Take those pills!

[rumpole6 12]

Hi everyone,

Surgery is one week from tommorow and I am worried about taking my pills. I purchased a chewable multiple-cite and need to get a chewable calcium citrate, the d vite is small and the B12 is small. But the surgeon has cleared me to resume my bp and heart medicine immediately the day after surgery and I am a little afraid of that. The nut told me to just space them out but on the other hand you need to strain your Soup so you don't get the little bits. No one on the medical team seems to see this as a contradiction so I will strain my soup and pace out my pills. Does anyone have a similar situation?

[VSGAnn2014 12,992]

Do what they said -- don't put bits in your Soup, and take your (small) pills.

It's OK.

[S(he) be(lie)ve(d) 151]

When you get to the point where you can eat yogurt. Put the pill on the back of your tongue and swallow your pill with a little bit of yogurt(no chucks). They do NOT hurt at all. I still do this everyday. I recently tested taking my pills with Water again. Ouch! Back to the yogurt I go! They just glide down and no drama added!

[Angel720 47]

Yes! Vitamins I started slowly 10 days after surgery but meds I started immediately after surgery, while at the hospital. Dissolving them in Water was awful so I crushed them into smaller pieces and took them that way for 3 weeks, a pain for sure. The smaller ones I started taking them whole when I started on soft foods and the larger ones I started taking whole once I was eating solid foods.

[maggiemayuk 106]

I have been told to crush all my meds or get soluble equivalents for the first 6 weeks after my op. Have been crushing them and taking in Water but they taste revolting. Will be glad when I can go back to taking them whole.

[rumpole6 12]

I have been told to crush all my meds or get soluble equivalents for the first 6 weeks after my op. Have been crushing them and taking in Water but they taste revolting. Will be glad when I can go back to taking them whole.

They told me check with the pharmacist because some meds lose effectiveness crushed. I do plan on cutting the bigger ones

[maggiemayuk 106]

Yes, you do need to check with the pharmacist. They will tell you which ones can be crushed and can recommend substitutes in some cases for the ones that can't.

The only med I'm not taking at the moment is my statin because one of my liver markers is raised and statins can make that worse. There will be a review after blood tests have been taken in around 6 weeks time.

[S(he) be(lie)ve(d) 151]

From day one, I have never crushed or sprinkled any of my pills. Swallowing them with yogurt makes a huge difference. I don't even feel them going down. Not even the bigger pills.

[woo woo 872]

My discharge instructions from the hospital said pills the size of a pencil eraser or smaller it was ok to swallow whole.

Others crush or break in half if possible and not the extended release kind.

In fact I was given a blood pressure pill to swallow while I was in the hospital.

[maggiemayuk 106]

Maybe the instructions depend on how drastic your surgery was. From what I've read a lot of surgeons take away 70 - 80% of the stomach. Mine, however, took away 90% and said that what was left was the size of his little finger. I'm not surprised therefore that I was advised to crush the pills until everything heals up and the swelling goes down.

They said I could go back to normal pills after 6 weeks.

[akrier 1]

i had an 80% reduction, have taken pills since day two - prilosec being the largest. no issues just a little tiny bit of G2 to get them down. Yogurt also a great idea