Upcoming Foot Surgery

[CathyJoH]

I'm having outpatient foot surgery in June. What should I be thinking about with regard to my RLS? I have read that I should ask for Zofran for anitinausea. Is that correct? Anything else I should be be talking to my doctor about? Thank you!

[ChrisColumbus]

Regarding anti nauseates RlS-UK says in 'Medications to Avoid':"Discuss any anti nauseates with your doctors before surgery as many, including prochlorperazine or metoclopramide, will trigger RLS during and after surgery. Safe alternatives include odansetron (Zofran), domperidone or granisetron hydrochloride"

I hope that it goes well.

[SueJohnson]

Tell your doctors and anesthesiologists about your RLS and its symptoms and that you need your medicine and ask if there will be any drug interactions from what they will give you. Naloxone can affect anesthesia so tell them if taking. Also talk with the patient representative ahead of time. Tell them not to give you any sedating antihistamines or sedating anti-nausea medications. Instead insist they use Zofran (ondansetron) for anti-nausea. You can download the Medical Alert Card that you can show your doctors, that tells them about the condition and what will happen after surgery and what medicines to avoid at rlshelp.org/ although you will need to join the RLS foundation. An international membership is $40, but they have some good information on it and you get their monthly magazine. However the safe antidepressants listed on medical alert card are not antidepressants: Lamotrigine, Carbamazepine, Oxcarbazepine. Also there is a 2 page handout "Surgery and RLS: Patient Guide" on the RLS Foundation website which is very helpful. Also "Hospitalization Checklist for the Patient with RLS" And make sure your ferritin is high as surgery can cause blood loss making your ferritin go down

[Typicallygaslit]

I’ve recently had foot surgeries, one correcting something that went wrong after the first one. One aggravated the RLS and the other improved it a bit. I don’t really know what to think other than that the anomaly was irritating my foot. Unfortunately the correction hasn’t been entirely successful either but things are a bit better overall. Unfortunately I get post surgery nausea as I’m intolerant to most drugs, and despite them doing what they could to avoid it (by using nerve blockers, for instance) I still got it the second time. They wanted me to use an anti-emetic but I don’t tolerate any of them. Instead a nice nurse gave me IV fluids and after an extra day in hospital I was ok. I always stay the night anyway as I don’t have help at home, it feels so much safer in so many ways. I’m sorry to say that only bad experiences help understand what you tolerate and what you don’t. But yes you can try and ask for Ondansetron (Zofran).