question about meds presurgery

[theizzard]

Hi again everyone,
I have seen two doctors so far and both have told me that I should come off of the opiates that I take before I have surgery or they won't be able to control my pain during and after surgery. I think that it is ridiculous because it depends on the amount of drugs and kind of drugs someone is on. i take opiates but the last doctor didn't even ask me the strength. So, is this standard pre operation protocol? I take 40mg oxycontin 2x day and 15mg. oxycodone prn. That is nothing compared to what other people take. Obviously I don't want to be in pain nor do i want to go through withdrawal. Is this what most of the doctors say?
avis

[Karen Ocker]

Ask to speak to the anesthesia care team who will be managing your anesthesia.

[DebbieM]

The doctors that I seen have said the same exact thing. I was on a much larger dose of oxycontin than you. When I finally found the doc that was going to do my surgery, he said "if you are able to come down a little that would be good but if not that's OK too". He did say that it would help in controlling the pain but he never told me to stop altogether as the other doctors had told me. If you stop you will like you said go through withdrawls...not fun. I also thought it was ridiculous that they told me that. Trust me, my doctors managed my pain pre and post surgery without much problems. Here is an example of my doses of oxy....when I left the hospital they had me on 240mg (80mg x 3) daily, I am now on 40 mgs (20mg x 2) daily and I am 10 months out. So there you have it. I came down very, very slowly without any withdrawl.

[theizzard]

thanks for answering debbiem,
i too think it is absurd. if you could get by without the meds, then why get surgery? one of the doctors i saw has a form like an affidavit saying i will stop meds before surgery and any violation may result in canceling the procedure. It goes on to say that they discussed alternatives with me, which is simply not true. a good enough reason to have a different surgeon. makes me feel like they are afraid of narcotics and back in the dark ages when it comes to managing pain.
thanks again.
avis

[acubfan]

Hello! I have actually experienced surgery from both perspectives. The surgeon who did my 1st surgery wanted me to be off of my Methadone before the surgery which was pure heck trying to wean completely off in a 3 week time period. I had hot/cold spells, terrible diarrhea, and the shakes. It was not a pleasant experience. That surgeon even had me meet with the hospital's pain team beforehand and we went over what I could and couldn't take- they had me banded that I was allergic to oxycontin and guess what I was given it in the hospital for a few days before my mom realized, by the time I was sent home I developed terrible hives and then had to be put on prednisone for a month by my regular pain dr. (it was awful). When I had surgeries 2,3,4 with a different surgeon he didn't have any concern at all about me being off of the Methadone before surgery. In fact I was on a higher dose at that time b/c the pain was so bad. I was much more comfortable going into the surgery and after they d/c the PCA pump they put me back on my oral Methadone and I was fine. I would really question the surgeon that is wanting you off of the opiates b/c you need to express your reasons for needing to be comfortable going into your surgery. Good Luck and advocate for your needs...