I know that for the first few weeks after surgery any medication that you take is in a liquid/dissolvable form but what happens after that? How do you take tablets if you can only sip water? ?

I found taking my meds very difficult for months. I took what I could, any way I could. Having to space everything out is really difficult. Drink ,wait, eat, wait, tablets wait !!! It does seem like a full time job. Some of my tablets are tiny so they were ok. My pain meds, for Fibromyalgia, were a struggle. I had to crush them and they were vile. It did not matter what I mixed them with, I dreaded them. Shudder. I did not take the repulsive Calcium tablet for months, I couldn't, the texture repulsed me.

My team were ok with this. They understood my struggle. I soon had to stop some because I didnt need them anymore, blood pressure was the first to go.

Some people had no problems at all, I was so envious.

I started out with some chewable vitamins as it meant they were easier to swallow and it meant it left fewer tablets for me to take during the day especially as Summerseeker says, having to space them out between eating. drinking etc is exhausting to plan.

I can gulp, not by my pre-op standard but when compared to the sipping of the first few months post op it is now a gulp or double sip ?. I have moved on from the chewables and now have five different tablets to take during the day and as I can now drink larger volume of water in one go it is easier however last night for the first time in many months I had a problem swallowing the calcium one, I took a few sips of water to go down to the point I couldn't take on more water but it was ok in the end.

Thank you Summerseeker and FifiLux! 2 of my meds are injections so I’m OK with them, another is folic acid but the tablets are small so hopefully will be OK with that. I have a HRT tablet to take daily (plus gel) plus the usual pain meds and vitamins. I intend to speak to my GP in good time re HRT to give myself chance to get used to any changes in medication she recommends.

It’s a lot of information to take in when you begin isn’t it?? Hopefully the amount of reading etc I want to do will stop me reaching for ‘unsuitable’ foods in the meantime ?

I was able to swallow all tablets but two (because of their size) as soon as I got home from the hospital. After about three weeks, I could swallow all tablets.

I'm on HRT and I have the patch (Climera) and it's amazing. I was put on it because the patch gets in the blood stream but avoids the kidneys, liver, and GI system. As for the rest of your pills, I would say if you can cut them, do that. That's what I did after both my surgeries and it really helped. Crushing them is just nasty. I did it for a week and couldn't stand it and switched to cutting them into small pieces. I'll be super honest, I took my pills all together and never had an issue as long as they were small. There was just no way I was taking them 1 or 2 at a time. It would have taken me all day!!!

1 hour ago, SleeveToBypass2023 said:

I'm on HRT and I have the patch (Climera) and it's amazing. I was put on it because the patch gets in the blood stream but avoids the kidneys, liver, and GI system. As for the rest of your pills, I would say if you can cut them, do that. That's what I did after both my surgeries and it really helped. Crushing them is just nasty. I did it for a week and couldn't stand it and switched to cutting them into small pieces. I'll be super honest, I took my pills all together and never had an issue as long as they were small. There was just no way I was taking them 1 or 2 at a time. It would have taken me all day!!!

Thanks for all your advice, it’s really helpful! The only tablet that is like a horse pill is the multivitamin but I will chop it up and see what happens. If it’s a struggle then I will switch to chewable for the short term ?

i was able (and allowed) to take tylenol the day after surgery, with no issues.

i did have some trouble swallowing those giant horse-pill sized calcium tablets so i stopped trying. 1 month or out i was able to get them down with a tablespoon of greek yogurt, but eventually switched to calcium chews. went back to tablets around 4 months post.

(note i was able to take all my other- smaller! - tablets: vit D, & pre-natal vitamin since day 1).

I was able to easily swallow tables about 4 or so days after surgery. The initial post surgery swelling made it painful the first three days but once the swelling went down it was okay.

Spread taking them out. Like I had two multi to take so took one in the morning & one at night. Make sure you eat first before taking your vitamins because they a make you nauseous As you’re still on fluids, take your tablets (singularly) with the last sips of your shake.

Remember too not to take your calcium, iron or PPI tablets together (wait an hour or so) between.

2 hours ago, Arabesque said:

I was able to easily swallow tables about 4 or so days after surgery. The initial post surgery swelling made it painful the first three days but once the swelling went down it was okay.

Spread taking them out. Like I had two multi to take so took one in the morning & one at night. Make sure you eat first before taking your Vitamins because they a make you nauseous As you’re still on fluids, take your tablets (singularly) with the last sips of your shake.

Remember too not to take your Calcium, Iron or PPI tablets together (wait an hour or so) between.

Great advice, thank you!

Honestly they had me taking tablet form Tylenol in the hospital. Just small sips and pace it one at a time. (a little hard in the beginning being a bit dehydrated and those uncoated tylenol don't quite go down the same).

I did do the chewable multivitamin which i had to consume in 2 parts because it was large and not very pleasant tasting, but did ok with the omeprazole tabs, stolen softener gelcaps and allergy pill I was still taking. I could not wait for the 30 days to be up to take my multi in capsule form.

I could always take slightly larger than tiny sips from the start and can drink almost, not quite, normally now a year + post-op. (large sips but not chug a whole bottle of water or anything).

I do still take the calcium chews because the size of calcium pills and how many you'd have to take is just not worth it. Plus the chews taste like starburst so it's a treat a couple times a day.