Hi.......I am due to have surgery on my hand ( I'm having a thumb joint replacement) and wondered what safe pain relief I should be asking for, as I'm currently taking 1500mg gabapentin fir RLS?
I follow the advice on here daily, and would welcome any on this subject.
Pain relief is fine. They will give codeine or a similar low dose opioid.The main problem with surgery is the anti nausea med given with the anaesthetic.
You need to speak to the surgeon and ask for Zofran (ondansetron) which is RLS safe.
I had surgery 3 weeks ago and they used Zofran and my RLS was fine.
Good luck.
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. 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 as Joolsg said 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. . RLS-UK also has advice under Useful Resources on their site.
Also after your surgery you need to withdraw slowly from any opioids they gave you. You will have inflammation from the surgery which will make your RLS worse but it will go away
I am a Ohysician Assistant and worked with a Hand Surgeon. I also have RKS, so I had a standard protocol for our anesthesiologist on no sedating antihistamine es snd only Ondansetron for nausea.
The Gabapentin is great for pist op pain management and you could try bumping that up as you can go higher than your current level. If you can take Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen at max doses for 20- 14 days. That combination is very effective and is a strong as Norco when combined. I routinely prescribe Oxycodone along with that to boost pain relief if needed.
You might ask for a long actingg peripheral nerve block. That is done by anesthesiologist just before surgery and can last for up to 48 hours. The only down side is your arm will not be able to move until the block wears off, but it is worth that inconvience.
Thank you
I would ask your doctor what a safe pain relief Medication would work with Gabapentin.
Hi, your post has popped up on my search for thumb joint replacement - have you had your surgery yet?
I'm about to have surgery and worried about the limitations after surgery.
Wondered if you could share your experience of it?
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