Medications

[victorbeatles 1]

Hi! My doctor instructed me not to take any anti-inflamatory meds such as advil pre and postop. I suffer a lot from allergies and every now and then and I take benadryl. Anybody knows if benadryl could affect anesthesia or the surgery? My surgery is on the 25th of april. Thanks!

[BJean 16]

Hey VB, I'm having mine on the 28th so we'll be going through most of the same stuff around the same time.

I don't know about Benadryl. I'd sure ask the doc about it though. Just in case.

I have a question for anyone who might know. How long is it usually after surgery before you can take a pill? I am on Wellbutrin and if I don't take it for several days I will get suicidal. And I know this because I had emergency surgery a couple of years ago and after a couple of days without it I just wanted to die. And when I came out of surgery I was begging them to just let me die. That's not me! I'm normally just the opposite... don't you suckers let me die!

I asked my doc's assistant and she suggested that I consult the pharmacy and ask if I can crush it. It's a timed-release med so I'm sure you can't crush it effectively. So either I'm going to have to wean myself off of it if I can't take it for more than a couple of days or figure out something else. Does anyone have a clue how soon I can expect to be able to take my happy pills?

[stcyt 15]

One idea may be to swithch to something that also comes in a liquid like Prozac. If that doesn't work for you you coul crus up a time release and give it to yorself in thirds throughtout the day. It's not ideal but nobody should have to be that depressed.

Stacey

[educationrulz 18]

I think you should be able to take most medications pretty quickly post-op, as long as it's not a big ol' horse pill. If it's small you should be ok, but of course your surgeon will have to make that call.

As for the benadryl, I would definitely stop that until your surgeon gives you the go ahead. I vaguely remember being told not to take it before a previous surgery. But I was able to take Zyrtec right up until the day before surgery, so you may just need to switch to a medication with less chance of drowsiness.

[BJean 16]

That might work Stacey. That kind of depression is a side effect of taking Wellbutrin if you stop taking it suddenly. I wouldn't take it but it has changed my life so much for the better. Other meds just didn't have an effect. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks to you too Mary!

[Dee 39]

You can get Wellbutrin in crushable it is comes in 100mg so you will have to take it 3X a day if you are taking 300XL. I would not recommended you wean yourself off! The sleeve is a major life change. I started taking meds 2 weeks post-op. Some surgeons say it is OK to take pills after the surgery, check with yours. You will do fine. I am loving this sleeve.

[Robbiehage 1]

My surgeon had me take my blood pressure meds the day of surgery with a small sip of Water, I do not remember taking them the one day that I was in the hospital but he had me on them my first day home. They were not cut or crushed but they are medium to small.

[pnw218 14]

Hey VB, I'm having mine on the 28th so we'll be going through most of the same stuff around the same time.

I don't know about Benadryl. I'd sure ask the doc about it though. Just in case.

I have a question for anyone who might know. How long is it usually after surgery before you can take a pill? I am on Wellbutrin and if I don't take it for several days I will get suicidal. And I know this because I had emergency surgery a couple of years ago and after a couple of days without it I just wanted to die. And when I came out of surgery I was begging them to just let me die. That's not me! I'm normally just the opposite... don't you suckers let me die!

I asked my doc's assistant and she suggested that I consult the pharmacy and ask if I can crush it. It's a timed-release med so I'm sure you can't crush it effectively. So either I'm going to have to wean myself off of it if I can't take it for more than a couple of days or figure out something else. Does anyone have a clue how soon I can expect to be able to take my happy pills?

I also take wellbutrin 300mg. I think I skipped the first two days after surgery and then resumed taking it on day three. Dr told me to just space my meds out like 15 minutes apart or so - I take a few others as well. My wellbutrin is probably my largest tablet. It was a little scary to take at first but after a couple of times, it was fine.

I did make sure to have something in my stomach tho before I took my meds. Made that mistake with my back meds and I felt yucky the entire day.

