Pills after VSG?

[Bemabound 11]

I all....I'm wondering something I heard from my NUT. (looking at a Jan surgery). I take high blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, metformin (PCOS) and a Birthcontrol pill....she said something about needing to get these in a chewable form for after surgery????? Anyone hear of this and is it possible???? Also I'm over 400lbs and my surgeons general pre-op diet is for three days of liquids before surgery....what do all think of this? Thanks so much for any info you can share! Tracy

[Jeff Loughridge 1]

Buy a pill crusher. You will need it for any meds you continue to take. You may come home on fewer than you went in on, though. Crush them and sprinkle them on a snack size container of applesauce or sugar free pudding.

You will need adult chewable Vitamins, as well as any supplements you will be taking such as Calcium.

As for the 3 day liquid diet, every doctor has their own protocol. Mine requires a two week diet on Optifast for most. I actually lost quite a bit on it.

[Suchateacher 0]

I all....I'm wondering something I heard from my NUT. (looking at a Jan surgery). I take high blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, metformin (PCOS) and a Birthcontrol pill....she said something about needing to get these in a chewable form for after surgery????? Anyone hear of this and is it possible???? Also I'm over 400lbs and my surgeons general pre-op diet is for three days of liquids before surgery....what do all think of this? Thanks so much for any info you can share! Tracy

Be really careful about thinking that you can just crush your pills. Some medicines cannot be crushed and must be compounded into a liquid form by the pharmacist. Ask your pharmacist about your particular medicines, making sure to tell the pharmacist that you are going to be sleeved. The pharmacist will let you know what can and what cannot be crushed or cut up. Then make decisions with your doctor about the medicines that cannot be compounded, liquified or crushed up.

Good Luck!!!!! This is one of the tough issues for those of us that are taking multiple medications, figuring out how to handle each of them properly.

[lisabug 10]

Someone from the pharmacy came up to my room to go over all my meds. The one thing with birth control is that it may not be as effective post op while being crushed. I did not know this until I spoke to the pharmacist at the hospital. They reccomended to me to use a second form of bc or switch to nuvaring or depo.

Also all my meds can be crushed. Taste nasty, but it is only for 4-6 weeks.

As for the 3 day pre op. That is what my surgeon required too. Every pre op diet is different. If you trust your surgeon then trust that he knows what he is doing with the pre op diet. I am 4 days post op and doing great so far.

Good luck with your surgery. It is worth it and I am just starting.

[Stacy160 201]

Ask your doctor about it ... lots of peoples' doctors give the OK to take pills normally right after surgery.

[peatie 4]

I agree with the others. Find out specifically what your Dr wants. My Dr said I could take any pills that were the size of a pencil eraser or smaller. All 3 that i normally take fit that criteria. However, I did need to get a Multivitamin and Calcium to supplement, and those I got were in liquid form. Not sure what the size of my oxycodone or pepcid will be, but i'll be swallowing those too.

Good luck!

[lisabug 10]

It is so funny how every dr is do different on everything. Preop diet, postop diet, pills, time off work, Vitamins, ppi, and so on. It just proves that medicine is an art form bit just science.

[Luanne 32]

I take an anti-depressant called Pristique that is timed released so I'm sure I can't crush it.

[Bemabound 11]

Thanks guys! You all are sooooo helpful!!! Thank God for this site!!!! I'll keep ya posted! Tracy

[NtvTxn 1,262]

I all....I'm wondering something I heard from my NUT. (looking at a Jan surgery). I take high blood pressure meds, thyroid meds, metformin (PCOS) and a Birthcontrol pill....she said something about needing to get these in a chewable form for after surgery????? Anyone hear of this and is it possible???? Also I'm over 400lbs and my surgeons general pre-op diet is for three days of liquids before surgery....what do all think of this? Thanks so much for any info you can share! Tracy

Some of your meds may come in liquid form, some may not. I asked the pharmacist ahead of time about any medications I was taking, IF it was ok to crush them....I didn't buy anything special, the nurse at my surgeon's office showed us at the seminar how to put a pill in foil, fold it and then crush it with a spoon.

Although yogurt is not allowed on the liquid diet right after surgery, we were allowed to use just enough fat free yogurt to dip in the crushed pills (YUCK!!) for SIX weeks. After that we could swallow pills again. At some point yogurt was allowed and we could use more, or apple sauce. I was cheated and started swallowing the pills again after 2.5 weeks, the bitterness grossed me out!! I was only taking Topamax for Migraine prevention, so two pills a day, I just did it and lived to tell about it! I do take Bariatric Advantage choc. chewable calcium....it's like eating four Tootsie Rolls a day....and I take one Gummy multi Vitamin a day and liquid B12 complete....anything else, Vit D3, Biotin, Vit C - all regular pills.

[Luanne 32]

I decided to ask the pharmacist and he said absolutely NOT...My doc prescribed a liquid prozac. When is it safe to take a pill?

I take an anti-depressant called Pristique that is timed released so I'm sure I can't crush it.

[Luanne 32]

Some of your meds may come in liquid form, some may not. I asked the pharmacist ahead of time about any medications I was taking, IF it was ok to crush them....I didn't buy anything special, the nurse at my surgeon's office showed us at the seminar how to put a pill in foil, fold it and then crush it with a spoon.

Although yogurt is not allowed on the liquid diet right after surgery, we were allowed to use just enough fat free yogurt to dip in the crushed pills (YUCK!!) for SIX weeks. After that we could swallow pills again. At some point yogurt was allowed and we could use more, or apple sauce. I was cheated and started swallowing the pills again after 2.5 weeks, the bitterness grossed me out!! I was only taking Topamax for Migraine prevention, so two pills a day, I just did it and lived to tell about it! I do take Bariatric Advantage choc. chewable Calcium....it's like eating four Tootsie Rolls a day....and I take one Gummy multi Vitamin a day and liquid B12 complete....anything else, Vit D3, Biotin, Vit C - all regular pills.

[Luanne 32]

Some of your meds may come in liquid form, some may not. I asked the pharmacist ahead of time about any medications I was taking, IF it was ok to crush them....I didn't buy anything special, the nurse at my surgeon's office showed us at the seminar how to put a pill in foil, fold it and then crush it with a spoon.

Although yogurt is not allowed on the liquid diet right after surgery, we were allowed to use just enough fat free yogurt to dip in the crushed pills (YUCK!!) for SIX weeks. After that we could swallow pills again. At some point yogurt was allowed and we could use more, or apple sauce. I was cheated and started swallowing the pills again after 2.5 weeks, the bitterness grossed me out!! I was only taking Topamax for Migraine prevention, so two pills a day, I just did it and lived to tell about it! I do take Bariatric Advantage choc. chewable calcium....it's like eating four Tootsie Rolls a day....and I take one Gummy multi Vitamin a day and liquid B12 complete....anything else, Vit D3, Biotin, Vit C - all regular pills.

[Luanne 32]

NtvTxn, Where do you get the Bariatric Advantage choc. chewable Calcium ?

[kelli 3]

I take an anti-depressant called Pristique that is timed released so I'm sure I can't crush it.

I wondered and worried about the same thing because it clearly says do not crush on the label...I do not want to go off and start that process again..have you heard anything so far ?