I just want to add another story, albeit second hand. My wife went through surgery three times. The first times, pain relief (after the initial nerve block) was

I just want to add another story, albeit second hand. My wife went through surgery three times. The first times, pain relief (after the initial nerve block) was mainly via a Norspan patch. The patch was great except it took so long to ramp up (maybe they should have applied it 12-24 hours before the nerve block wore off). There was also no real withdrawal even after two weeks of patches. The third time (for chest surgery) was via a fentanyl pump, but when that was removed she had severe stomach pains, and soon was in the routine of IV morphine once a day as the stomach pains came back like clockwork. She had the option of coming home but was too frightened of the pain and not having a nurse nearby to help immediately. I could be wrong but it seemed to me the stomach pains were withdrawal from the painkillers. I'm glad they were effective for her pain but I wish there had been a better path that avoided all the nausea and sleepiness.