I might be allergic to morphine, how will post-op be handled? (sorry long)

I will ask my surgeon these questions below when I get to SLC in late October but till then I was wondering if anybody suffered from this same dilemma or can give advice as to what their doctors used.

 

A little bit of history…

Ok so I extremely lucky to be allergic to high pain killers, to be more specific select opiate aka narcotics. (by the way that was sarcasm) So I see where this could be a problem with surgery and recovering.

I had a gallbladder attack, very painful, and was treated in the ER with painkillers via IV. Well, soon after turned white as a sheet and threw up everywhere! I had gallbladder disease and had it was removed in 2010. When I came out of anesthesia I was instantly sick and was shooting lovely vomit everywhere, including on my poor nurse. (yes I know its graphic lol) They got me wheeled into my room and I was feeling pretty *****y and was ready to go home a few hours later. Nurse came in and gave me a painkiller before I left via pill. Not even 5 min later threw that up, this time not on the nurse. She then got me just a high dose of Motrin instead and I did just fine. My mother has the same problems but due to trial and error with her surgeries she knows exactly what narcotics set her off and what doesn’t. One of the narcotics she cannot take is morphine. I just recently requested my detailed records from the hospital that performed my gall bladder surgery, to maybe find what they gave me.

Should I get a copy of my mother’s allergic reactions to give to the surgeon?

Is there any test to decipher what I am not tolerant with?

How do I even start this process?

 

I really do not want to toss my cookies coming out of surgery with a new tummy especially if I can prevent it. I don’t want them pumping me with different meds trial-and-error me till they get it right. Just thinking about it makes me cringe.

Yuor doctor doesn't want you to hurl either...but I'd think that motrin--which is rough on the stomach even when it's intact--would be more of a culprit than other meds.

I have a problem with codeine-based meds giving me nausea.  But morphine...or dilauded, synthetic morphine...are just fine.

Yeah...find out what your problem was.

Well... I guess Motrin is out lol   I don't want to upset my stomach. It's a shame because it worked well for me. I will have to look up non narcotic pain meds and see what type of list comes up.... hmmm

It would be important to know exactly what meds you were given to which you reacted.

I am sooo on that. I already sent my release of information to my hospitals. I work in the VA Release of Information/Medical Records and each facility is different. Sometimes they 'weed' the records. Meaning they exclude what they don't think you will need. This sometimes includes nursing notes, medications, letter, phone calls, admissions, etc. So when I first requested these records they did not include this stuff. So second time around if they still don't give me what I am looking for I will tromp down there and shoot some fire! lol

Nausea does not necessarily equal allergy.  Get your detailed records and discuss with your surgeon.

Your mother's allergies are likely not relevant.  Also,  she might not be "allergic." 

I consider it an allergic reaction when my body cannot and will not let keep it in. It might not be 'technical' term but I would think the correct term would be drug allergy. Either way my body should not have it.

Also geneticly I have a lot of medical things identical to my mother.

I will for sure sit down with my surgeon in late October. Just curious if fellow DSers have had this problem. So I can really shoot some solid questions/concerns at my surgeon.

What YOU consider it to be and what a medical authority would call it are two different things.

Don't tell them that you are allergic to something...definition here*...unless you ARE.  And barfing once is not a typical allergic reaction.  Otherwise, you may NOT receive a drug you reallyn need that is related to something you say you are allergic to:

*Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system.^[1] Allergic reactions occur to normally harmless environmental substances known as allergens; these reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid. Strictly, allergy is one of four forms of hypersensitivity and is called type I (or immediate) hypersensitivity. It is characterized by excessive activation of certain white blood cells called mast cells and basophils by a type of antibody known as IgE, resulting in an extreme inflammatory response. Common allergic reactions include eczema, hives, hay fever, asthma attacks, food allergies, and reactions to the venom of stinging insects such as wasps and bees.^[2]

What you are having is an intolerance - like lactose intolerance - it affects the GI system.  An allergy affects the immune system and causes rashes, swelling and difficulty breathing and in rare occasions, you can stop breathing and have annaphalactic shock - I had this once 15 minutes after swallowing an Antibiotic for an ear infection - I was in the ER for 8 hours hooked up to every machine imaginable. I also had if from IV iron and was hospitalized for 3 days on IV steroids and breathing treatments until I could be released.  Those are allergies.

Many people get intolerances to medications and when it is just nausea - I know how unbearable it is since I get that way from all anestesia, they can sometimes premedicate you with nausea medication - IV zomig.

As far as allergy testing - this would only show a true allergy and I dont' know if it can be done for narcotics - it can be done for penecillin and insect stings.

Your mothers history might be relavent if it was a true allergy since immune system problems and actual allergies can be genetic but an intolerance would be doubtful.

Everything they could give me for pain made me vomit post DS surgery. I was limited to a low dose of Tylenol every 4 hours. (I was dealing with liver problems as well)  So essentially I was without pain meds. It is doable. I moved a lot less than they wanted me to. If I stayed quite still, it wasn't too terrible. I asked for extra sleep meds so that I could be out of it, but in the hospital there wasn't much undisturbed time. Good luck-don't dread the experience because it will save your life.