Permissible Medications Post-Op

[Taken4Granted]

Hey Everyone,

I’m a long-time member, newly active now that I’m reconsidering a transplant. Thanks for humoring some tired questions. I couldn’t find quite what I need by searching.

Clearly post-op care is a big factor in the outcome of your HT. There are some obvious rules to follow, def glad to follow instructions. However, I can’t get clarity about certain medications that worry me, namely stimulants, alpha blockers and anti-histamines. Have you guys gotten any specific instructions about these drugs? I’ll go over my concerns for each.

Stimulants work in different ways, but usually they weaken your immune system and deplete your body’s resources. If you’ve ever taken Sudafed for an extended period of time, you might have noticed that cuts, scrapes, blemishes and other minor insults to your bodily tissues do not heal as quickly. It can also exacerbate acne and infections. I don’t understand the mechanism(s) behind it, but these drugs clearly weaken your immune system and slow down the healing process. If nothing else, they can disrupt your metabolism and endocrine system enough to stunt hair growth or, in cases of abuse, induce TE.

I have a similar concern about anti-histamines. Depending on the drug class, some of them arguably weaken your immune system by definition. In any case, they’re all designed to interfere with your natural histological processes, usually thought of as “inflammation” (which has a misleading normative connotation), but this too relates to immunology and healing.

And since we know the importance of circulation in the scalp, it’s reasonable to wonder whether drugs with cardiovascular side effects might also affect your recipient site, for better or worse. Alpha blockers are famous for lowering blood pressure, sometimes dangerously, and causing other side effects related to vasodilation - extreme sinus pressure, in my case. If this pill has such profound effects in other tissues above the neck, I wonder how it might affect my scalp and grafts after surgery.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts, experiences and recommendations, esp. those in health care.

 

Edited June 16, 2020 by Taken4Granted

[1978matt]

I think I was given anti-hitamines during some of my surgeries, but not sure if that was for the sedatory effects, anti inflammatory or perhaps both.  I also take them for seasonal allergies.  I doubt there is anything to be concerned there.

High blood pressure is not great for surgeries, so as long as you're in a reasonable range I can't see a big issue.  I'm no doctor though.

[LaserCap]

As we age, it seems, everything that can go wrong will. High blood pressure, thyroid issues, sleep apnea, allergies, and other chronic conditions. And, of course, there are meds for everything.  Having a PCP that can manage all these things is important to, at least, make life tolerable.  Good thing there are plenty of doctors out there that followed a certain specialty. Had it not been for them,I'd be 6' under.

It is vital, during the initial consultation, the clinic asks for a list of all the meds you take.  Some can have a direct effect on the transplant procedure.  If grafts are just popping out, it will just result in a very long day in the chair.  

I would share all these concerns with the physician. I'll venture to say you'll get different answers each time, but I doubt if they'll cancel the procedure.  

 

[Taken4Granted]

@LaserCap 

Thanks for weighing in. Yes, it seems the meds keep piling up. I would gladly suffer my little ailments off these medications for the sake of good results, though. I do plan to bring them up explicitly with my doc, but I’m also curious how much of the variability in outcomes might be explained by medication or underlying conditions.

@1978matt

Thanks, man. As a three-time Konior patient, your experience carries a lot of weight. I wonder if you got antihistamines to prevent you from sneezing while K was placing those grafts.

Edit - Wow, Matt. I wasn’t acquainted with your case until today. I’m murderously jealous. Good for you.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Taken4Granted