Surgery
I have to get a tendon transfer on my ankle. Have to stop methotrexate and Olumient 14 days b4 and after. I have never stopped my RA meds..how bad will it be?? 🫣🫣
Hi,
!
First off, I hope your procedure goes smoothly and that it is successful! Secondly, I wish I could give you a clear answer as to how your body will respond going off meds. Some people do okay with stopping meds for a brief time. Some folks do not. And surgery can sometimes throw your body into a flare as well, so it's good to be prepared for that possibility.
So, I HATE this advice, but you can hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Well, that sounds unnecessarily dramatic, but I think you get what I mean. So, let's hope that you have no flares from stopping meds or the surgery, but maybe plan ahead for what you might do if you flare. Do you have special self care tools that you rely on when you are flaring or feeling under the weather? Like, do you take more naps or use heating pads or ice packs or something else? I would just stock up (which I hope you are already doing in preparation for your surgery) on the things that will make your life easier -- premade meals, plenty of pain meds that you can take, books to read (or whatever you like to do to pass the time). I wanted to share a link to a series of articles and videos on the topic of surgery that you might find useful -- https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/video/surgery-tips-part-1. And here's a conversation from our forums that may answer your question, at least a little bit -- https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/forums/stopping-medication-surgery. I know many of our members have been where you are right now; facing a surgery and going off medications; so I hope they see your post and can share their own experiences with you.
Again, I do hope the procedure goes off without a hitch and that your recovery is surprisingly smooth (and flare free!) and that your transition back on to medications goes well, too.
Keep us posted, if you feel comfortable doing so.
Best, Erin, Team Member.Thank u Erin. Actually i cant take any pain meds, I was in rehab for oxy prescribed for RA and it was hell. So i am solo with the pain.
, hey, congratulations for getting sober! That's awesome! I had a dear family member that got hooked on oxy when the doctor prescribed it for pain management. I could rant for days about the opioid crisis and what it has done to millions of people in this country, but I'll spare you. I am so sorry that happened to you and I hope you are proud of yourself for fighting back and getting clean!
That said, it sucks that your pain management options are severly limited. I bet you have a pretty high pain tolerance and I do hope that your pain levels are manageable following your surgery.
Gentle Hugs, Erin, Team Member.
Hi
. On top of the excellent information from Erin, I can tell you that when my wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), has had to stop meds for surgery she has managed it o.k. One thing that happened is that a lot of steroids were used for the surgery itself, which did a lot to keep the RA at bay for a while. Another is that the immune system seems to get occupied with the very real major stresses happening to the body and takes a break from attacking itself. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to imply it was easy (Kelly would whack me, and rightfully so, if I dared say such a thing when she was the one who had to go through it) and there has always been a post-surgery flare at some point, but she persevered through some pretty major surgeries. I am also tagging another site administrator , who also has had RA since childhood and been through some major ankle and foot surgeries. Wishing you the best and please feel free to keep us posted on how you are doing and to ask further questions. Richard (Team Member)
