I had a “complex” knee replacement in March.
VA sent me home with 90 5mg oxycodone (straight, no tylenol)...baby aspirin sized pills.
The first few days I was taking 2 every 4 hours. The pain was overwhelming.
But I was smart enough to start tapering down and suffering a little more pain each day...when I was down to about 20 of them.
I made it.
But for those who start with severe acute pain and are unwilling to taper, hell awaits them when they are eventually cut off. And they will be.
When I had double knee replacement surgery I found that the pills just made me delerious with pain instead of just in pain. I didn’t bother with them after a couple of days.