Question:
I dont see my surgeon until the 29th, I am wondering if I should stop taking my bextr

   — Kathy S. (posted on August 22, 2003)

August 22, 2003
Why are you on the bextr? Is it for arthritis? I wouldn't stop taking it yet. Make sure your surgeon knows you are tkaing it and ask him/her how soon prior to surgery you need to stop. Usually 2 weeks to 1 month prior is sufficient. Good luck!
   — [Deactivated Member]

August 22, 2003
No matter why you are taking it you should be quitting it 1 week before surgery. That is plenty of time. So if you are seeing the surgeon 1 weeks before surgery then it's not necessary to quit until that time. If it's very close to surgery then quit at 1 week. <p>I had to also quit my Bextra 1 week before and let me tell you it was not a pleasant week, but you have no choice. Make sure you have some tylenol in the house as it is something you can take and will at least help a little. I heard from all different parts of my body in that week than I have heard from for years. Sometimes I wondered just how much it was doing for me, well I definitely found out. The bizarre part was that I went 1 month after surgery with zero of the problems and I quite pain meds at 5 days PO. At 4 weeks my Fibromyalgia flared up and I was hurting pretty bad. The surgeon gave me the okay to go back on it even though it's not desirable, but he said if it was the difference between moving and not moving then take the Bextra, but break in half and put into the chewed food right before I swallowed it. I tried to stick it out for another 2-3 weeks and finally gave in. It did help. I stayed on it for about 2 months after I started taking it and then quit again. I also took it at 4-1/2 months for a month because I was going on vacation and I wanted to be able to do whatever I wanted. Once I was back home I quit it again. I am not pain free but the aches and pains are tolerable and about how I was before surgery, even with the Bextra. No question getting off 150 lbs has taken some of the stress off my body. Some days the fibro and other joint pains are more than others but they don't stay bad so it's workable. I'd rather try and limit my use to just very occassionally so as not to end up with ulcers etc.
   — zoedogcbr

August 22, 2003
Call the surgeon's office and ask. I have severe arthritis and they let me take ibuprofen up til midnight the night before my open RNY. You didn't say if your visit to the surgeon is your first consultation or a pre-op visit.
   — Patty_Butler

January 2, 2005
I too have RA and Fibro, and so far my bypass doctor doesn't want me on anything. I do take vicodin 8 times a day which was helping for a long time, but now it is getting to the point that it isn't enough. I live in Maine and the weather is awful on my body. I am kind of a wits ends, the pain is so bad sometimes I just sit there and cry. or don't get out from underneath my electric blanket. So I can understand exactly what you are talking about. Good luck!!!!
   — Bridget M.