I am three days post-op, and have no real pain anywhere. The liquid diet is working and not bothering me at all. And I'm already down 27 pounds from when I started. But I have a big problem with taking pills. I take them one at a time (I have to get six down in the morning and two at night) with as small a sip of water as I can. But no matter what, it always starts a reaction of violent hiccups, sometimes followed by vomiting them right back up.

And it feels like my throat is constricted as well, as pills have started to get stuck there. Is this a holdover from surgery, from the tube they stick down the throat, and it's just swollen, or am I missing some trick that everyone else has figured out?

Edited May 9, 201016 yr by chodapp

I crushed mine until about 2 months post op - mixed with applesauce was ok'd by surgeon. The next 2 months I diced them in fourths.

This is a good question and I hope more people with experience respond. I'm a few days away from surgery but I've already bought a small cartel worth of vitamins and supplements and I have no idea how well I'll be able to get them down.

TinaM - when you say you diced them into 1/4's, does that mean you weren't able to tolerate 1/2's? Is 1/2 a pill generally still too big for the band at decent restriction?

I was actually scared of getting something stuck - now that I have some experience with it - not scary (and it was on food not pills)

The pain medication I was given right after surgery were horse pills because the ONLY liqud pain meds I am allergeic too - now that was fun.

Every day I chew two multivitamins in the morning, take a VitD and VitB1 supplement and two prescriptions. I don't have any problems swalling them here at 6 months out but I'm 'full' for a few hours.

Also you may want to ask your surgeon about supplements right after surgery. Mine had me double up on multivitamins for 4 days before surgery knowing I wouldn't be taking them for at least a couple of days after.

If you have any additional questions feel free to ask.

Chewables are fine. It's the coated time release pills (which are no larger than an aspirin) that I can't get down without the hiccups, and I'm not underselling how intense they get. Out of curiosity, I did an experimental cheat with a cracker, and it went down fine, with or without water. But the pills set them off every time. :confused:

Here is an encouraging result. I know my doctor says no carbonation, but if I take the pills with a swig of club soda or seltzer water, the hiccups don't happen. Or they haven't happened today.

I have had difficulty with pills since surgery--well before I had restriction with other foods. I am sure the postop swelling played in at first.

Whenever possible, I ask for liquid medications. I do have one VERY small pill I take each day, and it goes through okay (but I feel it). I also can take gelcaps or capsules filled with powder---as long as I drink something warm with them to dissolve the gelatin.

But pressed tablets? They invariably get stuck, and take forever to work through the stoma. Ouch.

I'd ask the doc if there are liquid alternatives---it just makes life a little less uncomfortable.

Now that the weekend is over and I've had a chance to talk to the surgeon's office, the problem was just as I suspected. It's all my fault.

Why didn't I see that coming?

Powerade? Too early in the game. The stoma is swollen around the band, and anything acidic makes it unhappy, makes it cranky, and makes it swell up like an angry puff adder so nothing easily gets around it. Stick to water.

Ditto too much liquid in the first few days. 1-2 oz. of water or clear broth at a time, wait 15 minutes, then have another 1-2 ounces. Repeat for three days.

And of course, the office blames my single Ritz cracker/no hiccup experiment for three days of setback. My dietician sounded entirely too much like the Keeper in Star Trek's pilot episode, telling Captain Pike after making him writhe in pain, "Wrong thinking is punishable; right thinking will be as quickly rewarded!"

Edited May 10, 201016 yr by chodapp

I was fine taking pills post op (I took Zoloft), until I had must first fill then unfill. For whatever reason, these tiny pills burned and hurt. I (stupidly, I know) went cold turkey off of them three weeks ago, because it hurt so bad. Luckily, I havent had any withdrawl symptoms or anything else. Bigger pills (like tylenol) were fine, but these tiny pills hurt!

I've never heard anything about too much liquid the first few days. Maybe my surgeon just doesn't like me :biggrin:

Has anyone tried the chewable vitamins? I am taking the Vitaband multi vitamin from Bariatric Advantage that is designed for lap band patients. They have chewable iron, calcium, and various products that are also chewable. I had problems with swallowing pills before my surgery so these have been a lifesafer. You can now buy them on Amazon and Ebay and it makes it so much easier for me to get them in the mail. My doctor recently put me on iron and the chewable grape has a great taste.

I put back my pills no problem, but mine are all at night. I know I would have serious problems getting pills down in the morning, especially six. You may have to work something out long-term for the morning pills. The crushed pills in applesauce does work fairly well but with six different pills, it's likely going to taste wretched!

I am surprised that pills+soda didn't make you puke right there and then.

I have problems with larger pills like vitamins or tylenol capsules, so I cut my tylenol, and take my time release pills at night when my band is a bit looser. I use chewy gummy vitamins. But occasionally I still get stuck, part of the game I guess. After you are through the restricted food stage, a little pineapple juice helps, believe it or not, it is kind of slippery and helps to lubricate the pill through the band.

My doc said no pills for a month post-op but ok after that.

I will, going forward, always ask for liquid if available. I just got prescribed Actigall and have to open the capsule and dump in some liquid then drink it like a little shot. (Pharmacist ok'd this as it's not a time release med.)

Morning pills are no-no's but afternoons and evenings are ok.

My doctor had me take chewables right after surgery. He told me I could resume my regular pills at 2 weeks out I believe.

Now I have good restriction and am especially tight in the morning so while I can handle my medications (smaller) by mid morning I can't get a Multivitamin or Calcium down comfortably. Cutting them up only made rough edges that hurt and didn't go down any better, so I just went back to chewable Vitamins and calcium.

I take 8 in the morning (4 prescription and 4 otc) and have the feeling like I am going to puke them up and have to force them down. I take 5 prescription at night and they go down fine. The percocet is my biggest and I don't seem to have trouble with it, all the pills go down the stoma without any trouble. It's just in the morning that I want to choke them back up, ever since surgery it has been like this.

Try not taking them as soon as you get up. I have been told the esophagus is swollen when you first wake up. Try a swig of warm tea first. Try tilting your head back and straightening your throat when you swallow. These combinations seemed to solve the problem.