Allergy Medicine

[sassycruiser 5]

My surgery is scheduled for 12/5.

I currently take Allerga D for mold allergies among other allergies. My surgeon told me not to take any pills for 30 days after surgery. That all medicine either has to be opened up if capsules or switch to liquid. I asked my Diet Doctor who referred me to the surgeon and she told me she had never heard of such a thing. Fortunately I had the letter to show her from the surgeon. She told me to call the surgeon, who said, yes, it is precautionary and they stick by their recommendation and to call my family doctor.

SO, has anyone else ever had this problem? I really don't want to go 30 days with no allergy medicine because that will result in a nice sinus infection. I can take bendaryl by in the mouth strips but I really need the decongesant.

Thanks for any advice.

[longer-life 139]

Have you called your primary doctor and see what he/she suggests? Perhaps she can recommend a different medication or call your surgeon or anesthesiologist.

Also, was it your surgeon that told you they stick to their recommendations or the person that answered the phone? I wonder if they talked to him/her or just repeated what they always say to patients. I have allergies and there is no way I can stop taking them for a month. I haven't been told to stop taking them and my surgeries is in 10 days. I take zyrtec & a nasal spray daily.The post nasal drip alone will make you miserable after surgery. I can't imagine the sneezing and coughing! :whatchutalkingabout As a matter of fact, one of my questions on my pre-op appointment this coming Thursday is what should I do the night before surgery in regards to the Zyrtec I take at bedtime because I don't want to miss 1 dose.

I have been taking a monthly injection for years for a type of arthritis I have and my last primary doctor told me to skip a month and I was in SO MUCH PAIN I could barely get dressed to go to my breast reduction surgery (6 years ago). I was very close to not making it to the hospital! The anesthesiologist then told me that it wasn't necessary! ARGH!

So this time around I went to my rheumatologist and he told me to skip a month but to call him immediately if I have pain so he can suggest something different. In the meantime you might want to use a Neti pot once or twice a day. I will. (I'm not a doctor though.) Best wishes!

[sassycruiser 5]

Good suggestion - I will call my primary doctor. And yes, it was the person answering the phone.

Yes, I can't even imagine going without it About 1 month ago I was only able to get 12 hour instead of 24 hour, ended up with a wonderful sinus infection. I know I will have enough to deal with without drippy nose, headaches and sore throat!

[NiseeG 4]

I was given the green light to take my meds, including Celebrex (NSAID class) & Allegra, the day I was discharged. I was totally surprised. Dr. said I only had to crush them if I had trouble swallowing, but I had no trouble at all. I stayed off the Celebrex for about a month (my choice), until my arthritic hips started screaming for mercy.

[5DogMa 62]

There is a nasal spray called Astepro that is a antihistamine that works really well. It's kinda expensive, my co-pay is $25. I have really bad allergies and I spray it and Flonaise every day and I get allergy shots to boot.

[Thomas CPA 496]

I have a couple of prescription medications, none of which can be made into a liquid and if chopped will through off my dosage. I had and still have no problem taking them whole. While in hospital they gave me 8 - 25 mg pills instead of my usual 1 - 200 mg pill.

I think some doctors think the amount of Water you take for a pill may be to much at once or disturb the stomach.

Try a regular pill and see how you feel. The worse is you throw up?

[emily_0192010 168]

I was able to take small pills after I was discharged. In fact my PPI is a pill and I took it from day 3 (the day I went home). I asked my surgeon about it and if I was able to take any others if I needed them and he said that with advil I just needed to take it with food or a tsp of pepto and that after the 6ish week mark I should be fine for any other. He said that the PPI was small so it was highly unlikely to get stuck.

From my experience my PPI is about the same size as Zyrtec. I do not have allergies, but my sister does.

I also wanted to say that I am in awe of you for being able to take benadryl every day. Bendaryl knocks me off my feet for a solid 12 hours if I take it and I am drowsy and slow the next day... and that is with half a dose! I would be a zombie if I had to take it everyday lol! I really hope you can get all this sorted out before you surgery. I know how miserable my sister is without her meds (she is 6 and her doc bumped her up to the stronger allergy med, hence why she can take the zyrtec or claritin or allegra) and I can't imagine dealing with that as well as post-surgery.

Good luck!

[hunydew2262 7]

I checked and Allegra D comes in a liquid form. Your prescribing doc just needs to give you a script for that instead. Most medications come in a liquid form because there are lots of people that can't take pills. Hope this helps.

HD

[sassycruiser 5]

Thank you every one!

I will definitely check with my doc about the liquid Allerga D.

I had planned to call him this week and got off track!

Again, thank you.

[longer-life 139]

Update. I will be allowed to take all my medicines that include Zyrtec & Nasonex the night before my surgery. I will be given all my medications (pills are small) at the hospital after surgery, so I won't have to skip any dosage. Good luck!

[fluffylibra30 323]

i take Clartin and it comes in a liquid form, i use it for my daughter because she cant swallow a pill yet. It tastes HORRIBLE though, i tried it, it tastes worse than Nyquil

[sassycruiser 5]

That is what they gave me liquid Claritin. The primary care doctor said absolutely no decongestants after surgery. I am sure I can live with the Claritin but it sure looks yucky in the bottle!