Do you need to stop taking your herbs and supplements before surgery, even minor ones?
Many of you reading this take herbs and may need to get surgery or a procedure? Do you need to stop taking your herbs and supplement?
Many of you reading this Substack need to have surgery or a procedure to look for cancer or health issues. Herbs, vitamins, and supplements have some potent effects, including blood-thinning effects. Herbs can have effects on the body from hours to days. Herbs and supplements can affect your surgery or procedure.
The answer is yes; you need to stop taking your herbs, vitamins, and supplements for a week to two weeks before the surgery. Even with Essiac, you need to do that.
Marijuana and CBD products need to be stopped as well.
If you are getting any kind of surgery where they are cutting, scraping, and taking samples, those procedures may cause mild internal bleeding. If you are taking supplements that thin the blood as well, that could be dangerous for internal bleeding, causing it to be more severe.
The properties of the herbs and supplements may also affect sedation, how much you need, and how long it will affect you. This could endanger you during or after the surgery.
That is why taking herbs and drugs can be dangerous. The combination of both thinning the blood can land you in the hospital. So many people are now taking warfarin and other blood thinners that you need to be aware of the dangers of taking herbs and drugs together.
Blood pressure drugs are taken by millions. Many herbs have the effect of lowering blood pressure as a natural effect.
Quite a few herbs lower blood sugar, which will conflict with diabetes drugs.
Then we have medicines like antidepressants, which affect how your brain works in many ways. Herbs can affect how that medicine works or does not work. That can lead to some dangerous side effects.
Herbs can either cause your medicine to work less effectively or make the reactions more severe. There are so many possible interactions between prescription drugs and herbs that cannot be foreseen. It depends on so many factors that cannot be known until you take them.
Blood-thinning Herbs include: turmeric, ginger, cayenne pepper, ginkgo, lion’s mane, garlic, cinnamon, Vitamin D, Vit E, Omega-3 fatty acids, grapeseed extract, feverfew, which is in many formulations for migraines, aloe, evening primrose, and melatonin.
FenBen and Ivermectin, which many are taking, need to be stopped as well.
Overall, it is a good idea to suspend taking all herbs for a week to two weeks before a procedure and for at least a week afterward. If you have questions, talk to the doctors who will perform your procedure or operation about the supplements you take.