I take 12 different pills a day (down from 19 so things are getting better). My doctor insists that the all be crushed. There are a couple that are really big, so I am cool with those being broken up, but how many of you actually just take pills without the crushing thing?

I do. I have since I've been home.

I take a lot of pills and I don't crush any of them. I am over 2 years post op though.

In the beginning, I got chewables whenever possible and all the rest of my pills were tiny.

I'm 6 months out and don't crush any of my pills. I haven't had any issues with it so I' assuming it's ok. I've been taking them whole for a couple months now. No problems except for they make me nauseous if I don't have anything in my stomach. Ugh! So I take them with about 2-4oz. of yogurt.

Good luck!

I take 12 different pills a day (down from 19 so things are getting better). My doctor insists that the all be crushed. There are a couple that are really big, so I am cool with those being broken up, but how many of you actually just take pills without the crushing thing?

I've been taking tablets since the day after surgery. Small capsules, I tend to find easiest, but small caplets work, too. All but one of my meds have been easily swapped for smaller tablets/capsules, and the one big booger, I find it easiest to take with something with a thicker consistency. I'm still on liquids so a swallow of SlimFast works well.

I crushed or cut any tablets I took at first, and gradually got the pieces bigger as I was farther from surgery. I have been taking all of my pills whole for a few months now. Vitamins and minerals, which tend to be large, I get in a chewable or sublingual form. Most pharmacies have a clever gadget that can crush or cut pills for just a few bucks.

Good luck.

I've also been taking all of mine in pill form since day two. Minimum I'd check with an independent pharmasist and make sure it's safe for you to be crushing them. Some pills are not meant to be crushed.

I've been reading here quite a while and you're the first person I can remember who said this was a 100% rule.

Thanks everyone for your response. I think my surgeon just seems to be ultra conservative about everything. Not all bad though, because I really have had no issues at all beyond hiccups the first couple of days and I have lost of ton of weight already.

Post surgery I was only one one prescribed pill (antacid) and advised to take a stool softener. Some of my vitamins and minerals (fish oil) is huge and just take one at a time, no crushing. Just space them out. If you like to crush them then crush them, I would suggest getting a real mortar and pedestal.

I'm 6 weeks out and I've been doing chewables and crushing my other meds until yesterday. I didn't crush my PPI - which is small - and it went down fine.