revision op on Monday can i drink alcohol tomro?

I've lost my instructions I remember no vitamins no meds other than paracetamol no garlic but I can't remember the rest. No food 12 hours before admission no drink 6 hours. But it's my office party tomro and everyone is out except me because I can't drink .... or can I?

Me personally I do to drink anyways, but I wouldn't. It can stay in your system well into the next day. And as surgery Monday it's so close to the date. 

Can you not go out and just have virgin cocktails?? X

I'm with Mrsball...it's really not worth the risk!  One night of fun, to risk thinning your blood right before an op?  To me, it's not worth complicating a 4.5k purchase.

It's just one night.  Explain that you have an early start the following day driving and don't want to be over the limit.  I have my xmas do on the 18th, all drink and taxis paid, but my surgery is on the 20th, so will be the sober one remembering all the gossip from the night! If you go out with the mindset you'll have a good night sober, then you will, but if you already think it's going to be boring then you won't enjoy it.  I'm using the excuse that I don't want to get stopped on friday morning as that's when police around here tend to get more people for drinking driving, simply because they are still over the limit from the night before x

I wouldn't it's just not worth it. I fact I gave been a good girl and haven't had one since 22nd November. Just didn't want anything to hinder my healing. It's just not worth it. Xx

I'm pretty sure that the general advice is not to drink any alcohol for at least 24 hours before or after a general anaesthetic.

You should also tell the the anaesthetist how much alcohol you normally drink. Probably a good idea to be truthful because the more you drink, the higher your resistance to the anaesthetic drugs.


I certainly wouldn't want them to wear off early!

My work buddies thunk I'm pregnant I'm sure lol

I was told two weeks before and after. One drink won't hurt, but you don't know how quickly you process alcohol. I found out recently my body takes ages to process it, I could get drunk on Friday and my liver levels would still be high on Tuesday. So while my official stance is no, not a drop, you'll be ok to have one.

I personally wouldn't even have one. Alcohol acts as blood thinner and surgeons don't suggest you avoid alcohol for generally around a week pre-op for nothing. If you don't have your pre-op instructions I'd be personally erring on the side of caution   

You've pained so, so much about this surgery with worry after worry, concern after concern.... Why put yourself at any risks at all by drinking alcohol when you have waited for this day for so long and put so much into it only for an anaesthetist to tell you what they expected of you and refuse to operate if you do have a drink. 

Just not worth it to me. 

Get out there, get in the party spirit and you won't need a drink to enjoy your night babe. X

I'm starting to feel like a naughty teenager on here. My op was on a Monday and in the absence of any specific instructions not to, just the info on NHS web pages, I had a drink on the Friday and the Saturday.

Aww Rhy, I think the difference is going into drinking knowing you really shouldn't, and going into drinking not knowing you shouldn't have a drink.

No need to feel like a naughty teenager ;)

x

rhy_fach wrote:I'm starting to feel like a naughty teenager on here. My op was on a Monday and in the absence of any specific instructions not to, just the info on NHS web pages, I had a drink on the Friday and the Saturday.

Not so much a naughty teenager as a lucky one. Depending on the clinic/surgeon had they found out about the alcohol they could well have cancelled you're op.   Xx

COOKIE wrote:

rhy_fach wrote:I'm starting to feel like a naughty teenager on here. My op was on a Monday and in the absence of any specific instructions not to, just the info on NHS web pages, I had a drink on the Friday and the Saturday.

Not so much a naughty teenager as a lucky one. Depending on the clinic/surgeon had they found out about the alcohol they could well have cancelled you're op.   Xx

I'm sorry Cookie, but I'm not sure on what grounds. I presume that, if they had not wanted me to drink alcohol, they would have said so. They didn't. In fact, the whole issue seems to be vague. The focus seems to be on no alcohol after a GA, not before. The RCOA advice leaflet on preparing for an anaesthetic "You and your anaesthetic" doesn't mention alcohol at all. The NHS Guy & St Thomas' Hospital leaflet "Further information about having an anaesthetic" only mentions the importance of abstaining afterwards.

Unless you are a habitual heavy drinker, in which case the advice is to reduce your intake in the weeks leading up to an op, alcohol doesn't really seem to be as big a deal as it is being made out to be in this thread. Based on all the professional advice I have seen so far and in the absence of any specific instructions from surgeon, hospital or anaesthetist, I would suggest that, generally speaking, it is OK to drink alcohol in moderation (not a bad idea anyway) but to abstain completely for 24 hours before an op.

That said, I'm not an an anaesthetist, so happy be be corrected.

No alcohol 2 weeks pre-op I was told. It's a blood thinner. Cookie is right that if someone has disclosed they had been drinking on the weekend and then rolled up for surgery Monday they could have their op cancelled.

