Taking medication

[LindsayT 551]

I have quite a bit of medication I take daily. At what point after surgery could you take medication? Did they need to be crushed or chewed? I don't get to talk to the pharmacist until final approval.

[Recidivist 1,141]

I could take them immediately after surgery, but they ha to crushed--and it was disgusting. I think it was about six weeks before my surgeon said I could start to take them whole.

[Elidh 238]

I took my regular meds the day after surgery, not crushed.

[Spinoza 1,126]

I had oro-dispersible or liquid meds for the first four weeks and then back to anything. I had a sleeve though.

[liveaboard15 1,292]

i had no issues taking pills after surgery. Took several right after surgery. after it was around 4 pills a day for a few months.

[NP_WIP 273]

No issues, even right after surgery they gave me 2 big tylenol for pain, and all my prescriptions were whole even my BP medicine. I had to wait a few weeks to start Vitamins and 30 days to start birth control.

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[SleeveToBypass2023 1,795]

I had to crush mine except for the MS meds, those I had to take whole. My advice, take them with something warm. I mixed the crushed pills in a shot glass with some well flavored drink and then I had to take 1 at a time, but the 2 pills that had to be taken whole, I took with warm liquid (usually broth). This was for the first 2 weeks. Then I didn't have to crush the pills anymore, but I had to take the pills slowly with warm broth for another 2 weeks. By week 4, I was healed enough to take my meds normally. And by then I was off my blood pressure and diabetes meds anyway, so that was a lot less than I had to take before (I got off all 4 of those meds and was thrilled).

[Arabesque 6,439]

I took meds 24hrs after surgery. It was painful for a couple of days due to post surgical swelling. It is something to speak to your surgeon about as they often have different requirements. And not all meds can be crushed or split so you’ll have to look into that if you have to wait a couple of weeks before swallowing meds.

[LindsayT 551]

I had to crush mine except for the MS meds, those I had to take whole. My advice, take them with something warm. I mixed the crushed pills in a shot glass with some well flavored drink and then I had to take 1 at a time, but the 2 pills that had to be taken whole, I took with warm liquid (usually broth). This was for the first 2 weeks. Then I didn't have to crush the pills anymore, but I had to take the pills slowly with warm broth for another 2 weeks. By week 4, I was healed enough to take my meds normally. And by then I was off my blood pressure and diabetes meds anyway, so that was a lot less than I had to take before (I got off all 4 of those meds and was thrilled).

Thanks. That's exciting going off those medications. Congrats

[Tomo 1,135]

I was told if they are tiny, I could take them right away. The larger ones, probably would probably have to be crushed or dissolved in liquid first. Items up to your comfort level, I think.

Up to this day, I still have problem taking those huge supplements. I bought some ubiquinol online, a few months and when I saw them, I was like no way. I could take them but they are extremely uncomfortable.

[SkinnyMingo1408 356]

I had to crush ALL my meds for 6 weeks. I came out of the hospital off my diabetes medication and high cholesterol medication. The only meds I was on were my Vitamins and mental meds. I got the chewable Celebrate baritric ones (search Bariatric vitamins on Amazon). They were pretty nasty crushed up. I just used one of my 10ml medicine cups, poured some of my crystal lite fruit punch into it, poured the crushed on top of that and do it like a shot with my fruit punch as chaser. So, so, so, gross. I also had to open my tablets (omeprazole) and pour it into my shot.

So that was me.

[catwoman7 10,845]

I was "allowed" to take pills the size of a pencil eraser or smaller as soon as I got home from the hospital. I had to wait two or three weeks on the larger ones (and I only had two that were "larger"). One I was able to split using a pill splitter, so I could take that one after all as long as I split it. The other one the PA at my clinic said it was fine to hold off on for a couple of weeks. So in other words, I never crushed anything.

Edited January 30, 2023 by catwoman7

[SpartanMaker 676]

I also take a LOT of meds and supplements. I'm probably at about 30 per day. I had no issues whatsoever taking everything once I got home from the hospital, but I did have to space things out a bit. Early on, it was quite a chore just keeping up with everything. The biggest issue was that I was told not to take more than 1 capsule at a time since they can stick together and then potentially not pass through the stoma. More than one tablet at a time was fine, but capsules I needed to be careful with.

Now that I'm further out from surgery, I don't really worry about that anymore. I currently take quite a few tablets and capsules together and have no issues.

[Blessd1 66]

My bariatric center advises never to crush medications. It's best to check with your surgeon to find out what they advise in your situation. Best of luck!

[ShoppGirl 3,340]

I didn’t have any big pills but I was given the pills to swallow while the next day after sleeve surgery and didn’t have any issues.