Its Jewels, Needing Advice.....

this has been a terrible winter for me, last fall i switched to lexapro from paxil and i wasnt able to tolerate the lexapro as it had me too sedated at 20 mg, when i cut back to 10 mg it put me in the worst depressive episode last week, my doctor put me back on paxil and i am on my way to feeling better.
on top of being so depressed i developed a sinus infection in january, after 3 treatments of antibiotics with no improvement, the dr ordered a ct scan of my sinuses and they are all blocked, so now i am facing a sinus operation on feb 18 and i need some advice. the dr said i may need some pain medication after the surgery, i explained to him i am an addict on suboxone.i am at 2 mg now.
how long does one have to be off sub to prevent precipitated wd's if i were to take some short term pain medication? and then how long off the pain medication to go back on the sub?
i am going to try and do a non narcotic pain medication post operatively, but if the pain is so intense i may do one or two days max of vicodin and then flush the rest. i have learned my lesson and i am playing the tape all the way thru.
they also are going to repair a deviated septum, so i am fearing that there maybe some pain afterwards.
i was thinking this would be a good time to go off the sub forever, but i dont want to drop that quickly in two weeks time and i just got my moods back to normal and i will be trying to quit smoking at the same time, so going off sub will be addressed after all this is over.
i have 2 1/.2 yrs clean now, and just finishing my 4th step. but have been struggling with depression and wanting to isolate.the headaches everyday from the blocked sinuses are unbearable!! it feels like my head is in a vice and my teeth even throb and ache from the pain. i have to wait 2 weeks for surgery to get all the motrin out of my system that i had to take daily for the headaches, motrin thins the blood, but they said i can switch to tylenol for the headaches. 2 more weeks ugh! hopefully i will be back to normal. love jewels
Hi Jewels,

Im so sorry to hear of your troubles.I may not have the answer for you,but I can post about my surgeries.(5 ).My dose was alot higher than yours thats why no matter what anyone says here ( me included)you really need to talk with your Dr & surgion.Its your right.

Anyways,I was told not to take it the morning of the surgeries,than after,the pain meds they did give me I didnt get a buzz from it,& to tell the truth Im not even sure the other PPs helped the pain.
Than after the surgeries,if I had a script (which I usually didnt)after I was done I waited 12-13 hours just to be safe.I wasnt on very high doses of after surgery meds.

Anyways,so your starting to level out with the depression?Thats good.Winter just has this way of feeling......cold,bummy.I hope things work out
Love mj


Wow Julie, I am sorry to read this. I have to tell you, my daughter had this same surgery a few years ago, and my SIL had it recently, and it is no cake walk.

As for the timing of switching over, ask your dr. You may be able to get by afterwards with Motrin, and if not, do not beat yourself up over it. Addicts are allowed to be comfortable, just give them to someone to hold for you, then flush them when you are done.

Good luck, and hope you feel better soon.
Sorry for all your troubles Jewels...I don't know much about the dosing for sub but I do know that if they give you long acting pain meds, you have to be off of them for even longer before you go back on sub. Does your sub dr specialize in sub? If so, have him work with your surgeons and have him do all the pain meds and schedules.
QUOTE
Wow Julie, I am sorry to read this. I have to tell you, my daughter had this same surgery a few years ago, and my SIL had it recently, and it is no cake walk.

can you explain a little more carol? do you mean the pain is really bad? jewels
jewels I had this surgery a few years back, best thing I ever did, I wasn't on sub, and the pain afterwards was minimal. Like Carol said it isn't a cake walk but what surgery is. I could breath again and the sinus headaches stopped. I will not sugar coat this since you asked, it is the grossest surgery I have ever had, meaning, the crap afterwards, the sleeping sitting upright, the drainage, packing, pain yes it was there but not as bad as one would think. I had worse sinus headaches than the pain post op. I did take pain meds once I got home but only for a year,, kidding, only for a few days. Bottom line is it is surgery. Focus on how much better you will feel once you are healed.

Are they doing it on an outpatient bases? They wanted to keep me one night, but I knew I would feel better at home, so I left that evening. Jewels you are going to have pain, use the meds for that, remember they dont give us unlimited amounts of pain pills, they know how much to give and in what time frame, had I called after a week and said I needed more, I would have been put back in the hospital to see what was going on.
Everyone heals differently.

Remember this surgery takes the pain away from the horrid sinus infections and headaches one gets from being blocked. You will be fine.
Hi Jewells! So sorry to hear about your troubles hon. I have nothing to offer in the way advice, but I do know that you will make the right choices for your recovery.

I can't imagine having to go through surgery while on sub. I know that Kerry (littlebeach) did however just a few months back , I hope she will check in and let you know how it went for her. I think she did have some trouble getting her Doctors on the same page.

I think she was completely off the sub for at least 4 or 5 days prior to going under. Maybe that is the right way. Maybe it is time to get off the sub if you feel like you are ready. I know I was ready and I have been off completely since December. It was a long long road but it was done with minimal discomfort. I had so much going on and still do but I knew that I was ready. You are at such a low dose now and only have a little bit further to go. On the other hand....maybe while recovering from surgery isn't the right time to come off. You know how we can trick ourselves into justifying anything!!

Big hugs!!!

I am in so much pain i dont know if i can make it to the 18th. my face feels like its going to crack! tylenol is not helping. motrin worked better. but they dont want me on the motrin before surgery. just tilting my head forward is so painful and i cant sleep horizontal so i have been in the recliner.
yes brooke its outpatient surgery, and you say the pain afterwards is not too bad? the dr said something about having to wear splints in my nose afterwards???
any suggestions to relieve this pressure? i tried breathing steam from a bowl of hot water with a towel over my head.
kee kee congrats on coming off sub!! so it wasnt too bad??? did you go down to crumbs before you jumped off?
thanks for all the advice everyone. keep it coming, i need it!
Hi Julie,

I'm sorry to hear about your chronic sinus infections and your up coming surgery. I have no advice about the sub. I see that you have to take Tylenol now & it's not helping much. Is there any otc allergy that would help?

Have you tried those breath strips? They may help as they pull apart the skin and open the passages up. Also B-Propolis 70% strength is a natural antibiotic made by honey bees. It's about $ 20.00 dollars for 1oz. bottle, not cheap. It helps build your immune system too. Apparently it doesn't build a tolerance like synthetic antibiotics can.

Also eucalyptus oil may help. Rub a little around your sinuses and above your eyebrows, but not to close to your eyes. Then take warm washcloths, put them in the microwave. Pack them on your face, repeat a few times. Air dry and put the breath strips on. Just some suggestions that may alleviate some of your pain. Someone told me tea bags helped along time ago, but I never tried them.

I'm so sorry that your having so much pain Julie. I hope time will pass quickly and your surgery will be a success. Talk to your Dr. and your anthestiologist about the timing of stopping the sub before surgery.

I will keep you in my prayers.
I did take pain meds once I got home but only for a year


LMAO Brooke!!

Jewels, She said what everyone else has said, the pain was SO worth the end result. She had had sinus problems for so long, she didn't know what it was like to really breathe.

Again, I say that just because we are addicts we do not have to suffer. Your call, but I found that using pain meds as they were intended was an amazing concept, and it works! LOL