# Klonopin and Surgery?



## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

I've got an operation coming up in about 2 weeks and I have a few concerns regarding my Klonopin usage (medication interactions with pain meds, waking up during surgery, respiratory depression, etc).

Anyone with any experience? Thanks


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

Yes, no problem. But tell them you take it obviously. They'll lower doses of other stuff if need be but I doubt they'll even do that. Most of the time they even you give you a benzo before surgeries, before heavy ones at least. Xanax.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

Also note, and this is funny because it is often denied, they give patients a pre-surgery benzodiazepine, not only to relax and pre-establish total sedation, but also *to induce memory loss*, to make the whole of the experience pre-surgery less traumatic afterwards by not having you remember it so vividly.

And then you have benzo-users left and right denying that benzos do this lol

If that is the case and part of it's goals in a 1 time usage situation, imagine what it does long term. No benzo hate here, just stating facts.


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

Inshallah said:


> Yes, no problem. But tell them you take it obviously. They'll lower doses of other stuff if need be but I doubt they'll even do that. Most of the time they even you give you a benzo before surgeries, before heavy ones at least. Xanax.


^ what he said.


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## RelinquishedHell (Apr 10, 2012)

basuraeuropea said:


> ^ what he said.


They really give you Xanax before surgeries? I didn't know that. BTW is Xanax stronger than Klonopin? I know it doesn't last very long, but does it come on harder?


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

ThatOneQuietGuy said:


> They really give you Xanax before surgeries? I didn't know that. BTW is Xanax stronger than Klonopin? I know it doesn't last very long, but does it come on harder?


I've had surgery in 6 or 7 clinics and in all but 1, I got a Xanax. Don't know if they do it also in the US but I would think so. It's not "stronger" per mg but it acts faster and shorter lasting so it will give more effect in that shorter timeframe.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Inshallah said:


> Also note, and this is funny because it is often denied, they give patients a pre-surgery benzodiazepine, not only to relax and pre-establish total sedation, but also *to induce memory loss*, to make the whole of the experience pre-surgery less traumatic afterwards by not having you remember it so vividly.
> 
> And then you have benzo-users left and right denying that benzos do this lol


Years ago my mother got a scope stuck down her throat a number of times and before it she got Versed (midazolam). In the recover room she'd wake up and ask "did they did it yet?" Then she'd fall back asleep and awake to ask the same question a couple minutes later. She'd do this several times before finally being back to fully conscious.

While benzos are used to induce a lack of memory, I can assure you that as a long-time benzo user I've never experienced anything even remotely like that.

Did you ever consider it could be a dosage issue? Similar to how alcohol has been known to make some people black out after consumption of staggering amounts, though most never black out as they don't consume insane amounts.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Inshallah said:


> I've had surgery in 6 or 7 clinics and in all but 1, I got a Xanax.


Great, that should be about as effective as giving me M&Ms. WTF do they do for patients who are already quite used to large amounts of benzos?


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

UltraShy said:


> Great, that should be about as effective as giving me M&Ms. WTF do they do for patients who are already quite used to large amounts of benzos?


propofol
seriously. i take a benzo daily and when i had to have my wisdom teeth removed i was injected with propofol prior. additionally, when i had a turbinectomy i was again injected prior to the operation with propofol.


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## ourwater (Jun 2, 2012)

UltraShy said:


> Great, that should be about as effective as giving me M&Ms. WTF do they do for patients who are already quite used to large amounts of benzos?


It's about a code of ethics.


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## jim_morrison (Aug 17, 2008)

basuraeuropea said:


> propofol
> seriously. i take a benzo daily and when i had to have my wisdom teeth removed i was injected with propofol prior. additionally, when i had a turbinectomy i was again injected prior to the operation with propofol.


They gave you general anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal? I thought they just used twilight anesthesia meds like I.V. Versed for that. :shock


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

UltraShy said:


> Years ago my mother got a scope stuck down her throat a number of times and before it she got Versed (midazolam). In the recover room she'd wake up and ask "did they did it yet?" Then she'd fall back asleep and awake to ask the same question a couple minutes later. She'd do this several times before finally being back to fully conscious.
> 
> While benzos are used to induce a lack of memory, I can assure you that as a long-time benzo user I've never experienced anything even remotely like that.
> 
> Did you ever consider it could be a dosage issue? Similar to how alcohol has been known to make some people black out after consumption of staggering amounts, though most never black out as they don't consume insane amounts.





