Supplements denied by Preadmit nurse

I had my preadmit visit with the castle nurse yesterday. My castle visit is this Wed. morning. They also did my lab work, EKG and chest xray. What bothers me and I need to hear from you all is after discussing all the supplements and the advil I take she told me to cut out glucosamine, and the advil for the pain I take each night. She said take tylonol instead which does not, has never worked for me. Said take darvocet instead. I'm amazed.
I take MSM separately from the glucosamine and that's okay. I take flax seed oil capsules and that's okay.
But here's the kicker! I drink an energy drink that is full of vitamins, amino acids, caffeine (50mgs) and ephedra (20 mgs) 3 times daily. Makes me feel good, gives me energy, helps me focus at work and I know I am getting everything I need. I told her all that was in this drink and she told to stop if it has Vitamin A & vitamin C in it. The directions to stop the above (glocosamine, Vit A & C, advil) is due to possible bleeding during surgery. (I am currently taking iron for the surgery) I know I have to quit 24 hours preop because of the ephedra but why now?

I am not anemic. I had an incident 21 years ago giving birth to a monster sized baby boy (rough delivery - lost a lot of blood, no transfusion). That's it. What are the chances? I am in pain and tired. I haven't given any of it up yet for surgery except the glucosamine and my joints are not happy. took advil last night and drinking my drink yesterday and this morning as I write this.
your thoughts? my doc is on vacation. can't talk to her until monday.
thanks
peg

Hiya Peg,

I couldn't tell you the precise answer to your question. All I know is that they do have very specific reasons why they issue the preop orders that they do, and that some of those supplement items can have residuals/residual effects in your body well beyond 24 hours.

I think you're smart to ask as soon as you can (maybe someone else in the doc's office can answer before Monday?) so you can fully understand. I would follow the instructions to the letter. If Darvocet is ok, then I think I would take that in place of the Advil for your pain, bless your heart.

Take care; Hang in there ~ Wednesday will be here before you know it!!

first of all, not to sound snotty, but she's a nurse, not a doctor, and not a nutritionist. and in MY opinion, doctors know diddly squat about supplements. it's sort of a knee-jerk reaction to tell you to stop taking everything.

I went to my nutritionist (he's an ND, which means he's got a PhD in nutrition) to go over my supplements to take during the 2 weeks pre-op and what to take post-op. he disagreed with a few things the dr's info sheet told me to do, and I followed his direction.

they want you to stop taking things that A/might affect bleeding and B/they don't know anything about in terms of its affects on surgery. I'm surprised they let you keep taking MSM, because they haven't done much study on that. I reduced my MSM 2 weeks before and stopped taking it 4 days before at the advice of my nutritionist.

I think you need to be careful with your nutrition shake before and after the surgery (until you're off narcotic pain meds and the anesthetic is through your system). that's MY opinion, and I'm not a nurse, dr OR nutritionist! lol

the way I look at it is "better safe than sorry" and if they tell you not to take something, you might as well not take it. I have some favorite supplements that I take and was sorry to stop taking, so I got a second opinion from the nutritionist. and I DIDN'T tell the hospital anything when I checked in, knowing that they don't understand the supplements as well as the nutritionist.

The general rule for surgery and taking related OTC's like Advil or Aleve is to quit them 10 days prior to surgery. It takes this long for them to get out of your system. They increase the bleeding time while you are undergoing surgery. I'm trying to get this fact into DH's head for his upcoming hernia surgery in November.

Follow their directions or you may have trouble during surgery and the doctors could end up giving you a transfusion if you lose too much blood during surgery.

IMHO that is - always consult with your doctors first!

Good luck with your surgery!

Hey little-ducky,
did your nutritionist say anything about the Vit A & C? I understand that I need to knock off the stimulants and thus stop drinking my drink but that can wait, right? my sheet says 24 hrs prior. My resting heartrate is healthy and actually quite low (aerobics, etc) but admit nurse wants me to stop because of the A & C.
You see in my family, our hearts are strong, healthy, it's cancer that kills the women in my family.
thanks
peg

	Quote:
I went to my nutritionist (he's an ND, which means he's got a PhD in nutrition) to go over my supplements to take during the 2 weeks pre-op and what to take post-op. he disagreed with a few things the dr's info sheet told me to do, and I followed his direction.

The DR who is going to be performing the surgery is the ONLY person whose instructions matter. S/he is the person who has your life in his/her hands, and who is responsible if anything happens, and if they prefer to be safe rather than sorry, then that's the way it is. Period.

