I am currently in methadone treatment and coming up to have surgery which will require anesthesia as well as pain meds. Is there any pain meds that are effective while in methadone treatment? I have a list of pain meds not to take and that aren't generally effective while taking methadone. I know that
Darvocet was one that was effective but it has since been taken off of the market. What if any are other choices? Is there any anesthesia medication I should avoid?
Thanks
I am having surgery requiring anesthesia and pain meds. I am a methadone user. What is safe and eff?
Question posted by Jhall85 on 25 Jan 2012
Last updated on 6 December 2017
Answers
Nik.Nikita
26 Jan 2012
Jhall85,
As a nurse, I would first suggest you taking a methadone vacation for two - three days prior to your surgery. Since I don't know what kind of surgery or how long your hospital stay will be, I also suggest you speaking to your surgeon and anesthesiologist prior to surgery about your methadone treatment. They will be able to come up with a plan of action that works best for you. Generally speaking though, your doctor will know ahead of time what pain medicines will be prescribed during your hospital stay and also for you to take home with you for a limited time. It really depends on what kind of surgery you will be having and how long of a recovery period it will be for you. Best of luck with both!! Please insist that anyone taking care of you in the hospital including all nurses and doctors wash their hands and put on gloves before any procedure. This should be automatic for them, but unfortunately it isn't always the case. I had a minor surgery a year ago which included the dreaded catheter. You wouldn't believe how many nurses I had to insist wash their hands and put on gloves before touching the catheter. It only takes one time, not washing hands, to pass along some really nasty germs that can cause life threatening infections. Some people are afraid to say anything to the nurses, but just consider what can happen to you if you don't!!! Good luck!! NIK
Jhall85
26 Jan 2012
Nik Thanks so much for your reply. I am having my uterus removed, repair work done to my rectum which has prolapsed (as well as my uterus), repair to vaginal area due to the above and bladder repair. It requires 1 night in the hospital but it is considered out patient. I just am really concerned about pain control since methadone blocks any type of opiate medication per my understanding. I know that
Darvocet was effective in combination with methadone maintenance but as I state earlier it has been removed from the market. Do you have any other suggestions now that I have detailed the surgery procedures? I welcome any help!!
Nik.Nikita
27 Jan 2012
Jhall85,
With all due respect, would you mind telling me why you are taking methadone? I ask because it makes a difference when thinking of taking a methadone vacation . Can your body tolerate not taking it for a few days? I'll explain my own situation to you and maybe it will help you to understand what I'm trying to say. I've had migraine headaches for most of my life. For the past 15 years , minus the last two years, I was being prescribed some very strong narcotics for pain control. I did o.k. For the first few years, never taking more than prescribed and only taking them when needed for the migraines.
Then something happened in my life which triggered my addiction gene and before you know it, I'm taking a lot of medication for all of the wrong reasons just to feel normal!! To try and make a long story short, two years ago I woke up one day and decided that I had had enough!! I went through 10 days of the worst detox you could imagine and then I went to a Suboxone clinic. I was put on Suboxone 8mg. Tabs sublingual twice a day, everyday. I felt better almost immediately. Suboxone prevents a person from suffering from the lingering effects of withdrawal. Most people are only on it for a few days. My doctor and I have chosen to stay on it long term. I have only had about three migraines in the past two years and the Suboxone relieves the pain caused by them. It also enables me to feel normal and lead a normal life, drug free. Before that I was up to having a migraine about every couple of days. After I quit taking all the drugs they prescribed me, the headaches stopped!! I was taking ativan1mg. Twice a day, Lortab 10mg. Tabs 4xday, vicodin 5mg.tabs 3xday, Phenergan 25mg.tabs 4xday, Lunesta sleeping pills-supposed to be only once at night, but was taking them 2-3xday! I was taking too much medication for anyone to be taking!! So for the past two years I've been taking only the Suboxone , Phenergan for nausea and vomiting, and acifex for my acid reflux. I had my uterus removed a year after my last child was born 25 years ago because my uterus prolapsed after having such big babies. My last child weighed 10lbs., and I wasn't a big girl, I only weighed 105 prior to that pregnancy, 156lbs. At delivery. Anyhow, 25years later my bladder prolapsed too!! Ain't it just great being a woman? Ha!Ha! So I go into the hospital for a two night stay for the surgery. I stopped taking the Suboxone three days prior to my surgery. I did fine with the anesthesia during surgery, morphine IV post op, Percocet tabs after the morphine was stopped in hospital, and went home with 20 tabs of Vicodin which was to last me for a week at home, but I quit taking them after three days , waited another three days without taking anything, and then went back on the Suboxone and did fine with all of it. I was up front with my Suboxone doctor, my GYN doctor, and to this day I continue to take Suboxone everyday. I live a normal life, I feel fine, even good somedays!! And I continue to work as a nurse-LPN. It's kind of ironic though when I consider that for years I was taking narcotic pain meds just about everyday and still working just fine. I never had a problem with drug testing because they all knew about the narcotic pain meds I was taking for migraines. You would be surprised to know how many nurses have migraines and are taking narcotics for them. I have more trouble now taking the Suboxone and working. Before when I was tested I could continue to work even with narcotics in my system because it was on my records as needed for migraines. But now that I am taking a medication to prevent me from taking any narcotics, to prevent me from wanting to take any narcotics, and preventing me from getting any kind of buzz from any narcotic while taking the Suboxone, if it shows up on a random drug test I will be relieved of duty for it. Crazy huh?? I thought so!! Anyhow, back to you, I was given methadone once in my life for a migraine, if you can believe that!! I was so out of it from that drug that I couldn't function at all !!! For me, it was worse than all of the drugs combined. Drugs effect everyone differently. So my advice to you for your own safety would be to be honest with your methadone prescriber and your surgeon too! Explain to them why you are taking the methadone, why you need surgery, and they will come up with the best plan of care for you. The recovery time will be different for everyone , but for me, for the same surgery I was up and about three days after the surgery. I went back to work a week after the surgery and I felt fine. I hope that everything goes well for you! Let me know how you are doing! Nik
alwazonmymind
1 March 2012
Sorry to step in on your conversation, I just wanted to let you know that I am sorry that you are having the issues you are having and to also let you know that I believe if you will do as Nicki said,be very honest with every1 concerned,but too,i feel you will be fine coming off the methadone for the 3 days prier to surgery,also that the sub&methadone are pretty much the same kind of medicine. They both are used to detox one off of opioids/opiates, and that one is used to take one off the other, meaning the methadone can take one off the suboxone and visa versa. I do pray that your not in pain when your surgery is over so maybe if that's the reason your taking the methadone you won't have to take anything afterwards, if you chose of course.But with you not being on the methadone I don't see any reason why any narcotic, be it Lorcet, Percocet,etc.any of them will help with the pain b/c like you said the methadone stops any action from the narcs. So that being said, I thank you will be fine. Wish you well.
Nik.Nikita
1 March 2012
Jhall85, if you will friend me I will be able to ask you private questions, but until then, how did your surgery go? Did you have it yet? I hope everything is going well for you. Let us know how things turned out, we care about you here on this site. There are a lot of really good people here that will talk to you and help give advice whenever you need it. Talk to you soon I hope. NIK
Bean42
6 Dec 2017
Thanks so much. I wish I had done this days ago. You have been very helpful
Related topics
anesthesia, opiate withdrawal, pain, methadone, surgery
Further information
- Methadone uses and safety info
- Methadone prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Methadone (detailed)
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