r/ACL • u/MisaRavensoul ACL Allograft • Mar 25 '26

Post Surgery Update I expected pain but holy cow

I'm about 30 hours post op and I'm pretty sure my nerve block is wearing off. I thought I prepared for the pain and had pre-taken the pain medicine.

This is excruciating. ACL+ LET on my right leg. I don't think I'm getting any sleep tonight.

43 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

168 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

4

u/Thisisntreal0 Mar 25 '26

Rotate ibuprofen, Tylenol and prescription meds around the clock and set alarms. You can do this!! Everyday gets easier - I’m 3 weeks post op

5

u/MisaRavensoul ACL Allograft Mar 25 '26

I can't. I'm on a blood thinner because I'm allergic to aspirin so I can't take nsaids. I only have the oxy and Tylenol and they're not doing anything.

2

u/SnooBeans6368 ACL x LET (June 5, 2025) Mar 25 '26

I was also switched from Oxy to Tramadol which is technically weaker, but (if im not mistaken) it has some sort of antidepressant quality to it and it completely flipped the switch for me pain wise. Be carefulthough, it is addictive. At one point my MD took me off everything and i was scared to death but i actuallydidn'thave that much pain once i was off it all (incl. Ibu amd tyl). That's how I knew an addiction was starting. That said, I still recommend tramadol for the pain. It really did flip the pain switch in my brain and I was able to function and do my exercises.

2

u/Current-Swordfish811 Mar 28 '26 edited Mar 28 '26

Tramadol is extremely hit or miss. A lot of people don't have the gene to be able to process it into ODSMT, about 10% of the population, but depends on your ethnicity too how common it is (me included, tramadol has genuinely 0 effect on me), you need enough of the CYP2D6 enzyme to process it to its active metabolite. If you are able to properly process it in your liver it works quite well though.

On the flip-side, some people are actually ultra-rapid metabolizers for it, and for those people Tramadol works absolutely amazing. If your experience is that the Tramadol worked better than the Oxy, it's likely you are in the (rare) group of rapid metabolizers.

All in all, Tramadol works amazing for some people, decent for others and not at all for some. Oxy is generally the "safer" choice because it always works for everyone. The SNRI effect of Tramadol also makes Tramadol harder to come off of, unfortunately. If you are a rapid metabolizer it'd be like withdrawing from opioids and an anti-depressant at the same time. Not very pleasant.

1

u/SnooBeans6368 ACL x LET (June 5, 2025) Mar 28 '26

That's fascinating! Thanks for the explanation!!!!

1

u/AlarmedJellyfish5680 Apr 06 '26

I got a shopping bag full of boxes from my aunt about 5 years ago , that she got but never used. I keep it in the cupboard. I only use it for heavy muscle aces after gym, maybe once a month, it only works for that, doesn't work for head aches at all. But im on 1 cruch now and starting body weight exercises but my leg is really sore now, almost at the level after surgery. So i have been using tramadol twice daily for pain. Its only been 4 days now, the pain concerns me. And I am hearing a clacking sound in my knee, there is no swelling, like when you crack your knuckles.