Stopping Suboxone for Surgery

mbraaheidner · Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 6

I am currently on Suboxone and have been since March 2008. I am taking 10 mg per day. I am scheduled to have carpal tunnel release surgery on my left hand on Monday 7/21 and my hand surgeon wants me off of the Suboxone prior to the surgery.

My physician who prescribes me the Suboxone told me that I will be ok if I stop taking it only 1 day prior to the surgery. So my plan will be to take my normal dose of 5mg Saturday 7/19 at 4pm and then just not take it on Sunday 7/20. Then when I start to feel withdrawel symptoms I will begin taking regular pain medications to take the edge off until my surgery. Then of course I will take pain meds during and post surgery until I can go back on Suboxone again.

My question is: Is one day prior to surgery enough for stopping the Suboxone to ensure that it doesn't interfere with anesthesiology and other pain medicines or should I stop the Suboxone sooner than 1 day before my surgery?

Thank you,

Michele

CC · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 2

I am also going for carpal tunnel release and the doc wants me off for two full weeks. He also will not write me any pain meds. The doc that is subscribing the suboxone has to write it. I hope he will. ??? Confused with it all. So now I am trying to taper down. I will post back and let you know how its going. Today 1- 8mg tablet in morning. Doing good so far. Smile

mbraaheidner · Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 6

Hello CC,

Well, I don't know if you noticed the date of my post (March 2008) but I had my carpal tunnel surgery already. This is what happened in regards to the Suboxone. My Suboxone prescribing Physician told me that I only needed to be off the Suboxone for 1 day prior to surgery. Thank goodness I checked into this further and went off of the Suboxone 5 days before surgery because the pain meds did not work until about 5 or 6 days after my last dose of Suboxone. Suboxone stays in your system for a very long time and blocks the effects of pain medications.

The surgeon that did my carpal tunnel release prescribed me pain meds and yours should too. That's rediculous! Since the pain you will be in will be from the surgery he or she is performing. Anyway--I hope it turns out good for you. I know that after I stopped the Suboxone I started to feel real bad on the 3rd day without it. I had to ask my regular physician to give me some Atavan to help with the withdrawel symptoms until I had my surgery and could get on the pain meds. After surgery, I took the pain meds for about another 10 days and then I stopped and waited 18 hours after my last pain med dose and started back on the Suboxone. I was happy to get back on Suboxone because I seemed to have gotten an even greater tolerance to pain meds and had to take more of them every 3 hours and I really didn't like it. They just didn't effect me like they used to.

Anyway--good luck with your surgery!

Michele

CC · Joined: 26 Oct 2008 Posts: 2

I am so tired and sleepy today. Only took a 4mg. tablet this a.m. I have a month to stop but I am starting early because I have heard that it is hard. I don't see my sub doc until Nov. 25. I will ask for some ativan and some pain meds to deal with w/d and pain. I hope he understands and will cooperate. I will have him call the surgeon too. My sub doc is very good and I really like him. I have to have the surgery, as you know it is no fun to have your hand numb all the time and I need it for my work. Ok Thanks for the quick answer as I saw no one answered yours. :[

cc

mbraaheidner · Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 6

Thanks CC for the quick response to my response! Just one more thing. Sounds like you got everything under control and your method is to taper off the Suboxone over a longer period of time. That will work but what you need to remember is--the Suboxone takes about 5 days to completely leave your system so make sure you stop taking the suboxone completely 5 days prior to your surgery so that the pain medicine for your surgery will work. I reccomend being off the Suboxone for 6 days so that you can use the day prior to your surgery to have a trial run on the pain meds just to see how you react to them. Then when you have your surgery and you are in pain you won't have any surprises.

Also, I asked my doc for Ativan only because the pain meds that I was prescribed by my surgeon (for the withdrawel off the Suboxone prior to my surgery) wasn't working because the Suboxone was blocking it! This was about 3 days after I completely stopped taking the Suboxone. Then on around day 5, the pain meds started working to take away the withdrawel therefore I was able to stop taking the Ativan and continue with the pain meds through and after my surgery. It doesn't sound like you have enough pre-surgery support in order for you to handle getting off the Suboxone and getting on regular pain meds.

I understand that this is hard because even doctors that prescribe Suboxone (like my Subox doctor who told me 1 day would be enough!) don't understand the drug and how long it stays in your system blocking other pain meds. I had to do the research myself and work with both my primary care physician and the surgeon in order to make sure I had all of the medications that I needed in order to make it through the Subox withdrawel before my surgery. You don't want to be too stressed out prior to surgery and your doctor's should understand this and help you out.

Is there any way for you to go and see your Subox doc soon? or at least a week prior to your surgery to insure that you have the meds you need to get through the pre- surgery time period when you are completely off Suboxone and will be in the worst withdrawel?

My thoughts are with you,

Michele