Question:
Has anyone had to stop pain meds totally for 3 months before surgery?
I have been on narcotic pain meds for 6 years and my surgain says I have be off them totally for 3 months prior to surgery. The reason I want the surgery is to be able to lose the weight and be able to eventually go off them. I don't know if I can do this totally. I have cut them in half and I am in a great deal of pain. Has anyone else ever heard of this before? Any info. will be appreciated because I honestly don't know what to do..... — Catherine B. (posted on June 30, 2005)
June 29, 2005
Sounds like the person to ask is the anesthesiologist...spell? And I think
your PCP and the surgeon need to get together and talk about this.
This doesn't sound like something you are able to accomplish on your own.
— Janet S.
June 29, 2005
Catherine,
I no of lots of people that have had the surgury, then,
got off of there meds, but as far as I no if you cut them in half that
should be O.K. I have never heard of this 3
months before. I would change Doc's or get a second opinion
on that. It doesn't sound like you could do it before, even,
if you wanted too> Good luck & hope you get this issue resolved.
— Marilyn C.
June 30, 2005
My concern is that you have been on "narcotic" pain medicine for
6 years. It is unrealistic for you to just go cold turkey without pain
medicine. That within itself can cause severe depression. You will suffer
many side effects from the withdrawal effect from not have the narcotic. In
my opinion, your doctor should be working with you to find a substitute.
Perhaps, as the others have said, you should get a second opinion. You may
need to check into another doctor, if this one will not work with you.
I will be prayin for you and your doctor!
God Bless and Take Care!!!
Tonya
— Tonya L.
June 30, 2005
It is just the other way around Medicaid is state and medicare is federal.
— voncami
June 30, 2005
I have heard of this being done. When someone is on narcotics for long
periods of time they work up a tolerance to the drug. Post op for you it
may take much higher dosages of pain drugs to relieve your postop pain than
someone who doesn't take narcotics on a chronic basis. So maybe to avoid
this your doctor wants you to lose that tolerance before you go into
surgery.??? You should ask your doctor if you don't like this and ask him
to explain his reasons.
— Miss KJ
June 30, 2005
After 6 years of narcotics, your body is dependent upon them. Have your
doctor help you develop a plan to wean you off of them. Cutting them in
half may be too much at first. And I would want to have the doc give a
clear, concise answer as to WHY he/she wants you off of them. Is it
addiction, tolerance, liver concerns? There's so many possibilities so
definitely ask. I wish you luck!
— eliampo
July 1, 2005
I would ask the doctor for help in getting off of them. After 6 years,
you're probably psychologically and physically addicted to the pain
killers. A careful program of getting off of them is in order. The only
rationale I've heard for WLS patients getting off drugs is that many of
them are hard on the stomach and kidneys.
— Cathy S.
July 1, 2005
Hi,
I am on a lot of narcotic medications... first of all, if you are cutting
your pills in half, make sure that you are not on anything that is time
release. Cutting a time release drug up can alter the absorption time and
mess your system up.
I would suggest that you talk to your surgeon or PCP or someone (probably
whoever is prescribing the pain meds for you) about tapering down over time
-- this will make going off of them so much easier...
I would also suggest finding out from your surgeon why you have to be off
the meds... If it is a matter of how the medication affects your stomach,
you might be able to switch meds to a non-oral route. I am using a
fentanyl patch--I absorb the medication through my skin--change it every 3
days. It's great.
Clonidine is a blood pressure medication that has shown some usefulness in
decreasing the symptoms related to withdrawl. Look up narcotic withdrawl
and clonidine on google or whatever search engine you prefer and you can
find info.
Please please please please talk to your doctor and get help with
decreasing/stopping your pain meds. If you come off of them too quickly,
you can make yourself very very sick.
If you have any questions or want to talk, feel free to email me...
mrsidknee at gmail dot com
Best wishes,
Sid
— mrsidknee
July 4, 2005
Hi there,
I had to respond because I am Catherine Brown too! At least I was - Brown
is my maiden name :-)
But there are good reasons to stop the pain meds before surgery. They can
be like blood thinners - so could cause too much bleeding. They could be
addictive and so you could be resistent to the anesthesia and also the post
op pain meds you will need. Or the opposite - the anesthesia will work too
much and cause problems when they try to get you out of anesthesia.
Respiratory distress could occur due to over medication. There are probably
more reasons too, but I can't think of them now.
I had to stop taking the arthritis pain meds - vioss before surgery. i did
hurt but post-op I did not have any pain for 3 months. I think it's because
they gave me spinal anesthesia forpaost-op pain control. it was such a
relief to be so pain free. Amazing. The arthritis pain is back, but way
less now that I am 165lbs smaller.
Good luck from a fellow Cathy brown!
— catleth
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