Prior to my pre-op preps for VSG surgery, I had taken two Aleve every day for bloody decades for arthritis, mostly in my knees. During all those years when I didn't take Aleve (or ibuprofen), my knees hurt. Noticeably.
Then prior to WLS, hearing from my surgeon that NSAIDs and ibuprofen were verboten post-op, I gradually weened myself off of those over-the-counter pain meds. I was definitely uncomfortable, but only for a few weeks, maybe a month.
Since then, as I've lost weight from about 230 to the low 180s -- a 50-pound weight range in which, for years, I depended on Aleve to get around -- my knees haven't hurt any worse than they did when I was taking Aleve.
What the heck is going on? Can anyone offer any actual medical research or a medically defensible interpretation of the perceived value of over-the-counter pain meds' efficacy in managing arthritis pain?
What's been your experience post-op living without NSAIDs or ibuprofen?
Can we adapt to our physical discomforts more easily than we might have once believed?
Or are we just gullible marks for OTC pain meds that, eventually, make no difference?
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