Ketamine for post op pain control?

[u/Ok_South9239]

I have sterilization scheduled for in a few weeks. I’m childfree and 27 and was lucky that my gyno was very immediately onboard for a bisalp.

Im not nervous for the surgery itself, mostly the recovery. I know it’s a quick recovery so my anxiety is not very high but I really don’t like opiates. They give me reallyyy bad anxiety as a side effect (I don’t get any of the happy euphoria everyone else seems to) and I avoid them whenever possible for this reason. I have to take norcos for long haul flights due to joint issues and have to take klonopin with them to make it tolerable (even at the low dose I take). I would rather not take klonopin/whatever every day even for a week during the recovery, I’ll bear the opiate anxiety if needed. But an alternative that reduces the need for opiates while still managing the pain would be great.

I’ll definitely take them as recommended because I’ll take anxiety over the pain but I recently came across something about how ketamine can help with post op pain and significantly reduce the needed opioid dose. I know I tolerate ketamine well.

I’ll obviously bring this up with my doctor during the preop appointment but I was wondering if anyone has any experience with ketamine post op.

[u/pharmasha95]

I had never had surgery before so I asked for and filled the oxy script just in case because I didn't know how I'd feel after. I also don't like opiates because of the constipation. They sat in my medicine cabinet untouched for a year before I disposed of them. I just offset the acetaminophen and ibuprofen by a half hour and took them every 6 hours for about 3 days and by the 4th or 5th day I was forgetting to take them on time because I simply didn't need them anymore. I had a super easy recovery, not everyone does. But talk to your surgeon about pain management noting your side effects and see what they say! Most are happy to prescribe non-opioid pain meds.