So your offering an anecdote of two people who tried a strong painkiller, and discovered they only needed a weaker one, as evidence of...what? That nobody every needs strong painkillers?

Paracetamol and ibuprofen are the right choice in a lot of cases, but I don't think any medical professional would dream of suggesting they're the only painkillers that you'll ever need!

My point was that in my personal experience, both my wife, recovering from a C-section, and my mom, recovering from reconstructive surgery on her arm where they broke and plated her forearm back together, found that pain was perfectly manageable and had fewer side effects with standard pain medications.

This suggests to me that opioids are not needed nearly so often as they are prescribed, even if they are warranted in certain situations.

I think the point is they were offered opioids in a pain management setting that didn't require them.

As a counter-anecdote, NSAIDs like Ibuprofen cause GI tract bleeding in me (a haemophilia patient) and have put me in hospital twice, once in the ICCU with my family called to say their goodbyes etc.

If I have a severely painful joint bleed (common in my condition) or surgery, I'm taking the opioids.

My wife is on an antiangiogenic and NSAIDs cause her nose to bleed pretty profusely for more or less the same reason. I always wonder why it's 'ok' for nosebleeds when there is likely to be similar vasculature all through the body, but the docs don't really get too wound up about it.

I’m guessing you have hemophilia?

Correct.

hydrocodone is not equivalent to Tylenol.