Absorption of Methadone after DS

[Brianna]

Hi everyone! New here. I had a VSG in May 2015 and I am beginning the process to revise to a DS. I've regained about half of the 90 lbs I lost with VSG. Initially I planned to have the DS procedure to begin with, but at my final appointment before submitting to insurance, my surgeon said he wanted to do VSG only because he was concerned about absorption of one of my prescribed medications. For the past 5 and a half years I have been on methadone maintenance. It is for treatment of a past opioid dependence. It has helped me immensely to completely turn my life around, and at this point see no reason to disrupt my life by undertaking the painful and emotionally draining task of coming off of it. Anyway, the medication is an immediate release liquid, and the doctor who prescribes it has told me that if there was to be a problem, my dose can be adjusted, as well as dosage timing. Meaning instead of 80 mg once a day, I could take 40 mg twice a day or 20 mg 4x a day, etc.

I have tried to research this as much as possible, but there doesn't seem to be very much information. Especially on a fairly unusual situation like mine.

So what I'm asking is- has anyone had an issue similar to mine? Was malabsorption of medications a problem? How would you go about speaking to the surgeon about this?

Thanks so much.

 

[Larra]

I can't recall this question ever coming up before, but I think you have the right idea by planning ahead of time what you will do. Talking openly to the surgeon sounds like your best bet, and knowing ahead of time that you may need to adjust the dosage. In general, the meds we tend to have issues with are extended release stuff, and it sounds like this isn't the case with methadone, but smaller doses more frequently would make sense if you realize post-op that it isn't working the way it's supposed to.
Let us know what happens! The group here is very supportive, and we'll all learn along with you.

 

[Munchkin]

As long as your doc is willing to adjust your dosage if necessary it should not be an issue. Like Larra this isn't something we have seen before but I haven't yet seen anyone with a medication that couldn't be made to work postop.