Vaping after surgery (any risks to be aware of in combination with painkillers)?

FC team, hoping to get an opinion! I just had surgery today, it went successfully. I've been prescribed oxycodone as a painkiller and I'll need to take it a few times a day over the next couple weeks.

From the brief research I've done, I didn't notice any risks in using weed/bho and oxy together. Wanted to see if anyone on here had experience with this and could possibly provide an opinion?

As always, thanks FC!

Well, as we're all somewhat different in our metabolism we in turn tend to have somewhat varying interactions with various chemicals. I've been taking daily Oxy for 3.5 years to help with the chronic pain of peripheral neuropathy and during that time I have never had a problem with combining vaping of flowers.

Slow and low, however should be your mantra if you decide to go that route -- just so you can ease into it and thereby minimize any adverse effects that might occur. Also, Oxy causes constipation so take a stool softener with each Oxy, but not a laxative/stimulant. Drink lots of water to help your GI track keep moving as well.

Recover soon!

.

Dr. Plutonious said:

FC team, hoping to get an opinion! I just had surgery today, it went successfully. I've been prescribed oxycodone as a painkiller and I'll need to take it a few times a day over the next couple weeks.

From the brief research I've done, I didn't notice any risks in using weed/bho and oxy together. Wanted to see if anyone on here had experience with this and could possibly provide an opinion?

As always, thanks FC!

Click to expand...

Get a sense of where your pain response is with the Oxy, flower will lower the amount necessary, concentrates even more so. So go slow and careful.

looney2nz said:

flower will lower the amount necessary,

Click to expand...

I would go one further and fuck the pharmaceutical poisens all together....

But that's my opinion, I'm convinced all pharma drugs are bad...I won't even take a hayfever tablet....

Dr. Plutonious said:

FC team, hoping to get an opinion! I just had surgery today, it went successfully. I've been prescribed oxycodone as a painkiller and I'll need to take it a few times a day over the next couple weeks.

From the brief research I've done, I didn't notice any risks in using weed/bho and oxy together. Wanted to see if anyone on here had experience with this and could possibly provide an opinion?

As always, thanks FC!

Click to expand...

I also have neuropathy and have been prescribed 15 mg oxycodones for the past 8 years. I only take them rarely when I have an acute episode for personal reasons (I think they are toxic and just don't like taking narcotics). I am definitely NOT saying you should not take your post-op drugs. I recently had to have a tendon reattached (drill a hole in your bone) and you can damn well be sure I took the the oxycodone EXACTLY as they said...which even meant starting them before the neural block wore off and taking them on schedule. Sorry, I don't mean to be patronizing and you probably already know to do this.

HOWEVER, it has been my long experience that MJ increases the effect of narcotics significantly. If you vape, be prepared to lay on the couch and nod off. Perhaps for some who take narcotics routinely/daily this may not be the case due to their tolerance. But me (and most folks I know) find MJ to be a strong enhancer of narcotic effects.

As mentioned, this may allow you to cut back on the amount of oxycodone. But at a minimum, getting whacked after some vaping and nodding out on the couch isn't a bad way to get by those first few difficult days after surgery.

Best of luck, mate. Let us know how you came out.

Hey guys, I can also confirm vaporizing enhances the effects of the narcotic. When I found myself in this situation it worked best to take my medication, wait an hour, then vaporize with caution.

On a side note, while I never had an interaction with these two medications, I did have an interaction with the anaesthetic and vaporizing. Upon release from surgery I vaped a single bowl (.4) and within 15 minutes began shaking uncontrollably for about 20 minutes.

In the future I will always wait a couple days before vaporizing after anaesthetic.

If you are having a general anesthetic your lungs need time to recover their function. The longer you are under the longer the recovery time for your lungs. I would not smoke anything for a week at minimum. Local/spinal is probably different.

I vaped a bit last night. Stayed controlled about it, but nothing weird happened. /just fell asleep a bit quicker.

Thanks for the advice everyone! I talked with one of my friends last night CNA. He's around this a lot. He re-assured me to just be cautious about it, but there shouldn't be many risks.

