upcoming procedure and fentanyl under anesthesia

[onthefence]

Hi, I am just 20 days clean from 8 year opiate addiction, but have been having stomach problems since sept. that got worse during 2nd week of detox, had some tests today, and now they have called and want another procedure that is more internal, and have said that I would be on versed  (midazolam) & fentanyl.

I am still not perceiving things 100% and of course have addict thinking, so when I said that I wanted no opiates and would rather have propanolol, the nurse did not seem to like my input and also my insurance may not cover it, .I understand this is there standard protocol and got the feeling the way she spoke to me that I could take it or leave it.

I am having terrible stomach pain after eating and especially at night and have not had much rem sleep yet, just a couple hours at time as i am up & down to restroom a lot.

My biggest fear is that all the extra receptors (mu) that I have created will open up and I will crave and relapse as it is so early and I have a lot going on in life (kind of hit bottom) and don't even have all my aftercare in place and am doing this w/wife of 29 years.Also am very very scared of w/d again as had about 200 mg. oxy hydro, habit daily and heroin sometimes or methadone not to be sick and went cold turkey and it was rough, and quite frankly do not want to go thru that hell again especially with my medical problem.So was wondering what ppl's thoughts were here about if I would actually feel w/d from the short procedure under hospital setting, I really don't trust doctors as most have never experienced w/d and sometimes mean well but don't really know , just what they read and study.
and as i am sure some here are aware fentynal is aprox. 100x stronger than morphine.
thanks and all answers welcome.

[FSGirl]

You have no idea.
Addiction is a patient and loyal friend. The mind twisting that takes us back to using after a period of being clean can happen well after one day. It's scary as hell and for many of us it is a matter of life and death. Never assume that an addict - no matter how long they are clean - will respond in the same way as a non addict. I have been clean for 24 years and I am still very careful.

[Kresaera]

I didn't mean any unkindness toward nurses, my mother in law is an rn and I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. In my experience I've just gathered that on the phone, before the surgery, questions I've had about medications being used during surgery couldn't be answered by the nurses. I was always referred to ask the doctor on the day of, or the anestegiologist.

I should have worded that differently, I apologize if I offended you, it wasn't meant to come across that way.

[onthefence]

Thank you all for your input it has helped me alot, i will just try to follow at this point and not lead so to speak, and stay in the moment.......

[dominosarah]

I think you will be fine too.  You need this procedure to find out what is going on.  Tell the doctor what is going on with you.  I had that procedure once and i didnt even remember having it done!  Try not to worry, i know easier said than done.  It will be more of a relief to find out why you are having stomach pain and then you and the doctor can come up with a plan to get you better.  Focus on that.  You are doing great.  Stick close to the forum and we will be here to help.     sara

[Missylkg]

Hi sorry i,m being really scatty at the mo i,m heading into wd and my mind is messed please forgive me ;)....I,d been clean 8 weeks had fent/midaz/propafol i one off doses during procedure i was discharged home same day with a box of 30 30mg dihydocodiene....i proceded to do in the box over the following 36 hrs.....i took nothing after that and i experienced extremely mild wd....an hour of very, very mild restlessness for 2 nights, lasting around an hour, slept fairly well otherwise...no stomach upset, no loose stools, no crushing mood swings, a little bit of sweating but fine, personally i did not crave....i was doing meetings etc at the time so did not want to relapse.....it was only after the biggie i was terrified of a proper wd that i carried on to avoid it and got deeper and deeper in as always....good luck....last msg i promise :) Lx

[Missylkg]

Sorry meant to add....here are some questions i wish i,d asked....what are the options of anaesthesia, what are the options for post procedure pain control, how does consent work if you dont agree to opiates...take care Lx

[Missylkg]

Hiya im new here and a bit apprehensive still about posting but i could really relate to you post so i thought i,d write in anyway and let you make up your own mind whether or not any of it is useful to you.

I believe our situations have many similaries....i managed to quit opiates and was only 3 weeks clean when i received short term notice of surgery....like you i wanted to avoid all opiates and made my requests known to both the pre op nursing staff and the anaethesist who saw me immediately post op....i also requested propofol instead of midaz/fent combo...i put under and maintained with propofol and given there were no complications i did not require ventilation (breathing tube down my thoat) i had 4 other procudures and my last one (4 months into my clean time) was a biggie and they fired me full of all sorts and i was on a morphine pump then into my sub cutaneous tissue for 3 days then discharged home with a mix of opiates.....i wish i,d had the courage to not take the opiates  on discharge but i was not able to do this at the time.....its now 8 months since the surgery and im now about to tackle getting off them again (being honest could,ve got by post op without em saw it as a golden egg of lots of free meds)....in summary i can totally see where you are coming from.....it is possible from my experience to have procedures done with propofol and looking back i wish id been more honest with my providers about my situation/addiction history and had a plan in place to avoid me repeating this cycle all over again.....personally i can't manage my opiate use....it sets me right back into my addiction cycle all over again.....so in summary....stick your ground....speak to an aneasthetist, have a pain plan in place and i wish you the very best of luck take care Lx

[tomskat]

Hey there...try not to worry. I agree with Vicki on this one. Besides the versed will knock you out well before the fentanyl kicks in. I think you should be fine. Keep us posted!! Hang in there and congrats on your clean time!!!

[vicki595]

"usually the nurses have no idea".  I think that statement is unkind and untrue, not to mention horribly disrespectful to all the highly educated,highly skilled nurses...

[vicki595]

Hi-   I wouldn't worry about this. It's just a one time dose of both drugs to get you through the procedure. They may not have appreciated your input because propanolol is not necessarily indicated and could require intubation which the procedure may not call for. It's more likely that "conscious sedation" is what's called for here.

I really don't think this is going to awaken the beast and I think the benefit of having this done far outweighs a potential problem. I work in surgery and PACU and there are often folks who are in recovery. They receive the usual drugs and when I call to check on them the next day or so, they're fine. So, that's why I think you'll be fine!

[Kresaera]

I recently had my gall bladder taken out due to stones and I was given 2mg of dilaudid every 2 hours because I was in so much pain. It did not effect me at all. I didn't even so much as feel the doses they were giving me. You were taking a MUCH higher dose than any hospital will give you and after 20 days, you should still have somewhat of a tolerance. You may feel some withdraw from it but it shouldn't be close to what you felt before.

Tell the doctor about your wishes, usually the nurses have no idea but they should respect that you are wanting to stay clean.