Best thing for afterpains post-partum?

[OhElizabeth]

There are nasty tightening contractions when you nurse for several days post-partum, right? What's the best thing to take for this? I think I took tylenol with dd, and someone was telling me about an herbal forumla, which I didn't even know existed. Any thoughts?

Elizabeth

[Marie in Oh]

I always take 800mg of motrin for them.

[Jami]

I always take 800mg of motrin for them.

Yes, I think I remember taking Ibprofren just before nursing. Of course post-c-section with the last one I was probably taking something stronger that first PPD week.

[~Tara~]

afterease tincture !!

[WTMindy]

Mmmmmmm......vicodin! ;) But, I'm guessing you meant non-prescriptive, non-addictive stuff?! :001_smile:

[Dawn E]

I was given Naproxen--the same thing as Aleve.

[abbeyej]

I didn't need anything with one baby (though I had Ibuprofen on hand). With my other, I did take Ibuprofen, and it wasn't really enough. I was pretty severely uncomfortable for a few days.

[Tracey in TX]

It depends on the severity of the pain. Sometimes a girl gets lucky and it's a bit of discomfort. If so, herbal tea or motrin. If it's wickedly painful, consider vicadin. I was lucky and had slight discomfort, but wouldn't think twice about pain meds when needed.

[jmgconner]

Tylenol with Codeine. :grouphug: I made it through several births without meds, but the wicked aftershocks got to be too much for me. Over the counter, I'd go with 800 mg of Motrin, per Marie in OH.

[OhElizabeth]

Abbey, was your painful after time connected to anything like drinking the RRL with one but not the other? Or was there no connection?

Yeah, I meant otc or herbal, not the prescription stuff, hehe... I'm the woman that threw up all night just from a too strong batch of RRL tea. Don't want to think what narcotics and codeine would do to me, lol.

I looked up that After Ease, and now I'm realizing I should just check with my local health food store and see what they have, duh...

[abbeyej]

Abbey, was your painful after time connected to anything like drinking the RRL with one but not the other? Or was there no connection?

I had drunk RRL throughout the pregnancy where the afterpains were intolerable. *But* I have *no* idea if there was a connection between those to things or not. I also prolapsed with that birth, and wondered if that may have had something to do with it. There were numerous little differences between the two births, and I just don't know what may or may not have influenced the after pains...

I certainly understand your desire to avoid narcotics. I've had them precisely once, and the side effects were *almost* as unpleasant as the pain I was trying to cope with. ;) (I ended up going through a few, and one of them was much less horrible than the others, but I still have no desire to go anywhere near the things again.)

[Karen sn]

I took 250mg of Tylenol one time, which helped because I never take anything. I think for me it's a placebo affect.

But the baby was so yellow and we had to get him in the sun daily....I decided Tylenol would be bad for him and I wouldn't take it again. I tried to imagine the pain as my uterus shrinking back to normal which I want....and of course it's a better pain than labor!

Next time - if there is one - I will have an herbal tincture on hand.

[OhElizabeth]

Abbey, I hope this isn't too personal, but what caused your prolapse? I've heard of that, but I don't know what causes it. I've heard doing Kegels is supposed to help (whew, better do some!), but I assume you were already doing them. Was it something about the birth, or did it happen before?

[abbeyej]

Abbey, I hope this isn't too personal, but what caused your prolapse?

Uh... Giving birth, I think. ;)

No, really, I don't know. Yes, I'd always done tons of Kegels.

I've *wondered* if it was because second stage was so very short -- she was born in basically one push. I don't think I could have slowed that part down if I'd tried, lol, but I did think it possible that that's where the prolapse came in... (Second stage was very quick with ds too -- after a really long labor that I'm very lucky hadn't ended in a CS long before I got to pushing -- but not as insanely fast as with dd...)

[OhElizabeth]

Well wowsers, that sounds terrible! At least you survived and it's over, whew. :(

[abbeyej]

Well wowsers, that sounds terrible! At least you survived and it's over, whew. :(

Oh, no, lol, it wasn't terrible at all. ;) Intense, but not even remotely "terrible".

[Frelle]

afterease tincture!

[plain jane]

There are nasty tightening contractions when you nurse for several days post-partum, right? What's the best thing to take for this? I think I took tylenol with dd, and someone was telling me about an herbal forumla, which I didn't even know existed. Any thoughts?

Elizabeth

I've found massaging my uterus to be the most helpful. Extremely painful, but it does the pain over with sooner. Whenever I got afterpains (when nursing etc) I made sure I had a pillow on my lap and would apply gentle counter-pressure and gentle massage on my uterus until the cramping subsided.

My MW never let me take tylenol or anything for my pain- believe me, with my 2nd I was in tears BEGGING for morphine :lol: but she refused :glare: and insisted I do the massage. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I've always managed to get through the post-partum period drug free. It took a lot of stubborness and a bold MW who refused to give a hormonal woman screaming in pain any tylenol :lol: for me to learn that this really does work!

I should add, I was very, ahem, annoyed with her at the time.:glare: It really does work and the massage is great for your uterus and helping it shrink back properly.

[OhElizabeth]

Wow, that's some drill sargeant of a midwife! My SIL brought me tylenol with dd and my mw never said boo about it. I wouldn't have cared if she had. It's my body, my house, and I just gave birth, kwim? I'll have to think about the massage thing. Sounds kinda rough, lol.

[plain jane]

Wow, that's some drill sargeant of a midwife! My SIL brought me tylenol with dd and my mw never said boo about it. I wouldn't have cared if she had. It's my body, my house, and I just gave birth, kwim? I'll have to think about the massage thing. Sounds kinda rough, lol.

:lol: I know. Funny thing is, I ADORE my MW. She is SUPER awesome and one of my favourite people. She totally shocked me by refusing pain killers. At the time, I would have strangled her if I hadn't been so tired.:lol: I mean, if I had insisted rather than whined about them, I'm sure she would've "let" me- she wasn't so drill sergeant-ish. :lol: For me, I think it was also a lot about the realization that I was capable of doing it myself and that I was strong enough, kwim? Yes, you are right, it was my house, my body etc. so I didn't let myself get pushed around- part of me obviously agreed with her at the time. (trust me, I'm not the kind who is easily pushed around:lol:) The feeling after the first few days were all said and done was worth it for me and to this day, I'm glad she "pushed" me through it.

In the end I got through it, then went on to have 2 more (and after pains do get worse with each birth btw) without tylenol after.

And oh no, the massage doesn't have to be rough. Just gentle counter-pressure and soft rubbing to help your uterus shrink back. I won't lie, it does hurt but the pains go away sooner. Atleast they did in my case.

[plain jane]

whoops. double post.

[beansprouts]

Another vote for motrin/ibuprophen. It also works well for menstrual cramps.

[Philothea]

I've never taken anything for the cramping. I found that nursing on demand, co-sleeping at night and nursing, helped everything get back into place very very soon. Of course I was on a ton of meds for both c-sections, so comparatively the cramping was like nothing.