Hi everyone,
I have one last question prior to my surgery on monday and it deals with birth control pills. I got a very mixed answer from several different doctors when I went through my pre-op appointments, so I wanted to see what people here knew as well before making my own decision on the topic. I had a couple doctors say it was just easiest to stop taking them prior to surgery to mitigate clotting risks, but then a couple doctors said it was a very minimal risk and depended mostly on how laid up I would be. That was a question from them that I couldn't truthfully answer since I don't know what my own recovery will be like. I can certainly hope it's smooth enough that I can feel good enough to get up regularly and at least do a lap walking through my house, but I just don't know.
I tried to google up some information on it but my google-fu is either not so great or there isn't as much readily available information. The reason I'm on the edge about whether or not to take them is because the primary reason I went on them is due to really bad pain from cramps and heavy flow. My concern is that the cramping pain was always so bad that the only comfortable position was the fetal position as well as the fact that if the flow is heavy enough and I'm slow enough from post-op pain that it could get messy quick. I know, not the most pleasant thing to read but I wanted to make sure there was a bit of background as to why this is a concern for me personally.
I was told by a couple docs that it's a pretty small risk and that if I make sure I follow all instructions I may not run into a clotting problem. Other docs seemed to figure it was just easiest to not take them regardless of what the possible side effects could be. I've been on them for almost a decade now, so I'm pretty nervous about not taking them. You get so used to that regular schedule that it's really tough to imagine it possibly not being there.
I am somewhat lucky in the fact that my cycle matched up perfectly with my surgical schedule. Tonight would start a new pack of pills, so if anyone has any advice or links to articles I could read, that would be awesome. I tried to do a search here on the forums, but the information that came back was minimal or didn't quite match my question.
Thanks everyone.
~Sara