Hi--

I am pre-op and researching so sorry for the newbie questions.

I'm wondering about the medicines I take. Some are pretty good size pills (e.g. 800 mg ibuprofen). Once I'm banded, will the pills still go down OK? Do you have to break them up? What about capsule type pills? Do meds take longer to "work" (or shorter)?

Thanks so much for your advice/help.

Jim

I take loritab 10's for ruptured discs and they are huge and I can take them with my other 2 meds at the same time with no problems. I can take my huge vitamins. If you do have trouble you can cut them or crush them, but I have no problems and have taken these since day 1. Good luck.

I'm not banded yet, but I had this same concern and asked my PCP. He said almost all medications can be found in liquid form. My local CVS has a sign that lists at least a dozen or more flavors for liquid medications.

Hope this helps.

When my surgeon gave my wife a prescription for pain meds while I was in post op recovery, she asked him about my ability to swallow pills knowing that I had to get chewable Multivitamins for my after band life. He responded that I was not that restricted yet and that it would be about 2 months before my first fill that would really make things tight. As for long term meds, I am guessing that your Dr. would have to prescribe the liquid form.

By the way Jim, you mentioned Ibuprofen. This is known as a NSAID (non steroidal anti inflamatory drug) which I was told by my PCP and surgeon to avoid along with aspirin since these drugs cause stomach irritation and bleeding. Remember things dissolve slowly and so this would cause damage to the pouch. I was told to use tylenol for pain instead. You may want to check on that to make sure to avoid any complications later.

I think all surgeons are different. Dr. Curry says nsaid's are fine. I would check with my surgeon if you haven't already. Good luck.

I, too, am on Ibu 800's, but I won't need them for long after my surgery (praying I get it) because I'm taking them to be able to walk to lose weight. My lower back seizes up if I don't take one an hour before going for a walk. No spontaneous walks for me