Will hospitals give you higher mg Oxycodone for pain if you've built up a tolerance ?

Question

There is a good chance that I'm going to need to go in and have surgery sometime soon, and I'm worried that the pain medication they give me post-surgery will not be strong enough to treat the pain I will have.

I've had surgery before for an appendicitis, so I am fully aware that they put you on a morphine drip immediately after for a couple of days, but I also remember them giving me 5 mg Percocet(Oxycodone/Acetaminophen) while I was in the hospital, and a prescription for more after I got out.

I remember experiencing a fair amount of abdominal pain during my time in the hospital and after I got out even with the morphine drip and Percocet, and this troubles me for the following reason:

I had never used Oxycodone recreationaly prior to the surgery the first time, and I experienced a decent amount of pain, but since then I HAVE, and at very high doses, (snorting 40 & 80 mg Oxycodones), I have taken as many as 8 Vicodin @ once as well.

I have not used either Oxycodone or Vicodin in a while, and am not addicted to either. (Oxy is too expensive on the street for me to get all that addicted, thankfully, and Vicodin is VERY LAME)

At any rate, I have learned from experience that just becuase you don't do these drugs for a while, it does NOT mean your tolerance drops right back down, as with many other drugs.

I'm afraid that if I voice these concerns to the docters/nurses they will immediatly assume I am an addict and not give me ANYTHING for the pain, but at the same time I KNOW that 5 mg. Oxy is not about to do **** for my pain, I need a much higher dosage.

Should I tell them that I have a tolerance and need a higher dosage/different pain killer or will this only lead to me getting NO pain killers and suffering even worse?

I can not seem to find ANY information on this searching the internet so I hope that a medical professional or someone with knowledge on the subject, on this site can help me.

Answer 1

It is not up to the hospital.  Hospitals are not licensed to prescribe medicines.  Only a physician can do that.  The person to speak to about your concerns over pain management is the physician who will manage your care while you are hospitalized. He or she will prescribe the proper dosage of medicine, and only then can the hospital have it's pharmacists prepare the medicine and it's nurses administer it.

Answer 2

ALWAYS be honest with your doctor! They will not (or should not) let you suffer while you are under their care. They can not help you if you don't tell them the truth.  

Answer 3

Yea right, be honest with your doctor. "Oh doc I snort 80's" he will drop you like a rock in a heartbeat and you will have nothing. He will put in your chart you are a drug abuser and that is the end of that chapter.Take what you can get and d**n the day you ever snorted OC's. The quicker a drug hits the nervous system the greater the addiction and tolerence.  AND START TAKING THEM PROPERLY. If you even chew a pill you will find if you swallow them than, it will do nothing. We are all just human and trust me I understand wanting immediate relief, opiate physically dependant people in genuine pain also get the extreme of opiate induced hyperanalgesia. This is a concept when the meds are administered or wear off you endure entire body,joint,bone and muscle pain that is very intolerable.

DO NOT tell your doc a thing and see if you can get ROXI 15'S OR SOMETHING. Level yourself down yourself and you must realize there are times you must bite the bullet and live in pain.

Vicodins suck, the only hydro that ever worked on me were Lorcet 10's, a big difference. Just try to get off that d**n Oxycodone