medication and works in a completely different way to paracetamol and is safe to be overlapped.
Until you see a GP or other DR, you could use nurofen in conjunction with the digesic as these can be combined, but will not give as much pain relief as the voltaren.

I used Endone in the first few days at night and panadol and voltaren during the day. I was BF also

The other thing is, did anyone teach your wife how to get out of bed to decrease the pain?
She needs to roll onto her side, push up with her hands and use her legs as a pendulum to assist getting out of bed (this is also how we teach people with back injuries to get out of bed) It will help as i found getting out of bed awkward...
Generally doing much more than just moving around the house for toileting and other small tasks for herself and bubs is enough to trigger pain, make sure that she rests well in the coming days as her strengh will begin to return in time, things can be left, it is far ore important that she looks after herself as she will tire easily, especially as her milk comes in properly and night feeds start taking a toll

HTH and congratulations again

[Peg]

I also found voltaran very good.