Lots of pills

[Emmyandlisa 12]

I take 4 pills a day plus Biotin, Calcium, Iron, and a multi. I haven't had surgery yet but it sounds like I'm going to be having 3 meals of pills! Does anyone take a lot of pills and how do you get them all in?

[OregonTeacher 63]

I take 3 pills twice per day, plus multi Vitamin and a Calcium twice per day. It is a trial in yhe beginning when you have to crush everything or open a capsule. I am also required to wait 10 to 15 minutes in between each medication. I use Greek yogurt to take my meds so I portion out my 1/4 cup yogurt, take my meds with it, then finish the yogurt when I am done with meds. Killing 2 birds with one stone, if you will.

It is time consuming, but, frankly, the worst of it for me is the taste of my meds. Satan in a spoon!!!

[rte837 141]

Per my surgeon; post op was Calcium and multi Vitamin three times a day, Iron once a day, B12 once a day, Vitamin D once a day; did this about 1 yr. Now it's just one calcium and one multi Vitamin A day, one Iron a day, 1 b12 a day. I also take daily prevacid and a prozac. Get them in one at a time. Yes, it helps keep the pouch full and me healthy!! It's all good.

[rte837 141]

I didn't crush anything once the g-tube was out. Just swallowed them as they came. Started the pills about 2-3 weeks after sx.

[maggie409 765]

I was told to get them in liquid form.

[Emmyandlisa 12]

Great ideas, thanks! Unfortunately half my pills don't come in liquid form but I think I will use yogurt.

[mik3sparks 14]

I haven't had surgery yet (5-14-15) but my surgen said I could take meds just like I take them now. Is he wrong?

[rte837 141]

Your Dr. is not wrong. It's so important for everyone to remember; there are many right ways of doing things. If you trust your Dr., go by his/her recommendation. It that doesn't work for you, THEN try an alternative.

[Emmyandlisa 12]

Yeah because you can't just swallow 8 pills at once.

[Luvin_Life125 558]

I take 22 pills a day if you include my Vitamins every day. I have divided my pills out so I don't make a meal out of them. Anything I could move to earlier in the day and take them in conjunction with my scheduled vitamins. I take all of my medications as whole pills and have since a few hours post op. I worked with my surgeon and primary care doctor to find a plan that worked best for me. Discuss this with your surgeon and see what they feel is best for you. Good luck!

[Djmohr 6,965]

In the beginning I simply would crush then or cut the in half. You only take one at a time in the beginning.

At about 8 weeks post op I was told I was healed and could swallow them whole, so I started doing that and no proble.

There is only one pill that ever gave me trouble and it is my Calcium citrate. That pill is pretty bid in even though it is the smaller version. I have to make sure I take it with quite a bit of Water. Once I swallowed it and it seemed to go down sideways and dry and that did make me vomit.

[TXMissy 211]

Yes. All these pills. In the morning my husband calls it my 2nd Breakfast. I'm almost 4 weeks out and they are so hard to remember, but it's getting better. It new habits. I can say, they are helping my Water intake.

[SkinnyDown 409]

This I am a bit worried about. I take over 20 pills a day, and minimum 4 injections of insulin.

I take morning and night pills, and I generally drink a 16 oz. bottle of Water with each pill taking time.

What am I going to do? With a little stomach, and I can't swallow pills to save my life, honestly I chew/break up, many of my pills, just some weird psychological thing about swallowing pills, and choking on them. Have had that issue my entire life.

The RN today told me i'll have to talk to my Surgeon about it, I sure hope there are some liquid alternatives. Or I'm screwed. LOL

[James Marusek 5,244]

In the beginning it can be a little overwhelming. After my RNY surgery, I found that I could no longer swallow many of my Vitamins. It took several weeks before I was able to swallow again. That meant that I needed to crush them or split them in two in order to get them down. I also had to separate time-wise the Calcium and the Iron [i.e. Flintstone multivitamins] pills. The number of calciums also had to be limited and spaced out. Crushed calciums taste terrible. I mixed them in a drink of Crystal Light to get them down.

Two years post-op and the process doesn't even bother me. It makes a world of difference when you can swallow again.

I take my Flintstones and an additional Iron pill just before bedtime. I put my Citrical's in a finger bowl which I take throughout the day. [This allows me to keep track of how many I take each day]. All the rests of the Vitamins, I place in a 7 Day Pill Organizer Container and take first thing in the morning.

[OregonTeacher 63]

@, most medications have a form that can be crushed if they don't have a liquid form. Don't worry, your doctor/doctors will help you figure it out. If not, talk to your pharmacist and have them help you learn what your choices are and then ask your doctor to write the prescriptions you need. Be your own advocate!