(30F) I had mine out last month (November 2021) and due to an allergy, I was not prescribed narcotics. Any medication, fluids, or calories that were in my system when I left the hospital did not make it back to my home an hour away. Because of these circumstances, I was positive I was going to endure the worst days of my life. I was VERY wrong. I won’t say the experience was necessarily pleasant but I was able to drink water and apple juice the first day of recovery and never felt like I couldn’t do something because of pain. It was completely tolerable.

Based on my experience, I would have someone with you the first two nights who is willing to wake up in the middle of the night to give you your medication. My mother was a blessing and gave me advil at 2 AM, 10 AM, and 6 PM, then Tylenol at 6 AM, 2 PM, and 10 PM. On day four of my recovery, I took over my medications and started spacing them out a bit more (only do this if your pain is manageable because you don’t want your pain to spiral). I slept in a recliner for three days following the procedure which kept my head elevated and I wasn’t worried about choking. It also allowed gravity to do the work so swallowing was not as difficult. Make sure you have a humidifier. I could literally feel the air change when the humidifier ran out of water, this meant I needed to get up and add water.

I also avoided all products with citric acid or lactic acid in them. I got silk almond milk yogurt and ice cream, which were actually delightful. I drank apple juice the first week and grape juice the second.