OK, so I feel like a nursing home resident...I feel like I spent half my day drinking some sort of dissolved pill or swishing some pill around my mouth waiting for it to dissolve. I even went and bought a pill crusher that had a picture of a male model who clearly is NOT part of my demographic (he had a combover and was wearing a turtleneck...oh boy). I've been taking:

1) Nexium

2) Biotin

3) B12

4) Chewable multi

5) liquid calcium/vitamin D

6) Birth Control

7) Pain reliever before bedtime

Since I can't just swallow a pill like I used to, these take up literally hours of my time. Plus some of them, like the Calcium supplement, have to be taken several hours before or after another pill, so I have to space them all out.

Please tell me how soon it's ok to start swallowing small pills whole! I feel like my entire day is centered around shuffling to the kitchen and back to grind and swallow my pills. The only thing I'm missing is a hand-knit cardigan and a walker (already have cats).:frown1:

OK, so I feel like a nursing home resident...I feel like I spent half my day drinking some sort of dissolved pill or swishing some pill around my mouth waiting for it to dissolve. I even went and bought a pill crusher that had a picture of a male model who clearly is NOT part of my demographic (he had a combover and was wearing a turtleneck...oh boy). I've been taking:

1) Nexium

2) Biotin

3) B12

4) Chewable multi

5) Liquid calcium/vitamin D

6) Birth Control

7) Pain reliever before bedtime

Since I can't just swallow a pill like I used to, these take up literally hours of my time. Plus some of them, like the calcium supplement, have to be taken several hours before or after another pill, so I have to space them all out.

Please tell me how soon it's ok to start swallowing small pills whole! I feel like my entire day is centered around shuffling to the kitchen and back to grind and swallow my pills. The only thing I'm missing is a hand-knit cardigan and a walker (already have cats).:thumbup:

:lol0: sorry to laugh, but the last part of your post was just too funny. lol I feel like that now, and say I feel like my grandmother with her pill box which I used to make fun of her for when I was younger. lol Good question though, wish I could answer, but I can't, but I also need to know this, as the pill (Ritilin) I take for my narcolepsy, the one I need to be able to stay awake all day and drive, I don't even know if I can crush it or what, good question to ask Friday when I go to the see the surgeon. Thanks for reminding me. I hope things get better for you Blackberryjuice.

At my two month appt. I told my doc I couldn't stomach one single chewable anymore or I was going to start puking and asked him if I could go back to taking regular pills.

He said as long as I didn't have any troubles swallowing them to go for it.

Life has been good every since.

I take my prilosex and iron in the morning and the rest at night.

Hang in there. It all goes back to normal in just a couple more months. I can swallow anything now, even these huge pills I have to take for a medical condition that I have. Those were the worst post-surgery. The taste of them crushed was absolutely horrific. After about 3 weeks, I was cutting them into thirds and swallowing them that way. Now I can take a handle of pills at one time and swallow lots of liquid all at once too. Remember, this time of your life is really brief. You can do it!

Thanks...I've e-mailed my doc about it, but somehow I suspect he won't ok it until at least the soft foods phase, which is 2 weeks away. Plus, after checking out my multi, I realized I should also be taking iron, as my multi doesn't have enough, so add that to the list!

I had surgery on 8/9 and I haven't had to crush any of my pills. I break my antibiotic in half, I took my pain pill whole and I take my anti-acid whole. Am I abnormal?

I had surgery on 8/9 and I haven't had to crush any of my pills. I break my antibiotic in half, I took my pain pill whole and I take my anti-acid whole. Am I abnormal?

I think it just depends on what your doc told you. Mine said to crush everything. As much as I want to question everything he says, I trust his expertise with the sleeve, so I'm not going to veer away from his instructions unless he ok's it. But if it works for you, hopefully he'll give me the green light, too!

It will get easier. I still hate taking pills, because pre-op I didn't take anything. My post-op instructions said that I could take pills the size of a pencil eraser whole, but if they were bigger, to open the capsule or break them. I did that for a couple weeks, then started taking the small capsules of Omeprazole whole, because I couldn't stand opening the capsule anymore. I still have chewable vitamins, and I use Viactiv for Calcium, because it actually tastes decent. I will switch to Citracal when these are gone. That's all I take, but it still takes me much longer than it would have before surgery. I plan on a good 10 minutes in the morning just for those silly little pills. I really hate chewable vitamins. I may go buy some of the gummy ones instead.

I started swallowing large pills while still in the hospital. They gave me pain meds (vicadin) by mouth on day 3. I have taken whole pills ever since with no issues.

I started 1 week out because I just could not do the crushing thing anymore. No issues however, I was told by NUT that we will always have to take a chewable vitamin. I HATE them. I can't imagine the rest of my life taking those things and I have been trying to figure out a ways around it. Maybe it is time to try gummies?

Lol...your funny!

I started 1 week out because I just could not do the crushing thing anymore. No issues however, I was told by NUT that we will always have to take a chewable Vitamin. I HATE them. I can't imagine the rest of my life taking those things and I have been trying to figure out a ways around it. Maybe it is time to try gummies?

My Daughter and I tried the Target brand adult gummy Vitamins, and they actually taste pretty good.

To fit the whole nursing home resident profile, I purchased Centrum 50+ Chewables and it's actually a pretty good multi, I think it's about as good as a multi could taste.

So I bit the bullet and took my birth control pill without crushing it today (I'm terrified that if I crush it, too much of it will get left behind and then I'll surely get pregnant, and my life will be ruined, etc etc etc). Still alive, 2 hours later.

The worst, however, is the Nexium, and that's a big sucker, so I don't want to risk taking that one whole until at least a month out.

QUESTION?? How do i know exactly how much of vitamins....iron? b12? any of it ...i should be taking? Is there a chart somewhere?

thanks in advance,

Randa

Blackberry,

Don't know if it will help much, but my PCP gave me a prescription for Nexium powder. Comes in a box with 30 individual foil packets. I just put it in some Water or juice, stir and drink it down. Might help you out some.

Hope things get better soon!

Patti

I've also been taking small pills whole since in the hospital. I questioned the nurse about it when they first gave me one on day 2 post op. She said it was in my orders and it was fine. I've had no problems. I struggled with the chewable Vitamins and when I asked about regular ones the docs office said to try them when I was comfortable swallowing them. The first time I tried a large Multivitamin (a few weeks ago) I got really sick. I tried them again last week and no problems. I am so much more compliant now that I can swallow everything. Someone here said we're supposed to always take chewables. That's the first I've heard of that. Anyone else get that info from a NUT or doctor?

As for my regimen, I take my multivitamin, Biotin, and B12 right after lunch, or sometimes after Breakfast if I remember. I put some extras in a medicine bottle and keep it in my purse so it's with me at all times. Otherwise, I get off schedule. I take my Calcium citrate with an afternoon snack or with dinner. Sometimes I take a Viactiv at bedtime just for extra, since I spent the money on them. By the way, Citrical makes cal citrate minis that are not as huge as regular calcium. They're still a good size and kind of square but go down easier. I need to add an extra citrate and some Iron in my schedule but haven't figured that out with the spacing required between the iron in multivitamin and the calcium. I'll get it together eventually. It is a bit much sometimes...