Large Pills during 1st week of post-op

[Husky2Healthy 1]

I am getting closer and closer to my approval for VSG, but the problem I keep coming up with is a pill I HAVE to take daily.

It is the size of a Centrum pill, it can not be cut, or crushed or available in liquid form.

It may prevent me from having any type of surgery.

I am not looking to be lied to, if I can't swallow the pill, then I just can't have the surgery.

I am going back to talk to my doctor about this next week, I am just obsessing about it.

I guess the questions I have are:

Did anyone else have this problem?

How did you get around it?

Or did you just try to take the large pill?

If so do you wish you had not, or did you not have any problems?

Thanks for listening,

Steven

[shaundra 5]

i just had surgery 5 days ago and my antibiotics are huge. my patient coordinator said most people can take the pills just fine after surgery. i havent had any problems.

[Foxbins 625]

Can you talk to your doctor to see if there is something similar you could be switched to (maybe temporarily, until you can swallow pills) that comes in an alternate form?

[SarahS 13]

What is the medication? It's highly unlikely that there isn't an alternative.

[Billy363627 15]

You think they could switch your meds for a couple of weeks. I was told that it would be around 3 to 4 months out before I could have big horse pills..but they should be able to change your meds to maybe half doses that can be swallowed easier..Just some ideas..good luck

[loosing.it.in.2011 0]

The first week it was hard for me to swallow pills. I am not a pill taker so I tend to have to gulp a lot of Water to force pills down. The gulping of water is not good during the first week. I took chewable vitamins during this time and my doctor was fine with it. The main concern my doctor had was staying hydrated that first week. Just talk to your doctor and let him know you are concerned - he will be able to suggest alternatives. We are all different. Good Luck!

[juliarh 35]

Hi!! I have meds that I MUST take (not related to my weight at all) -- and I could not swallow them after surgery (I think because I had my hiatal hernia repaired) -- luckily they are not slow release pills -- they are just standard pills. So, I melted them in Water for the first couple of weeks -- it took forever for them to dissolve, but I'd let them soak for about an hour in a little cap that comes with liquid medicine -- and then swallowed the mixture -- it was NASTY, but I got my meds in. That was most important. Then after a couple of weeks, I could swallow pills again.

I hope that helps!

[tntransplant06 20]

You may be able to take a substitute for a few weeks. I was told nothing larger than and M&M for at least 6 months. I'm taking my Vitamin now (I'm 3.5 wks out) and it's a decent size...definitely larger than an M&M. I just couldn't break it in 1/2 any longer bc it kept getting stuck in my throat. So, I broke the law and took it whole. No problems whatsoever. Now, this doesn't mean I'm telling YOU it's ok to do that, ask your doc, you may be given an exception.

[Husky2Healthy 1]

Thanks for all the advise. The pill IS a slow release, the substitute would be 3 slightly smaller pills that are ALL slow release. It is very frustrating. I currently take 5 pills(2 big, 3 small), I pop them all in my mouth and a healthy slip of Water no problem. I know afterwards it WILL be one pill at a time, and one pill I CAN cut in half, but the one I MUST take daily is the one I fear of having problems swallowing the first few weeks. Thanks again for all the help, I will just bring it back up next visit.