dihydrocodeine

[lizw]

Does anybody know if you can build up a resistance to dihydrocodeine.  I've been prescribed it to help with the excrutiating pain I get because of my gall stones.  I am due to have my gall bladder out in three weeks and am worried that I will not benefit from pain relief given after the operation because of a resistance to dihydrocodeine.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[woofgang]

I've had a look around and the answer seems to be that tolerance to the drug comes "eventually" I would think that 3 weeks use of the drug would not build up tolerance to the point where you got no benefit and if it did, there are other painkillers that you can take with or instead of the dihydrocodeine.

The other thing to say from my long experience of people recovering from operations which deal with conditions that give excrutiating pain is that their tolerance to post op pain is always much higher because it is so much less painful that the hell that they have been experiencing on a daily basis.

Can you express your concern to whoever prescribed the medication?

[toecrusher]

i have experienced gall bladder pain and it was terrible. I found after my op i was given morphine/pethedine which was very effective. After a few days i was virtually pain free, I did have keyhole surgery which is obviously not as traumatic as the major op sometimes  needed for gallstones good luck!

[lizw]

Woofgang - thank you very much indeed for that - it really has helped.  I'll give my GP a call and discuss this with him but you've set my mind at rest