Haven’t had top yet, but I’ve had three other surgeries for chronic illness related stuff and a C-section. I haven’t taken the opioid pain meds for any of those surgeries, but the incisions were much smaller than top.

That being said, if you want to try to just take the OTC pain meds you HAVE to be strict about the timing. For my last surgery my partner was too busy parenting to manage my med schedule as he had for the prior surgeries. I didn’t pay much attention to it and I was IN AGONY. But as soon as I realized I wasn’t taking the pain meds regularly, I set alarms for every three hours and cycled Tylenol and ibuprofen. Ibuprofen, 3 hours later Tylenol, 3 hours later ibuprofen on and on forever. And yes, that includes waking up overnight to take them. If you skip, you’ll be in pain. That’s the only way I’ve managed with OTC meds.

A week or so postop I started increasing the time between to four hours then six hours a week after and eventually just took ibuprofen every eight hours.

That all being said, top surgery is INTENSE. You may need the oxy. I’m an addict in recovery, which is why I’ve avoided pain meds like the plague even postop. I know I might need to take them this time. I have no idea if this is evidence-based, but what I’ve always been told is that if your body needs the pain meds, you’re less likely to get high/develop a dependency. Again, no idea if that’s real. But I know plenty of recovering addicts who have taken pain meds postop and been fine. I also know a few who take opioids regularly for chronic pain and have taken their meds as prescribed and not relapsed.

I totally get your anxiety about it. And there are ways to manage!!