Taking pills after surgery?

[mousecat88 2,281]

Okay, this may be a stupid question... but if your stomach can only hold 2 oz immediately after surgery (bypass)... how are you supposed to take medicines? I take 5 pills that all have to be taken at night before bed (none of which I will ever be able to stop taking when I lose weight)... can I still take them all at once or is that too much at once to digest? This is coupled with the liquid Multivitamin I will have to take at night, too. Which THAT says to mix with 4 oz of Water. I'm confused.

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[iattcom 96]

I am dealing with this issue right now. I take all of my pills with Water one at a time and with a sip of water and no food. I do not take them with dinner or during a meal time. Take it slow and it will happen. You will do fine.

[Matt Z 4,140]

11 hours ago, mousecat88 said:

Okay, this may be a stupid question... but if your stomach can only hold 2 oz immediately after surgery (bypass)... how are you supposed to take medicines? I take 5 pills that all have to be taken at night before bed (none of which I will ever be able to stop taking when I lose weight)... can I still take them all at once or is that too much at once to digest? This is coupled with the liquid Multivitamin I will have to take at night, too. Which THAT says to mix with 4 oz of Water. I'm confused.

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liquids, melts/dissolves etc are helpful, they told us for the first few weeks, no pills larger than an m+m. Water also starts to just empty through not long after surgery, so if you get lucky you shouldn't have any issues with water intake. I had no problems taking any of my numerous pills. Think of it like this, you've got a tube connected to a sphere connected to another tube. If you pour the water in as the same rate it flows out... you can pour as much as you want until the lower tube fills up. If you pour too quickly, you get the back up since the water input is faster than the water exiting. If the pills are small, they will flow though the pouch pretty quickly as well. Just take them 1 at a time and sip the water. Swelling with cause some restriction, but if you start drinking super slowly, see how much you can get in when taking tiny, constant sips, then slowly increase the input until you notice it starting to back up, then slow down a bit and it should go away. This way you'll figure out what your throughput is and you'll know the speed at which you can consume liquids without back up.

[mousecat88 2,281]

Gotcha. Thanks! I'm used to taking them all at once with a big gulp of Water. lol. Have to remember not to try that one!

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[Frustr8 7,886]

👍🐭🐯---You know you can do THIS and do it GOOD. Happy thoughts being sent Your Way!

[MargoCL 677]

13 hours ago, mousecat88 said:

Okay, this may be a stupid question... but if your stomach can only hold 2 oz immediately after surgery (bypass)... how are you supposed to take medicines? I take 5 pills that all have to be taken at night before bed (none of which I will ever be able to stop taking when I lose weight)... can I still take them all at once or is that too much at once to digest? This is coupled with the liquid Multivitamin I will have to take at night, too. Which THAT says to mix with 4 oz of Water. I'm confused.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using BariatricPal mobile app

For the short interim, i had to crush my pills and take them with applesauce. I was told any pill larger than the nail bed of your pinky either had to be liquid form or crushed. - I only had to do this for 3 weeks and it wasn't a big deal and in some ways made some of my pills easier to take all around.

But I also did this under the guidance of my surgical team. No matter what you do, I'd follow their instructions first.

[mousecat88 2,281]

1 hour ago, MargoCL said:

For the short interim, i had to crush my pills and take them with applesauce. I was told any pill larger than the nail bed of your pinky either had to be liquid form or crushed. - I only had to do this for 3 weeks and it wasn't a big deal and in some ways made some of my pills easier to take all around.

But I also did this under the guidance of my surgical team. No matter what you do, I'd follow their instructions first.

Blecchhh. Just imagining the taste of crushed pills. Haha. I have a nurse telephone consult on the 15th where we go over my meds, so I guess they'll give me instructions then, presumably.

It's also weird to me how it's remotely possible to get enough Water in, in the beginning. I've had two friends both end up on IV two or three weeks out for dehydration. Right now I sip water all day long... around 100 ounces a day!

Edited October 10, 2018 by mousecat88

[MargoCL 677]

I didn't taste the crushed pills at all... I used the squeeze bottle of apple sauce, layered the spoon lightly, dumped crush pill in the middle and put more apple sauce on top... it went down quicker and smoother than any regular pill.

Water seems easy now because you can consume 100oz, but it will get challenging especially post op. Set a timer and you have to follow your Fluid guidelines.

[J San 1,071]

You should check with your PCP to make sure the absorption rate will not be affected by the size of your stomach. At the beginning I took mine two at a time with sips of Water. After about a month I was able to take them all at once again. I was also told no pill bigger that the bed of your pinkie nail but fortunately the only one that was, was my multi which I switched to a bariatric brand and they are much smaller. I felt full but it lasted a short time. You should be fine, especially doing it right before bed.

[Frustr8 7,886]

Well, my surgeon put me on Carafaten I put the big white horse pill in my my shotglass, boiling Water on it to dissolve,it, sltir up the slurry with a popsicle stick & when it cools chug it down the old throat. Have do it every 6 hours round the clock.