Hello everyone - I am looking for some advice about ways to take my medications. During my pre-op physical, my primary care physician tried to order my medications in liquid form but they aren't available that way. I take Cymbalta, which is in capsule form and Lisinopril, which is pill form. I also take a low-dose preventative aspirin each day.

I have been opening the Cymbalta capsules and pouring them into water and quickly drinking it. My best guess would be that I am only getting 1/2 - 3/4 of the dose. I am grinding up the Lisinopril and aspirin with the same results. I am concerned about this and looking for advice from those of you who may have dealt with and conquered this issue. I am still in the clear liquid stage - banded 1/27/09.

You need to contact your PCP to make sure it is ok to take the medications by opening them. Also check on splitting the pills rather than crushing them. It is really hard to be able to do this immediately post op because, if I remember correctly, I wasn't able to drink a lot of fluids at one time. Later on, this should become a little easier for you.

I am 6 months post op and not too tight. I take capsules whole and pills if they are small. I would not have been able to do this immediately post op, because I drink about 20 ounces of water with it so I can be certain the capsules dissolve and the pills go through. When I say pill, I mean they are not bigger than an m&m. I make sure I drink more water 5 minutes later.

I am curious about this as well. I still have a few months before I get the surgery, but I take lisinopril and lexapro every day and would need some way to get these down. I'm wondering if you have access to a compounding pharmacy if they can crush the medicines and put it into some sort of suspension liquid (like children's medicines). I would think this would be safer (to get the right dose) than trying to do it yourself.

Hi, yes, I did talk this over with my doctor and she actually suggested opening the capsules. She did contact the rep who supplies the clinic and was told there won't be any problem by using them that way, other than the obvious of not always getting a full dose. She was concerned about them tasting so bad that I wouldn't want to take them that way but I haven't found that to be an issue. I will speak with the pharmacist next time I am in the store to ask about a suspension liquid I guess.

The other problem I do have is the teeny tiny little beads that are in the capsules get really sticky when they are wet and getting them off the side of the cup is virtually impossible. I sure didn't see this crazy problem coming. :tongue2:

I would think the taste would get to me. I never thought about asking for a suspension liquid either. It would be worth a try.

Out of curiosity, I was just looking up info the 'The Apothecary Shop' since this is a compounding pharmacy close to me. Here is a link in case you are interested: Custom Compounding Pharmacy

It says that they can take a pill form of medication and turn it into a liquid. Now, what that costs or if insurance pays is another question, but at least it looks like it can be done. :tongue2:

I still take all my pills including my Klor-Con which is a huge potassium pill. No problems. Have you TRIED to take your pills? Just spread them out....

and low dose aspirin is VERY small. You should be able to take that easily!

I have a vitamin regiment of pills that I consume throughout the day, which are in pill form. Plus, I have three prescriptions I am currently on. I do not try to take all these pills at once. I have not had any problems with swallowing pills as long as I space them out.

My surgeon told me to crush them and put them in a spoonful of applesauce until I'm a little further out from surgery then she has no problems with me swallowing them. She did say to break larger pills in half or in 4ths if I really had to later on. If you're really concerned about it I would ask your surgeon about that possibility. Also, most of the time if a medication isn't a CR, XR, ER, XL, etc you can crush it or break it. The ones that end with those abbreviations you normally can't because it'll break the time release.

I take my pills no problemo. Just one at a time. If they are too big, I cut in half.

Hi, yes, I did talk this over with my doctor and she actually suggested opening the capsules. She did contact the rep who supplies the clinic and was told there won't be any problem by using them that way, other than the obvious of not always getting a full dose. She was concerned about them tasting so bad that I wouldn't want to take them that way but I haven't found that to be an issue. I will speak with the pharmacist next time I am in the store to ask about a suspension liquid I guess.

The other problem I do have is the teeny tiny little beads that are in the capsules get really sticky when they are wet and getting them off the side of the cup is virtually impossible. I sure didn't see this crazy problem coming. :w00t:

I have capsules I have to break open to take. It's a preventative for gallbladder that my surgeon requires for 6 months after surgery. It doesn't have the beads. It has powder, but what I do is put SF Kool-Aid in my mouth like I'm gargling and open the capsule straight into my mouth so all the powder lands on the Kool-Aid. I don't taste it and I get ALL the med. Yes, its a bit awkward, but at least I get the job done!

My surgeon told me to crush them and put them in a spoonful of applesauce until I'm a little further out from surgery then she has no problems with me swallowing them. She did say to break larger pills in half or in 4ths if I really had to later on. If you're really concerned about it I would ask your surgeon about that possibility. Also, most of the time if a medication isn't a CR, XR, ER, XL, etc you can crush it or break it. The ones that end with those abbreviations you normally can't because it'll break the time release.

I take propranolol LA (160 mg) for migraines, but haven't taken it since my surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago. Is it generally OK to take time released meds after surgery as long as they are small enough to take whole? I do plan on asking my doctor, but I thought I'd see what everyone else's doctor says too.

Until you are restricted...(have sufficient fill) there shouldn't be any issue with taking time released meds because they will go straight on through to your stomach. Do check with your doc of course. Once you are restricted he may prefer that you switch to a non time-release formulary because the restrictive action of the pouch makes it work like "time release" anyway. Your surgeon however will make that call!

And those of you opening and drinking capsules...take the parts of the capsule once you've gotten the "med" out, and put it in Water, and see how quickly it dissolves. If it dissolves fast (like within 5-10 minutes) you might want to try taking it whole. Because...if it dissolves fairly quickly, then even if it gets "stuck" it won't be much of an issue.

I agree with Restless. I would definitely ask your surgeon before you try anything though just to get their input. Also, talk to your pharmacist about what other medication options you have. From what I've seen as a pharmacy tech most time released medications are just more expensive forms of the non time release versions. You'll have to take them more than once a day instead of once a day like the time release but you might be able to save some money.

Hello everyone - I am looking for some advice about ways to take my medications. During my pre-op physical, my primary care physician tried to order my medications in liquid form but they aren't available that way. I take Cymbalta, which is in capsule form and Lisinopril, which is pill form. I also take a low-dose preventative aspirin each day.

I have been opening the Cymbalta capsules and pouring them into Water and quickly drinking it. My best guess would be that I am only getting 1/2 - 3/4 of the dose. I am grinding up the Lisinopril and aspirin with the same results. I am concerned about this and looking for advice from those of you who may have dealt with and conquered this issue. I am still in the clear liquid stage - banded 1/27/09.

I swallowed my meds from the first morning following surgery. My Dr. said that if they will fit through the top of a water bottle they will be no problem. I take one at a time followed by a lot of water and wait a few minutes between each one. You can also cut your pills if they are lg. The only problem I ever had was with an herbal colon/liver cleansing capsule I tried to take, but that's a whole other story!! You should be ok to swallow your meds and opening capsules and putting them in water is probably not a good thing.

I also take Cymbalta in the capsule form and instead of putting the beads into water and drinking it - I open the capsules in my mouth directly and then take a drink. That way - you get the complete dosage and it actually tastes better than drinking water with the beads in it. Hope this helps!!