Just follow your personal instructions from your personal surgeon. If you don't, you run the risk of them personally not wanting to operate on you. If you don't have instructions, ask, or do what you feel is best based on your own research, but I would personally always be inclined to check. Surgeons make recommendations for a reason. My surgeon told me stay off alcohol, vitamins, drugs etc for 1 week before. Obviously that's his personal recommendation for me. Maybe he thought the bags under my eyes and my wrinkled skin were signs I was an alcoholic. Who knows....

I would have thought the advice differs based in the op, rather than the anaesthetic itself. It's a known blood thinner, so if you're not being cut open whilst having an anaesthetic you probably don't need to cut alcohol until 24 hours prior. However, if there is even a remote risk it may impact my blood clotting, I'll save my alcoholism!!

I never got instructions not to drink before but knowing it thins the blood I didn't drink . It's the same as smoking , they say it CAN cause infection etc but rather than risking it I would rather not smoke xxx

Alcohol is a blood thinner, but the effect only lasts for 24 hours.

Ok but if I were you I would just tell the anesistist on the day just to be on the safe side. X

I wasn't told anything about drinking either, he asked how much do I drink I said maybe once a month, he main concern is smoking x x

The effects of alcohol can last longer than 24hrs, as I said above. My blood tests were still showing high liver levels 4days after a tipple (3 large wines say) which is indicative of alcohol still being processed in your system. One person might be 24hrs, but another may not.

rhy_fach wrote:

COOKIE wrote:

rhy_fach wrote:I'm starting to feel like a naughty teenager on here. My op was on a Monday and in the absence of any specific instructions not to, just the info on NHS web pages, I had a drink on the Friday and the Saturday.

Not so much a naughty teenager as a lucky one. Depending on the clinic/surgeon had they found out about the alcohol they could well have cancelled you're op.   Xx

I'm sorry Cookie, but I'm not sure on what grounds. I presume that, if they had not wanted me to drink alcohol, they would have said so. They didn't. In fact, the whole issue seems to be vague. The focus seems to be on no alcohol after a GA, not before. The RCOA advice leaflet on preparing for an anaesthetic "You and your anaesthetic" doesn't mention alcohol at all. The NHS Guy & St Thomas' Hospital leaflet "Further information about having an anaesthetic" only mentions the importance of abstaining afterwards.

Unless you are a habitual heavy drinker, in which case the advice is to reduce your intake in the weeks leading up to an op, alcohol doesn't really seem to be as big a deal as it is being made out to be in this thread. Based on all the professional advice I have seen so far and in the absence of any specific instructions from surgeon, hospital or anaesthetist, I would suggest that, generally speaking, it is OK to drink alcohol in moderation (not a bad idea anyway) but to abstain completely for 24 hours before an op.

That said, I'm not an an anaesthetist, so happy be be corrected.

I'm no aneasthetist either, but I KNOW not to drink 'in general' at least 1 week prior to having surgery based on the surgeons advise given to me and given to the THOUSANDS of women ive sat here and read and seen pass through here over a 5 year period. I also know alcohol CAN be detected in urine 3 or 4 days after being ingested. 

I have no medical qualifications but anaesthetists do and they don't pass out this information for the sake of it, I'm sure they've better things to do with their time. 

MANY of these surgeon work in private hospitals that have no intensive care, hence surgeons checking and double checking in some cases with patients doctors or consultants to ensure the patient is fully fit for surgery. They do this becaue they don't have all of the facilities available to them that an NHS hospital does or a few of the private clinics, so the pre and post-op advise given by our surgeons may or may not be OTT but one thing we can ALL be sure of....it's in the best interest of their patient. So regardless of the information you linked to, the surgeons performing this specific surgery do mostly ask women to refrain from drinking alcohol and from my experience here, the advise IS 'in general' around a week. In many clinics it's 2 weeks and a few it's less, maybe 48hrs. But in responding to women coming here for support leading up to or after their surgery I will always give the 'general advise'. If you want to make a 'big deal' about the advise I give that's fine. You're entitled to your opinion as am I. But it's entirely up to the original poster asking the question whether or not they want to take on board the response I or anybody else wrote in this thread. Or they could, like yourself.... read information from elsewhere and act on that. Or better still - If in doubt and concerned, ask their surgeon.

Well I had two shandies halves n came home. After being dumped by my boyfriend of only 3 months just before my op and Xmas and just being ignored for days I wasn't in the mood for partying anyway

Ah Loui sorry to hear that!  Try to look at the silver lining though...you won't have to look back on this Christmas and have it marred by memories of a bloke that most definitely doesn't deserve you!  You'll be able to focus on your recovery now, without having the additional worry of wondering what is going on in his head.  HUgs xx