Hi all, I am having my VSG on Monday and I am wondering if I will be able to swallow/take my daily antidepressant medication? It is not in a capsule form but the tablet is quite small. I cannot stop the medication or withdrawal symptoms will occur and in any case, I need it. I am sure this is a common issue and so I was wondering what other people do? Also, to keep the breath fresh, are you allowed to suck on sugar-free mints that dissolve in the mouth? As for vitamins straight after surgery, do most wait a bit until they are at the puree stage to start them? I have already started taking BN multis pre-op but they are quite large and can't see these going down well post-op. Sorry for all the questions lol!

Call your surgeon and ask would be the best bet. I was taking pills while in the hospital after both my VSG and RNY but I know others aren’t allowed. I think it’s very surgeon dependent.

Thank you for your response, I will do that.

I was taking giant (an inch long and thicker than a pencil) antibiotics in the hospital right after surgery without issue. As far as my regular meds it was suggested I do them one at a time until I felt more comfortable taking them all at once (bonus I was able to stop taking my bp meds anyway). But yeah, the usual “ask your doc” answer is right, but I can’t imagine all the doctors who say it’s fine are doing anything different in surgery vs those who say no pills for x weeks (“hey I installed a special pill duct in your sleeve!”)

1 hour ago, Officially Not Fatty Matty said:

I was taking giant (an inch long and thicker than a pencil) antibiotics in the hospital right after surgery without issue. As far as my regular meds it was suggested I do them one at a time until I felt more comfortable taking them all at once (bonus I was able to stop taking my bp meds anyway). But yeah, the usual “ask your doc” answer is right, but I can’t imagine all the doctors who say it’s fine are doing anything different in surgery vs those who say no pills for x weeks (“hey I installed a special pill duct in your sleeve!”)

Yeah, I don't have an option to not take my pills after surgery; the surgeon said just not to take a few that might be affected by the surgery, but I've actually already stopped those for other reasons. I was taking a medication for nightmares that is actually a blood pressure medication and he said I would need to stop that for a bit, but I decided to see what it was like to stop taking it, and I haven't noticed any difference in my nightmares (blood pressure has always been fine). I was also taking metformin for weight loss (still don't have diabetes) and he said I would need to stop taking that, but my doctor never refilled my script for that, so I haven't been on that for a while anyway. I'm losing weight now and I wasn't when I was on it.

This was my main problem after surgery, i got some meds put into liquid form by my pharmacist but it took me nearly all day taking my tablet form taking 1 at a time every few hours.

1 minute ago, CLC1981 said:

This was my main problem after surgery, i got some meds put into liquid form by my pharmacist but it took me nearly all day taking my tablet form taking 1 at a time every few hours.

Why could you only take one at a time every few hours?

They felt like they were stuck in my throat no matter how many drinks of water i had to try and push them down, and took a while for it to clear before i could take the next.

Just now, CLC1981 said:

They felt like they were stuck in my throat no matter how many drinks of Water i had to try and push them down, and took a while for it to clear before i could take the next.

I have that problem sometimes when I take my 15 or so nighttime meds now, but I take them all in one swallow... I can't imagine what will happen after my surgery. I am not looking forward to that! I hope it gets better for you!

i’m fine now had my surgery in january and can take all 12 tablets in 1 go.

On 5/26/2021 at 5:45 AM, aussiescot said:

Hi all, I am having my VSG on Monday and I am wondering if I will be able to swallow/take my daily antidepressant medication? It is not in a capsule form but the tablet is quite small. I cannot stop the medication or withdrawal symptoms will occur and in any case, I need it. I am sure this is a common issue and so I was wondering what other people do? Also, to keep the breath fresh, are you allowed to suck on sugar-free mints that dissolve in the mouth? As for Vitamins straight after surgery, do most wait a bit until they are at the puree stage to start them? I have already started taking BN multis pre-op but they are quite large and can't see these going down well post-op. Sorry for all the questions lol!

I had some trouble at first. I take a nighttime med that's a large tablet and realized if I cut it into quarters, it went down better. Thankfully the others I take are small or capsules. I was not allowed to take any vitamins until my second week post surgery and all vitamins were required to be chewable.

On 5/26/2021 at 4:45 AM, aussiescot said:

Hi all, I am having my VSG on Monday and I am wondering if I will be able to swallow/take my daily antidepressant medication? It is not in a capsule form but the tablet is quite small. I cannot stop the medication or withdrawal symptoms will occur and in any case, I need it. I am sure this is a common issue and so I was wondering what other people do? Also, to keep the breath fresh, are you allowed to suck on sugar-free mints that dissolve in the mouth? As for Vitamins straight after surgery, do most wait a bit until they are at the puree stage to start them? I have already started taking BN multis pre-op but they are quite large and can't see these going down well post-op. Sorry for all the questions lol!

Check if your antidepressant is available in liquid form.

Thank you all for your input. I went to see the anaesthetist and asked him about my medication and he said that it should be fine to take my one tiny antidepressant each evening. I have chewable multivitamins that I can start taking after a week or so.