[wannalise 15]

Do not miss your anti depressants! I am on a super small dose of celexa, and didn't take it post op and didn't alert my doctor to it because I also have epilepsy and they were giving me my seizure meds via IV. I figured I was okay, but missing a few days, anathesia in my body, starting my period, and the stress of such a life altering event left me with a lot of anxiety for about 3 days. It is not worth it. Take good care of yourself physically and emotionally. You deserve the best!

[BJean 16]

You can get Wellbutrin in crushable it is comes in 100mg so you will have to take it 3X a day if you are taking 300XL. I would not recommended you wean yourself off! The sleeve is a major life change. I started taking meds 2 weeks post-op. Some surgeons say it is OK to take pills after the surgery, check with yours. You will do fine. I am loving this sleeve.

Fabulous information!! I read my information insert and it says not to crush the regular tablets so to know that I can actually get a crushable tablet of Wellbutrin is wonderful news. Yay! Thanks Stuck. I am glad you love your sleeve, that's also very great news!

[BJean 16]

pnw218: "I did make sure to have something in my stomach tho before I took my meds. Made that mistake with my back meds and I felt yucky the entire day."

Also good info. These are the kinds of things that the doctors don't really tell you but that can really make it easy or rough. I prefer easy so thanks!

[BJean 16]

wannalise, I also take a BP pill but it is small and my doctor didn't think I'd have a problem getting one of those down. And I'll bet you're right since this is such a big life changing procedure, you don't need to be getting your meds out of whack at the same time. (Congrats on your cool weight loss since 3/25!)

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Hey VB, I'm having mine on the 28th so we'll be going through most of the same stuff around the same time.

I don't know about Benadryl. I'd sure ask the doc about it though. Just in case.

I have a question for anyone who might know. How long is it usually after surgery before you can take a pill? I am on Wellbutrin and if I don't take it for several days I will get suicidal. And I know this because I had emergency surgery a couple of years ago and after a couple of days without it I just wanted to die. And when I came out of surgery I was begging them to just let me die. That's not me! I'm normally just the opposite... don't you suckers let me die!

I asked my doc's assistant and she suggested that I consult the pharmacy and ask if I can crush it. It's a timed-release med so I'm sure you can't crush it effectively. So either I'm going to have to wean myself off of it if I can't take it for more than a couple of days or figure out something else. Does anyone have a clue how soon I can expect to be able to take my happy pills?

I just attended the seminar last week, and my doctor says no pill swallowing for six weeks. Does the medication come in another form, I.E. pill, liquid or granuals? If so, that is what you will probably need to do, or else see if your PCP can put you on another medication that will be just as affective for the time being that does come in liquid, rapid disolving etc. Good luck!

[pnw218 14]

Holy Cow! No pills for 6 weeks? I get that doctors all put a different spin on things but that seems next to impossible to me! LOL I can't imagine that all of my meds are available in a liquid form.

I could see there being a few meds that truly must be taken in another form for awhile, but ALL pills seems excessive. I would be really interested to know the dr's reasoning behind that. If it is a personal preference for him/her or have they seen a large number of issues/complications as a result of pill swallowing.

Interesting stuff!

[NtvTxn 1,262]

Holy Cow! No pills for 6 weeks? I get that doctors all put a different spin on things but that seems next to impossible to me! LOL I can't imagine that all of my meds are available in a liquid form.

I could see there being a few meds that truly must be taken in another form for awhile, but ALL pills seems excessive. I would be really interested to know the dr's reasoning behind that. If it is a personal preference for him/her or have they seen a large number of issues/complications as a result of pill swallowing.

Interesting stuff!

All my vitimins will be chewable except the B12, it disolves under my tongue...I take Topamax to help prevent Migraines, and it comes in granuals, or I can crush them and take them with a touch of yogurt the nurse said....I am giving up my Imitrex (migraine med) and my PCP wrote me a script for Maxalt, rapid disolving. Six weeks for the tummy to heal, he is serious about being careful I guess. His sleeve patients don't start 'regular' food until week seven. One week Clear Liquids, two weeks full liquids and three weeks soft/mushies.