Just going to vape as needed.

kellya86 said:

I would go one further and fuck the pharmaceutical poisens all together....

But that's my opinion, I'm convinced all pharma drugs are bad...I won't even take a hayfever tablet....

Click to expand...

I hear you @kellya86, really I do. And I sincerely admire & envy your resolute, and truly hope that you never NEED to change your ideals.

But unfortunately, and as I'm sure you are aware, doing away with pharmaceuticals is not an option for many. Medicine can come in many forms, and while the natural approach is definitely my preference, pharmaceuticals certainly have their place, and going without can have serious implications.

Not wishing to start anything, I'm just saying.

Respect to you bro.

Wishing good health to all.

As far as pain goes, opiates cut your cns pain receptors off from your brain. Mmj doesn't stop pain in its tracks like that, but it does seem to reduce the inflammation and make you care less about it. I don't think that mj interferes with most medications, because it's not a toxin like most others it mixes quite well.

For those of us that use both, when I have mmj I take less opiates, and that's good enough for me

Dr. Plutonious said:

From the brief research I've done, I didn't notice any risks in using weed/bho and oxy together. Wanted to see if anyone on here had experience with this and could possibly provide an opinion

Click to expand...

Last year I asked for oxycodone for the recovery after some dental work. It wasn't effortless to get the script but eventually I got a little of the stuff they mix with tylenol (which I cwe'd out). Not to be one to forgo the evening session I admit that I had lightheadedness after some mj and beer (or wine) atop the oxy. I was mindful of my dosage and it still caught me out so be very very cautious. Low temps small doses and what not.

GetLeft said:

I got a little of the stuff they mix with tylenol (which I cwe'd out).

Click to expand...

Just wondering what you mean by this. I take codeine sulfate which is the #3 in tylenol #3. I have to jump through the same schedule ii hoops as oxy etc. just to get it without the acetaminophen, even though it's pretty mild by opioid standards. They used to have one with aspirin (empirin #3), but it's discontinued.

The experience of most is that cannabis greatly reduces the amount of opiates need to get the same effect. What I do in that situation, unless in extreme pain, is safe the happy pills for later!

From a purely academic POV, a water extraction works on tylenol #3.

VegNVape said:

I hear you @kellya86, really I do. And I sincerely admire & envy your resolute, and truly hope that you never NEED to change your ideals.

But unfortunately, and as I'm sure you are aware, doing away with pharmaceuticals is not an option for many. Medicine can come in many forms, and while the natural approach is definitely my preference, pharmaceuticals certainly have their place, and going without can have serious implications.

Not wishing to start anything, I'm just saying.

Respect to you bro.

Wishing good health to all.

Click to expand...

I completely understand, I'm not so naive that I think I will never need any pharmaceutical drugs in my life...

But I will do all I can to avoid it, and it would have to be an absolute last resort, to save my life....

I would not take them for pain...

But that's just me and I don't judge, or think any less of all the people that do use them....

For years pharmaceutical companies have been doing studies on cholesterol and heart disease, as a result we all buy low cholesterol butter and take drugs to control it...

The first independent study was released recently, and surprise surprise, no link found....

Now more independent studies are being done.....

I'm not trying to turn this into a conspiracy thread, just explaining my reasons behind my earlier post, I didn't want to come across as arrogant....

Maybe I still do? I hope not...

Good health to all people.. however you achieve it.....

grokit said:

As far as pain goes, opiates cut your cns pain receptors off from your brain. Mmj doesn't stop pain in its tracks like that, but it does seem to reduce the inflammation and make you care less about it. I don't think that mj interferes with most medications, because it's not a toxin like most others it mixes quite well.

For those of us that use both, when I have mmj I take less opiates, and that's good enough for me

Click to expand...

It would appear there's general agreement on cannabis potentiating opiates.

I drove the pain management group crazy, 'cause I don't respond to opiates (I DO get all the side effects!)... I've since discovered that perhaps 2x a year I could use Norco or Percocet at their max dose with decreasing effectiveness over 3-4 days (so, helpful for dental surgery), and that's about it with opiates (including Fentanyl) for me.