The nurse who went over the instructions with you was following the directions of the surgeon, and also the procedures for that particular hospital. If they want those things stopped now, they have a reason.

Stop drinking the drink and taking the advil. Check with your DR on Monday, or even though it's the weekend you can call and ask a question. Don't do anything that can cause your surgery to be postponed, but if you choose not to follow the instructions make sure you tell them the day of surgery, so they can be prepared if it causes a problem.

I got the same orders.....NO vitamins, NO supplements, NO pain relievers containing ASPIRIN, NO BC Pills. I was only OK'd to take Regular or Extra-Strength Tylenol and neither of those ever did me any good either so Im just biting the bullet. The only thing Im required to take is the ATENELOL that was prescribed for my very slightly elevated heart rate (from anxiety). All that does is open my arteries to allow blood to flow more effortlessly. Its not a thinner.

Then way I see it.....THE SURGEON/Doctor giving the order KNOWS BEST!! I am in no position to second guess them. My job is to follow orders ...LOL. I dont need to have my anesthesia affected mid-surgery because I have some trace amount of something Im not supposed to be taking in my system. I dont need to have uncontrolled bleeding because some trace amount of something affected it also. My heart rate doesnt need to be off kilter because of ephedra or caffiene traces.

It seems to me.....that anything put in your body...especially over longer periods of time on a steady basis leaves behind ""TRACE AMOUNTS"". They may take one, two, three days to flush out of your system or decreased to an inactive state....sometimes maybe longer. The idea of being cut off from them 7 - 10 days ahead of time seems like a ""BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY"" idea....and a good one at that.

Just hang in there.....we can bite the bullet together. Its just one week. The LAST week of our suffering!!!! Sometimes it seems like we're hitting >rock bottom< just before we feel the uplift. Keep thinking about >THE DAY AFTER<!!!! Cmon girl we can do this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If I had cheerleader Pom-Poms Id be handing them to some Princess to jump up and down for us ( I sure cant do it right now). LOL!!!!!!

FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS!!!! HEALING HEALING HEALING!!!!

okay, so I'm not thinking straight right now.
wasn't thinking about the impact to all the things you have all brought up. I'm not a bleeder (except for the gawdawful hemoragging once a month!) and my heart doesn't race, but I have been on all these supplements for awhile.
So somebody just wake me up at my desk when I fall asleep at work, cuz I sure ain't sleeping at night!
Here's to you, feisty...
Told my DH I've been scolded! his response...but darn time.
Thanks all for caring enough to scold.
no more caffeine, ephedra, no more glucosamine, MSM, and no more advil. guess I will have to dig out my DH's darvocet left over from his knee surgeries 8 months ago when I get desperate.

peg

Man ....youre lucky you have Darvocet!!! I just saw the first glimpse of THE LAST FIRE BREATHING DRAGON!!!! Im in for the last period now....with no pain relief!!!!! Its here!!! Im gonna have to run out and fly my kite and carve that pumpkin FAST!!! AGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

Hey wait a minute :lightbulb: If I can take Regular Tylenol and Extra Strength Tylenol...I wonder if I can take Tylenol PM!?!?!

Tylenol PM is the only Tylenol product that seems to help just a little. Im going to have my boyfriend hide the ADVIL, MIDOL, and Aspirin.

Im gonna call and ask.

I would go off the A and C just because you probably get a little bit of them in your regular diet anyway. and yes from 4 days before the surgery, I was on nothing at all. nothing. I would take the doctor's instructions over anyone here, and over a nurse. you can simply call the dr's office and ask specifically about the supplements and vitamins that you feel attached to.

I happen to be particularly annoyed and jaded about doctors giving nutritional instructions, and THAT'S MY OWN EXPERIENCE and I don't recommend others do it. (long story short: about 5 yrs ago I was told I'd never walk again by a dr and through supplements and stopping medication I'm fine now -- I can share my story with anyone interested). I also think the regular run-of-the-mill nutritionist isn't the same as an ND. I don't want to advise anyone to do what I did. I have other medical problems I'm dealing with, so my priorities and actions are different.

not taking vitamins for a few days isn't going to hurt you. it's actually a good habit to let your liver and kidneys have a rest anyway. best of luck with your surgery! do what the dr wants you to do and before you know it, you'll be on the other side and can resume your regular supplements!