"this was my first experience with any pain medication beyond the over the counter variety. i had surgery for crohn&#039;s disease: bowel resection. due to the complex nature this required fully opening up my abdomen. i was given dilaudid through my iv every 4 hours. it totally relieved my pain. everywhere that warm glow touched the pain disappeared. after about 20 minutes i would fall asleep and would wake up an hour later. the pain free feeling would last for about 3 hours. "