Nausea and medication questions

kellyk · May 2, 2005

A girlfriend and I are scheduled to have the surgery later this month. My girlfriend and I spoke this morning by telephone and she is starting to have some reservations about going through with the surgery.

She pointed out to me that some people suffer terribly from nausea after the surgery. She knows that this would be a big concern to me because ever since I was a child, I have not handled nausea like a normal person. I pass out! No kidding. When I was 18 years old, I had a bad stomach bug, was nauseous and passed out while sitting in a chair in the kitchen. I knocked out my 2 front teeth! That was the worst harm that I have experienced from passing out due to nausea. Doctors had my brain ct-scanned to see if there was some physical reason for my losing consciousness. But the scan came back negative and the doctors have said that I just have a very low threshold for tolerating nausea. I have learned that when I am feeling nauseous, I must lay down immediately. I will not even attempt to drive a car if I am feeling sick to my stomach.

I did not think that nausea was that big an issue on an on-going basis after the surgery but my friend says that she has read to the contrary in a number of lapband chat rooms. Can you all tell me whether she is right? Because nausea is so terribly debilitating for me, if she is right, I will need to reconsider. But I am hoping so much that she is wrong.

Second, my friend suffers from Migraines and she said that according to her research, once someone has this surgery, they cannot take anti-inflammatory and pain medications or IMITREX. If this is true, then she said that she cannot go forward with the surgery because she must retain the ability to medicate herself whenever she is struck with a headache. She said that she also takes Excedrin Migraine when a headache is first coming on.

Can you all tell me whether my friend's research is correct? Her husband is not yet supportive of her having this surgery and so she has been doing research in an effort to persuade him of its merits. The problem now is that she is getting a lot of negative information.

While I desperately wish to have this surgery, I also want to go in to it with my eyes wide open as to any potential problems -- and nausea would be a biggie for me and medications would be a biggie for my friend.

Thanks for any replies to this post!

alatina · May 2, 2005

people are VERY helpful here so Im sure you will get alot of info very quick-good luck.I had mine done wednesday and have no nausea.

the best me · May 2, 2005

I was fortunate NOT to have experienced post-anesthesia nausea. Some have trouble with the pain medications causing nausea, but the medication can easily be changed. I would definately be sure you have some Phenergan suppositories on hand, just in case. You will be doing your fair share of resting through the recovery and should be fine. If you do have the surgery, you will need to take EXTRA care with avoiding PB's. I was surprised at the short waves of nausea that overtook me when I first PB'd. What I experienced would probably make you faint, it was horrible.

As for Migraines, you will get good replies here, but also do a search for migraines here. I'm certain there are threads dedicated to Migraines. For sure, certain meds are a big no-no for Bandsters...NSAID's being the big one, but I'm not sure which category the Imitrex falls into.

You are smart to go in with eyes wide open. Keep up the research and make sure you know as much as possible. Best of luck to you and your friend.

Alexandra · May 2, 2005

These are really issues to be discussed with the surgeon prior to banding. There are risk-benefit judgments that are made with respect to pain relievers that can be taken after banding.

I know of many people who have had to take anti-nausea meds after surgery, so I don't think it's a big deal. After healing, the experiences we all have vary so much that it's hard to predict with any accuracy.

For me, nausea ONLY happens if I'm sliming, that is on the occasion that something gets stuck and my body tries to lubricate it loose. This has happened about, oh, five times in the last 20 months and not at all in the last almost-year. So it's definitely not an ongoing problem. Regular PBs, the kind when I've eaten a little too much and it has to come back up, are not nausea-inducing at all.

vinesqueen · May 2, 2005

Hi KellyK, I've only been nausious once since having my band installed, and it had nothing to do with my band. I have yet to have a PB or a slime attack. I have had food and meds get "stuck" though. That was just a bit painful.

I haven't noticed nausia being a big problem for bandsters on this board. Maybe y'all need to hang out here instead?

When I need Imatrex I always have it injected, so that isn't an issue for me. I take one med that requires it to be taken with food, so you know that has to be annoying to the pouch. after I take the meds, I try to always drink a big glass of Water to wash it out of my pouch.

Angeleyes · May 2, 2005

I had alot of problems with nausea after surgery but I told the Dr. that I had problems in the past and he had them give me meds before the surgery and then right after. They also used a patch that they put behind my ear. It only lasted about 4-5 hours and I was still at the surgery center. After I got up and moving it seemed to get better. I also picked up meds to take home with me so I have it on hand.

kellyk · May 2, 2005

Thanks, everyone, for your prompt replies. It looks like most people who have replied so far did not suffer much nausea or did so for a short time after the surgery. I will share the replies with my friend who suffers from Migraines and see what she thinks.

Angeleyes:

You said that you had a lot of problems with nausea after surgery. Can you give me an idea of how long you were plagued with it? I am a concerned because I am planning on having surgery in Mexico and live in Michigan. The thought of flying for 6 hours or so while nauseous is not appealing in the least! I would hate to pass out in the airport or on the airplane!

Again, thanks everybody. Anyone reading this, please share your experience with the surgery with me and if any of you also suffer from migraines, please tell of your ability or inability to take appropriate medications.