Pre Op can continue to take cod liver oil?

[djwood]

I have been taking Cod Liver oil for a while as it seriously decreases the pain in my hip, but I read recently that it should not be taken at least 2 weeks pre surgery, as well as other vitamins/minerals. Does anyone have anymore information on this?

[johnd_emd]

NO.  You're doctor should've told you to stop taking it about a week pre-op.  I would also stop any other supplements you're taking before surgery.  Talk to your doctor and tell him/her what you are taking so you can adjust accordingly in time before surgery.

[djwood]

Many thanks for your help.....is it true that cod liver oil thins the blood?

[johnd_emd]

Yes, that's why they want you to stop before surgery.

[hernanu]

As far as I've read, cod liver oil acts to lower blood pressure, to slow coagulation of the blood.

This can be a good thing in normal life, but in a situation where surgery is putting stress on your system, and we've seen many hippies (including myself) have lower blood pressure than normal just after surgery, and where we want healing to happen, the lowering of blood pressure even more, and the lack of clotting of surgical openings would be counterproductive, it seems.

Aspirin has the same effect via a different pathway, in that it reduces the ability for blood to clot, which is necessary to heal the cuts made during the surgery. It's fine afterwards ( my surgeon prescribed it to prevent bad blood clots ), but clotting is necessary to heal, especially under the pressure that the body is in during surgery.

Here's one of the articles that describes the effects of cod liver oil :

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-1040-COD%20LIVER%20OIL.aspx?activeIngredientId=1040&activeIngredientName=COD%20LIVER%20OIL

I'm sure that afterwards cod liver oil is fine, just that surgery is a special situation.