UltraShy said:


> Great, that should be about as effective as giving me M&Ms. WTF do they do for patients who are already quite used to large amounts of benzos?


The standard procedure before getting a colonoscopy is to give a man 50 mg of valium so he will not remember the experience. While that dose may work for some if I ever need a colonoscopy I'll be sure that they know about my high benzo tolerance because 50 mg of valium would have me crapping my pants instead of blissfully sleeping. Try 500 mg of valium please!


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## basuraeuropea (Jul 25, 2012)

jim_morrison said:


> They gave you general anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal? I thought they just used twilight anesthesia meds like I.V. Versed for that. :shock


it was the latter, and it was very heavy iv sedation at that as all four wisdom teeth were removed at once. they gave me an intramuscular shot of propofol prior to calm me down, though, and i don't remember any of it. i'm nearly positive propofol was also used as part of the iv sedation cocktail, although i'm positive midazolam and fentanyl were used during both procedures via iv.


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

jim_morrison said:


> They gave you general anesthesia for wisdom teeth removal? I thought they just used twilight anesthesia meds like I.V. Versed for that. :shock


I was put out cold too for wisdom teeth removal. Mine were deep in the gums still so i guess that may have had something to do with it


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## A Sense of Purpose (May 8, 2011)

basuraeuropea said:


> it was the latter, and it was very heavy iv sedation at that as all four wisdom teeth were removed at once. they gave me an intramuscular shot of propofol prior to calm me down, though, and i don't remember any of it. i'm nearly positive propofol was also used as part of the iv sedation cocktail, although i'm positive midazolam and fentanyl were used during both procedures via iv.


When i worked in the cardiac lab last year implanting defibs or pacemakers we'd use a cocktail of and in order

----------induction---------
Midaz --> propofol --> fentanyl -->

----------Maintenance------------
volatile inhalational (sevoflurane/desflurane)

Heparin was also used heavily for obvious reasons


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> Years ago my mother got a scope stuck down her throat a number of times and before it she got Versed (midazolam). In the recover room she'd wake up and ask "did they did it yet?" Then she'd fall back asleep and awake to ask the same question a couple minutes later. She'd do this several times before finally being back to fully conscious.
> 
> While benzos are used to induce a lack of memory, I can assure you that as a long-time benzo user I've never experienced anything even remotely like that.
> 
> Did you ever consider it could be a dosage issue? Similar to how alcohol has been known to make some people black out after consumption of staggering amounts, though most never black out as they don't consume insane amounts.


The example you gave is extreme of course. But in a more subtle form, you can't know if you experienced it or not (simply because you really don't know). But it's always present in some form in everyone taking them.


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## Inshallah (May 11, 2011)

UltraShy said:


> Great, that should be about as effective as giving me M&Ms. WTF do they do for patients who are already quite used to large amounts of benzos?


I have no idea but I assume they'd just keep to their standard practice of 1 Xanax tablet? 

I think it's more of a routine thing rather than them wanting it to work in every instance. They don't ask you if it worked afterwards.


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## istayhome (Apr 4, 2012)

A Sense of Purpose said:


> I was put out cold too for wisdom teeth removal. Mine were deep in the gums still so i guess that may have had something to do with it


Yes, there is a large nerve running right near the wisdom teeth in many situations general anesthesia is required when the operation may require getting close to this nerve.

My cousin is a dentist, we were just talking about this, she also gave me toothbrushes, floss and mouthwash


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

Inshallah said:


> Yes, no problem. But tell them you take it obviously. They'll lower doses of other stuff if need be but I doubt they'll even do that. Most of the time they even you give you a benzo before surgeries, before heavy ones at least. Xanax.


Yeah the anaesthesia doc told me I could take it the morning of surgery but I don't think I'm going to...I'm very concerned about the respiratory depression risk (combined with opiates and other meds) and he agreed that the risk is increased with me taking Klonopin.

At this point, I'm thinking I will just take my daily dose (0.50mg) the night before surgery and try to make it through the surgery day/night without taking any Klonopin.


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## 49erJT (Oct 18, 2010)

Update: 
No issues with klonopin and general anesthesia for me. I was nodding and itching my nose like crazy In the recovery room from the strong opiates they had me on but no interactions that I'm aware of. I did have some bad urinary issues that required a trip to the Er but not sure klonopin had anything to do with that.


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