I am going to be having a sleeve at some point in the sooon future. A friend of mine made a comment that I will have to stop medications after the surgery. This concerns me because I am on Meds for RA, Lupus, and a mood disorder. This includes a daily NSAID for very high levels of inflammation and a mood stabilizer.

Does anyone have experience with taking meds after the sleeve?

Thank you!

Yes, you can take capsules after your sleeve surgery though you may have trouble swallowing them for a couple of day because of internal post surgical swelling.

Generally we’re told we can’t take nsaids again after surgery. However, my surgeon allows me to take them because I rarely do - one less than once a month. Prolonged use of nsaids can cause inflammation of the stomach lining with side effects including nausea, diarrhoea, stomach ulcers & internal bleeding. Because we have a much smaller tummy the risk of side effects are increased which is why we’re told to avoid them. If your inflammation is aggravated by your weight, your weight loss may reduce your need for the anti inflammatories - fingers crossed.

The other issue to consider is that some meds are absorbed in your tummy. Because we have a smaller tummy, the meds may not be fully absorbed.

You will need to go through all your meds with your surgeon & prescribing doctors to see what meds you will still be able to take & to find alternatives for those you can’t.

There are lots of people on this forum who take meds for similar reasons as you. They may be able to suggest some alternatives that are working for them you could discuss with your doctors.

Yes you definitely can. I have lupus and take my pills daily along with all the pills the surgeon has me on. It’s hard to swallow them right after surgery but within a few days they go down like normal.

I have bipolar disorder and the surgeon has said I should have no problem with any of my medications after sleeve. He said it would be harder to absorb the medication if I had bypass, but the second opinion I got thought I'd be fine with either operation. The only other thing is that sometimes extended release medications don't work as well with bypass, but I don't know about sleeve.

I am able to take all of my meds the same and pre surgery with the exception of NSAID’s (I am not allowed to have them ever again) I only ever took for occasional headache during allergy season, now I just take allergy medication and it treats my headache pretty much the same.

My surgical group's official stance is "No NSAIDS ever again." But privately, my bariatric surgeon has said that taking a few doses a month is not a big deal, but he wants me to take an antacid each time I do. Also, he doesn't want me taking it for extended periods of time. He also would not allow this the first year after surgery. For the first year, he was very strict to allow healing.

I do take a couple doses of ibuprophen each time I get a bad migraine or bad menstrual cramps these days. No more than five doses in a month, and always with a big dose of antacid. Typically, it's one or two doses per month, if that.

I have been able to swallow capsules and pills starting the week of surgery. I spaced them 10 minutes apart, and swallowed with plenty of water. As others have mentioned, no NSAIDs ever again, with the exception of baby aspirin.

I had issues with nausea and vomiting, however, and quickly found out that pills were a trigger, even when I had them with food. I am a few months out now and can take them, but had to switch to liquid for some of them, crush others, and cut others, for weeks. You may want to purchase a pill crusher/cutter just in case. I found it for a few dollars at the grocery store. GL!

Yes u can