How important is it to avoid vitamins/suppliments while waiting for surgery?

[KatyMac]

At my pre-op (months ago) I was told to stop all my vitamins and suppliements as they were an unknown factor in reactions to aneasthetics

As I generally react badly to anaesthetics I did

& here I am 3/4 months down the line in desparate need of B12, Iron, D, Zinc and the others

Am I safe to start taking them again as my surgery seems to be happening the other side of never or will they cause such strong reactions I should stay off them?

None of the ones you refer to specifically will make any difference to the anaesthetic. Having a balanced diet including the recommended intake of each is probably better though. There are some supplements that are usually stopped so I would take advice from your team re the 'others' that you mention. Anaemia (for which you're taking iron presumably) may be a relative contraindication for some operations.

I'm having my ovaries out

I have some sort of malabsorbtion due to my IBS so I am chronically low in most things

I suggested the iron at the appt but was told - we don't know how it interacts with different anasthetics

I am so run down

The others are Magnesium, Potassium, K2 & Methyl Folate

I've never been told to stop taking any supplements before surgery - it's a new one on me. I also had a bilateral oopherectomy and a couple of other fairly major surgeries, and never had a problem with the anaesthetic. Seems crazy to me that you've stopped them for months .

Me too

I'm going to take them all again and stop when I get my date - I am getting more & more run down and I can't see any point in it

I need to be healthy to get over my op surely?

BTW how was your bilateral oopherectomy?

Is there a specialist nurse at your clinic? If so, you could try enquiringly by phone or email to see what they think are the risks for exactly what you want to take.

Hi KatyMac, it was pretty painful post op , but I'm glad I had it done. I was at high risk of ovarian cancer so it was a good thing to get them out. I hope yours goes well - best wishes to you.

Maybe

I was feeling so well & I feel so crap right now

I wonder if they just meant herbal supplements, KM. Ordinary RDA type doses of essential vitamins & minerals seems like they should be perfectly safe.

thanks I'm 50 and have a growing cyst so I think it's a no-brainer having them out

Not tremendously looking forward to it but I imagine I will be a lot more comfy without it!! As it is not sitting nicely on my bladder & bugger does that hurt!

I'm having a small op under general next month.
I was told at my booking in to stop supplements they did say why but I can't remember and the explanation seemed sensible at the time

At least I'm not the only one!

Curcumin is a blood thinner so you should stop that a week before surgery but vitamins, I don't see why.
Maybe they just say stop everything thinking people might not be able to differentiate between vitamins and supplements.

That makes sense at least

But Iron?

Probably not the same scale as your procedure, but I had day surgery under general anaesthetic earlier this year and my vitamin supplements (D, multivitamin inc iron & B12 and Zinc, Magnesium) weren’t a problem. I was just told to fast the night before, including not having my supplements. I definitely was not told to stop taking them in the weeks before my procedure due to the potential to effect the anaesthetic. I carried on taking my supplements until the day before my procedure and everything went perfectly.

How odd!

Glad you were OK

AFAIK it’s usually just vitamin E and maybe vitamin K?

i took all my usual vitamins right up until my surgery, except vitamin E.

I dont take E (maybe I should) & I can give K a miss

Oh I don't know - goodness knows when my op will be

I had surgery twice in the past few months and was told to stop all vitamins/minerals/herbal supplements for a week before each time. Something to do with how well the general anasthetic works?

Vitamins including vit k are fine. Stop the herbal remedies at least 3 weeks before surgery.
academic.oup.com/bjaed/article/11/1/14/285726
Open access link to some of the common herbal remedies and side effects
If it's homeopathy no one cares, it's water.

Do you eat well?
Can you try probiotics and apple cider vinegar to see if that helps your absorption rates of the minerals which you would naturally find in a healthy diet

It's not that you're lacking it seems that you're not absorbing

You poor thing you must feel wiped

I would check with them and see what you can take. If your iron is very low they may not go ahead with surgery or you might need an infusion first.

I eat very little - so much upsets my tummy - it's got gradually worse over the last 5 months or so

But my ibs had improved dramatically with all the suppliments (maybe it's coincidence or placebo - not sure I care!) It's gone the other way again since I stopped!

Nothing herbal at all!