“Anesthesia/fetanyl/xylazine”

Thank you for your question. More importantly the use of Fentanyl aside from surgery is your greatest life threatening risk. Until you are able to discontinue please keep Naloxone available and do not use alone. As far as surgery is concerned please disclose this information to your anesthesiologist. The concern with opioid abuse and surgery is related to tolerance. The dose and type of painkillers commonly used during surgery, most commonly fentanyl, will not be as effective for you, because your body is used to them (developed tolerance). This means you will likely experience more pain immediately after surgery. Without effective painkillers during surgery , combined with your bodies tolerance to Xylazine, dangerously high blood pressure and heart rate may occur. Your anesthesiologist will need to be prepared for these challenges and additional medications will likely be necessary for you.

Be sure to openly discuss your situation with your anesthesiologist the day of surgery. Xylazine is a tranquilizer that can compound the sedating affects of anesthetics

Regular use of potent opioids such as fentanyl usually is associated with decreased peri operative pain threshold. That means that you might require more pain medication to cover your postoperative pain. If you want to avoid that I would suggest you regional nerve block as a part of anesthesia management for your hernia repair. And if you consider stop using thats a great opportunity to consult addiction specialist and to have that plan how to make it easy for you to go through your hospital stay with the minimal pain and how to carry on postoperatively.

Make sure you mention it to your anesthesiologist. It shouldn't be an issue. We frequently deal with patients taking narcotics and other meds.