@Safado posted:my Dr. says he prefers it for me since it's not as strong as other narcotics at least when it comes to how it affects my transit time in my bowels.
Safado makes an important but often overlooked point on the impact of narcotics on transit times. Morphine caused my lieus after my colectomy. A few years ago, a friend and client of mine was taking oxycodone after a very serious two level anterior cervical discectomy surgery. I warned the client about the constipating effect of these medications. The client, who has UC, told me, "I have UC and can't get constipated." 3 weeks later he texted me from the emergency room where he had to have a manual stool removal performed due to severe constipation. I believe the procedure is called manual fecal disimpaction. He said it was the worst pain of his life and that they "got medieval on my ass" (a play on the famous Ving Rhames line from Pulp Fiction). He learned a painful lesson on what narcotic pain meds do to your GI tract. It has a serious effect on motility which most people don't really understand until it happens to them. I kind of saw it coming after I spent Thanksgiving with him the week before and he was slurring his words throughout the day.