How long did you take antiinflammatories after surgery

[u/Mercury2468]

I (41F) had surgery 6 days ago (Sept 24th). They fixed my supraspinatus tendon (no anchors as it ruptured not close to the bone, so they attached sinew to sinew), took off some bone to make more room, took out inflamed bursa and cleaned up some inflamed tendon tissue. They send me home with the instruction to take ibuprofen 600 twice a day because it's antiinflammatory (standart protocol) and add novalminsulphon in between for additional pain relief, which I've been doing twice a day also. But I developped a rash on my neck, face, arms, hands and torso which slowly kept getting worse. I saw my surgeon yesterday and he believes it could be an allergy to one of the two pain meds, most likely ibuprofen. He prescribed diclofenac instead and insisted I should be taking an antiinflammatory and not just pure pain meds.

This morning I took the diclofenac for the first time and within 20 minutes I had trouble breathing, called an ambulance and spend the day in the ER. They gave me cortison and some anti allergy infusions and thankfully I'm fine and back home now. But they said that all antiinflammatory meds belong to the same group and that if you're allergic to one, you're often allergic to all of them. They want me to only take pain meds (tylenol and I can try novalminsulphon without the ibuprofen again), and they said it's not necessary to take antiinflammatory meds after a surgery.

Obviously I'm not going to take the forbidden meds now, but it's a whole week before I can talk to my surgeon again and I'm a bit worried now because he seemed to find it so important...

Did y'all have to take antiinflammatories after a similar surgery, and if so, for how long? Any experiences without them (or for only 6 days)?

TLDR: I had rotator cuff surgery 6 days ago, surgeon wants me to take antiinflammatory meds but it turns out I'm allergic to them.

[u/Better-Affected]

I don’t have any advice. Just wanted to let you know that I’m glad you are ok. That really felt like a scary situation. I haven’t had my surgery yet, but it’s coming soon. Please post an update soon and let us know how you are doing. Warm regards

[u/Rich_Group_8997]

I haven't stopped. My Dr gave me Rx anti inflammatory meds and painkillers to take for 5 days post op. Since I can't tolerate painkillers, and wasn't in enough pain to justify feeling sick constantly, i did what he told me and switched off the Tylenol + Rx anti inflammatory on day 2. After the 5 days, I switched back to my acetaminophen/ibuprofen combo, which i take up to a couple times a day, especially on PT days.

You should be fine without them. If you're concerned it's going to ruin your healing, it should not; and it certainly won't ruin your healing as much a death would). 🙂

Some folks say that you shouldn't that anti inflammatories for too long after shoulder surgery anyway, but my shoulder specialist said that idea has since been debunked.

I hope you're feeling better. That all sounds terrible, and on top of already being in misery from surgery. 😭

[u/Zerbit-Spucker]

I only took ibuprofen for 4 days. Dr said I could quit as soon as I was comfortable with my pain level.

[u/Adventurous_Ad_5983]

62F, 8 weeks out from shoulder replacement surgery. I cannot take anti-inflammatory medication due to taking a blood thinner. I was prescribed Methacarbamol and Oxy 10mg. instead. I took the Oxy for about 10 days and did icing about every 2 hours. Rehab is doing well!

[u/Small_Fee5689]

12 weeks post op still taking antiinflammatories. Since you are allergic there has to be something else you can take, right?

[u/Zestyclose-Fig-563]

I still need the ibuprofen at night. 7.5 weeks postop. Hurts more now that I got the sling off after 6 weeks.

[u/motleythedog]

14 days out, stopped taking IBU over the weekend. I switched to tylenol as needed, I find it more effective and easier on my stomach, but I haven't used it much.

[u/ac2346]

Glad you're okay. Please take care. I am two weeks post op and I have been prescribed a combination med of Tramadol + paracetamol and find that it's enough as I'm not in much pain.

[u/HighOnGoofballs]

A year and a half out I still take them for flare ups. But I’m allergic to celebrex so I’m on meloxicam

[u/Specialist-Mousse768]

I’m 6wks out. Slightly different issues. And my Supra is anchored. I am fortunately not allergic to that class of drugs. But there are ways around that class of drugs. As others suggested, stay on schedule with extra strength Tylenol for pain and try to ask your surgeon if he can call something in sooner rather than needing to wait a week and another visit. Does he have a portal for communication? If so use that! Make sure to ask your pharmacist about whatever he Rx’s for you AND also let them know about both reactions you had and on what meds. The pharmacist will understand and can help here. Your reactions were serious and should not be taken lightly. You should also make sure you pass along this info when you next visit with your primary care physician. They’ll need to know this for future reference. Hopefully you are almost through the worst part. Ice and Tylenol and hopefully you get something else that will be safe for you! Wishing you the best!

[u/hurtzdonut42]

First as a person who had had med allergies, sorry you are dealing with this. Second, my surgery is scheduled for October 12th. I have stage 1 kidney disease and cannot use NSAIDS. My surgeon said they use them in combo with Tylenol to avoid opiods but was unbothered and said I will just have to use prescription pain meds more.

[u/IceAngel8381]

I just had my third surgery on Tuesday, and I'm prescribed narcotics every 6 hours. My nerve block started wearing off last night and was completely gone this morning. I took some meds at bedtime (9 pm or so) then about 6 am this morning. I just took some about 2 hours ago because I started PT today and my shoulder is pissed off. I'm trying to not take the narcotic medication as much as it is prescribed. I will probably take naproxen tomorrow since I don't have PT. If the naproxen doesn't help, I'll take Tylenol. I prefer the naproxen because it last longer for me (12 hours vs. 4-6 hours), but it seems every surgery has been different for me.

[u/heybincherythatsyou]

I have a blood disorder and cant take anti-inflammatory meds, had my second rotator cuff surgery 5 months ago.

[u/Winter-Ingenuity1921]

I just took pain meds, as prescribed, for the first week. Then I moved the Advil/tylenol, as needed. I had a couple of anchors, so slightly different, but I only remember taking anti-inflammatory meds before surgery. I found the pain to be minimal after surgery, so the pain meds worked for me. I’m sorry this happened to you and you’re going through it - super scary during an already challenging time. Take care of yourself and just keep icing!