Strains high in CBD do effect the Cytochrome P450 mechanism in the body, and that's an important one. I've given my Hema-Onc doc info on how it effects things, which could prove vital if chemo becomes necessary.

grokit said:

Just wondering what you mean by this.

Click to expand...

Should have checked labels before responding.

It's hydrocodone I have (still sitting on a few leftovers), mixed with tylenol. I extract the tylenol if I use it.

kellya86 said:

I completely understand, I'm not so naive that I think I will never need any pharmaceutical drugs in my life...

But I will do all I can to avoid it, and it would have to be an absolute last resort, to save my life....

I would not take them for pain...

But that's just me and I don't judge, or think any less of all the people that do use them....

For years pharmaceutical companies have been doing studies on cholesterol and heart disease, as a result we all buy low cholesterol butter and take drugs to control it...

The first independent study was released recently, and surprise surprise, no link found....

Now more independent studies are being done.....

I'm not trying to turn this into a conspiracy thread, just explaining my reasons behind my earlier post, I didn't want to come across as arrogant....

Maybe I still do? I hope not...

Good health to all people.. however you achieve it.....

Click to expand...

I completely understand your stance @kellya86, and your reasoning. And I don't think you come across as arrogant - after all, this situation is different for everyone, and we all have our own ideas on how to best deal with these very personal circumstances. Doing what's right for yourself is the most important thing.

Love2All

Some surgeries cannabis isn't going to make a dent in your pain. It depends on the severity of your pain.

I use cannabis for pain on a daily basis. It helps with pain but it doesn't take my pain away. We are all different so whatever you do go about it in a slow and careful way. Edibles can really help with pain but you don't want to overdo, for sure with that. Especially taking the oxy.

I've had surgeries and have used both the oxy and the cannabis.

What the frak?!?!

The local VA hospital has a "resource and information" window across from the pharmacy waiting area. Big sign. They will educate you on the dangers of combining your medical cannabis with pretty much anything. Or nothing. Because it is dangerous stuff!

Apparently it has been there for a while now. I didn't know as my meds are all mailed. I walked a new guy over and found it so we talked to them. They especially wanted us to know that combining the devils weed with even low grade opioids may well kill you.

Krazy said:

They especially wanted us to know that combining the devils weed with even low grade opioids may well kill you.

Click to expand...

Maybe it will kill somebody somewhere but I'm basically throwing the BS flag on the VA on that on (of course the VA is known world wide for their medical and organizational competence hehe).

NOW, drinking alcohol and narcotics will do you in. But not cannabis based on a very long personal experience (and yes, I know we are all different but....this is just scare tactics).

I do equate weed and narc to be like alcohol followed by weed. The combo can send you reeling.

To Kelly, not sure how you extract the Tylenol bu I don't suppose that's really a topic for this forum. I do get oxycodone with no Tylenol or aspirin at all. I just would rather be in pain than take them unless its an acute attack.

In any case, I rather agree and disagree with CarolKing. To me, cannabis helps quite a bit with my chronic pain, but seems to mainly do so by some degree of disassociation with my body/pain. Pain is still there and the same, but somehow remote. I find most narcotics also don't really take the pain away, but they will make me not give a damn about it and nodding on the couch is a good way to get through an acute attack in my book. When in the hospital, post gastric surgery (no, not for weight loss), I was in agony and they gave me intravenous Dilaudid. Now that worked but talk about something to get strung out on easily. No, no, no...don't want that stuff.

Plutonious, hope your recovery is swift and full.

Cheers

In Canada the medical cannabis from Licenced Producers (LP's) comes in pill type bottles and labels, all of which have a big N on the bottle for narcotic.

To me anyways, cannabis is not a narcotic. Don't know what I would call it but narcotic? Nah

George1151 said:

In Canada the medical cannabis from Licenced Producers (LP's) comes in pill type bottles and labels, all of which have a big N on the bottle for narcotic.

To me anyways, cannabis is not a narcotic. Don't know what I would call it but narcotic? Nah

Click to expand...

Most likely due to its categorization by your Govt. The a-holes in the USA Federal Govt have cannabis in the schedule A narcotics list with things like heroin, methadone, and Dilaudid. Idiots, all of them.