Cleveland Clinic London Hospital 2022-06-14 Person 4 5 0

I was confused when given drugs for pain relief on discharge. I was told that I could use paracetamol and ibuprofen if I had them at home, but the clinical team thought I might need co-dydramol or tramadol, as my surgery was slightly more extensive than anticipated. I started taking these the day after discharge. On discharge, I had been told to drink lots of fluids, to minimise the risk of constipation. Despite doing this, I had developed constipation. I had been told that someone would phone me the day after discharge to check on my progress, but no-one did. Two days after discharge I was still concerned about my constipation, so I phoned the day care desk, and go advised to discontinue tramadol, and continue with paracetamol and ibuprofen. Doing this, combined with using a laxative, cleared my constipation in a couple of days. I think it would have been better to have been given paracetamol and ibuprofen, in addition to tramadol, and told only to use tramadol as a last resort.