I take psych meds. There is one that is going to lose its potency when I open the capsule. How long until I can go back to taking my pills in regular form (not crushed or opene)?

honestly your surgeon and whoever prescribed those pills will be able to tell you. but i was able to take capsules within a couple days from surgery without issue.

Oh, that would be great! I'll have to check with my surgeon.

I started taking my meds the day after surgery. Definitely check with your surgeon, but it should be fine to swallow, as long as it doesn't cause you discomfort.

Check with your surgical team, of course. I found that a baby spoonful of applesauce helped pills go down.

It sounds like you did but just in case for you or for others reading this, make sure to check with the pharmacy before opening or crushing anything. With some medications this can actually be harmful. Now to answer your question. I did not have anything as big as a capsule but I did have three pills I needed to take and I took them the next day after surgery (as in swallows them whole) without any issues. Some people do have more swelling though and pills can be hard for a few days. If so, most can be opened or crushed and taken with a bit of applesauce.

I was told I could swallow everything the size of pencil eraser (and smaller) as soon as I got home from the hospital. That was all except two pills. I had to wait about three weeks before I could tackle those - fortunately, they were ones I was told would be safe to wait on. So I never had to crush anything.

All you can do is try & see how you go. If you have trouble, try again in a couple of days. Start with the one you can’t open. I was taking meds in hospital. Wasn’t easy as I had swelling but I could do it. I started my vitamins day 4 when I got home (had a couple extra days in hospital because my back went out & my BP was low). The swelling was gone by then so was easy.

Thanks to all of you who replied. I really appreciate the imput. I will just hope for the best and ask the surgeon.