Apparently, I am. I have had real trouble getting pain relief after surgery. I had knee surgery recently - scoping and a lateral release for all you doctors and knee patients in the crowd. It took more than two hours after the surgery to get any relief from pain. This is the second surgery I have had where I had no (or perhaps diminished) pain relief. First one was a hysterectomy. I’m concerned about ever needing surgery again and what other options there might be for pain relief as well as how to best communicate this to future surgery teams. Also, I’ve heard that natural redheads are often resistant to pain medications. If you are a redhead, have you found this to be true for you?
I don’t know if I am because I was two the only time I had surgery, but my mom, also a redhead, definitely has issues. But in her case it’s that a lot of pain meds don’t work the right way, some that are supposed to relax you wind her up etc, while others don’t work at all, so she is very insistent on what she’s given.
Somewhat resistant to opiates, at least based on anecdotal evidence. When I was hospitalized I didn’t feel a base dosage of morphine at all, but upping the ante did work. After an endoscopy I was clear-headed within a minute or two, when I had been informed I should be loopy for a half hour or more. I get no particular euphoria from either Vicodin or stronger Norco tablets ( I did get just a bit from the upped morphine ), but they do affect me in other ways, including some level of pain relief, sleepiness, nausea ( from the Norco ) and a “heavy” feeling in the limbs.
So they affect me, but seemingly not in the bog-standard way. However I have dark brown hair and eyes and know of no redheads in the extended family - blue eyes and blond, including my blue-eyed mother, but no red.
Yep; redhead here. You basically have to give me a horse dose to do any good. This also goes for the deadening stuff like Novocaine, etc. I’m 6’1" and about 200 lbs, so that’s probably a factor, as well. Also, when I was drinking, I could put away a ton and you’d never know it.
I’m a redhead too. I seem to have the opposite problem, I’m really sensitive to stuff that’s supposed to knock you out. A tiny sip of NyQuil and I’m off in LaLa land. The two times I’ve been put under for something I’ve had to make sure to tell the doctor to start off with the lowest dose of the nighty-night drugs or else they’ll have a hard time getting me to come around. When I had my wisdom teeth out the dentist told me they had barely started the IV drip and I was out.
Me too.
I’m a natural redhead ( well OK, mostly gray these days) and long ago realised with “may cause drowsiness” on the label applied to me x100.
OTOH, I think I have a fairly high pain tolerance and don’t usually take advantage of pain meds. I don’t enjoy teh woozy unless I am in serious pain.
I’m not resistant to narcotics or a redhead so I guess I’m a white swan here.
But I have a friend who’s highly resistant to narcotics and he’s a black-haired Italian.
I’m a redhead and very resistant to narcotics. My dentist remarked he had to give me 50% more medication, both to numb me and to put me in twilight sleep. Vicodon and the like don’t knock me out - they keep me awake.
This is me also - I’m a very (next best thing to albino) pale-skinned, green-eyed redhead. I have to be very careful with antihistamines and cold medicine; I can take Sudafed as a sleeping pill. Never any problem with narcotics the few times I’ve had them. My dentist does take great care to make sure I’m very well numbed up, though. He uses an auto-injection system with a foot pedal control and it seems to work great. A lot of times when he’s worked on me it’s taken up to four hours for the stuff to wear off. I do tend to develop allergies, odd reactions and sensitivities to drugs very easily.
I’m a redhead, and this is my experience. The dentist usually has to give me about 3 times as many shots as he normally would to deaden an area in my mouth.
After a minor surgery a couple of years ago, the hydrocodone I was prescribed didn’t help with the pain much (if at all) at the indicated dosage, but it did make me nauseated, so I just didn’t take it.
Redhead, and yes - sometimes, anyway.
When I gave birth to PandaKid my epidural didn’t take very well. At the dentist I need more shots than most people to get numb.
As far as, say, the narcotics I might be sent home with after a dental procedure - nah. I can take a normal dose and that’ll do the job.
My mom was a redhead and you could have injected her with enough meds to kill a pony and it wouldn’t phase her.
Super resistant to just about everything, In fact of the two surgeries I have had, I woke up in the middle of both of them. Pain relief is something I have heard of but don’t get much of.
Not a redhead but my mother was.
I’m a redhead and it also takes a lot of medication to get much relief. In fact, half the time, I don’t even bother taking anything, because the smallest dosage that will work is still bigger than the safest maximum dose. I like my kidneys and liver, thankyouverymuch.
I’m a redhead. I’ve never had narcotics by mouth so I have no idea. I have a pretty low pain tolerance though.
Thanks for your responses, everyone.
Elfkin477, I suppose your mother has just learned what works for her through trial and error? I wish there were a better way to know what works for an individual.
Tamerlane, I was given max doses of all the drugs they said they could give me, with little difference in pain level. The nurse I had seemed exasperated with me for not responding to pain medication. I don’t get euphoria from any of these medications either, just a sleepy waterlogged feeling.
An Arky, as a kid, I had to take sedatives before going to the dentist. It hurt. He didn’t believe me.
Dr.Girlfriend, that’s what I seem to see online - either redheads need 20 percent more medication, or they need a tiny dose.
Chiroptera, i don’t typically take pain meds at home as they don’t seem to make a lot of difference.
Little Nemo, :), all colors are welcome here, that was kind of two questions.
SnakesCatLady, my new dentist believes me and I get enough pain meds these days. Dentists have really improved over the last 30 years or so.
GythaOgg, I’m starting to feel out numbered by you easily medicated types. Redheads are confusing!
Tangent, I come off the pain meds pretty quickly at home too. The side effects are not worth the trouble.
So, everybody, how does Vicoden make you feel? Is it normal to feel euphoric? Does morphine make you feel euphoric?
Nurses, are there a lot of people who do not get pain relief after surgery? Do you get annoyed at the ones who need more medication?
When I had my wisdom teeth out, insurance wouldn’t cover general anesthesia, which I begged for. I got 27 shots of Novocaine or whatever they use these days, and as much laughing gas as I wanted, and nothing helped. I got to feel them cracking, chiseling, yanking and twisting out four impacted wisdom teeth over the course of four hours. Yay.
When I had my first child, I gave in and got the epidural and I’m sorry I did. It gave me no relief and slowed my labor down. Great.
I also know from my wild teenage times that cocaine doesn’t do a damn thing for me, either. I’m truly glad about that one.
I’ve used Percoset and Darvoset for pain, and they thankfully work for that, but don’t get me high or buzzed or dopey whatsoever. Basically just like a Tylenol that actually works.
Yes, I’m a (kinda)redhead. Chestnut, more like, but lots of red in the family. I didn’t know this was a thing, I thought I was just a weirdo.
I’m a redhead and I don’t have a problem with medication at all. A normal dose usually works just fine for me. I have almost no pain tolerance though. My doctor immediately jumped on board my c-section plan without question and when I asked her why she didn’t encourage me to have a natural labor she said it is because she really doesn’t think I can handle the pain and discomfort caused by normal labor.
:dubious: Which, in my experience (two boys, one of whom was 8lbs, 10oz), goes away rather quickly compared with the pain and discomfort of SURGERY. Pain associated with the labor/delivery? They have meds that make you not even care.
Not doubting what you’re saying, that’s just really strange reasoning coming from a medical professional.
The following might be of interest to some: Red Hair and Opiods
There is a great deal more detail in the link.
Redhead (all gone now but back in the day)…
Most meds (novocaine etc) work as advertised except Oxycontin and Hydrocodone. Makes me loopy more than they do anything substantial for the pain. I get more pain relief from Aleve than Oxycontin/Hydrocodone.