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hello again, its great to see everyone doing so well. hope everyone had a great holiday. just a little brag...i made it to onederland christmas morning and made my 100 lbs actually 103 by the new year.. WHOOHOO. ok got that out. since i have no insurance or dr right now, i rely on this msg board quite a bit. and my question is about being able to take pills, anyone with RNY taking pills??? i cant stand liquid tylenol, i will suffer first, that stuff makes me gag. and I too have been recently going through the hair loss thing, and was wondering about ppl saying theyre taking biotin pills, and hair-nail pills. glad to hear tho, that it does eventually stop. i got my hair cut short b4 the surgery, and usually it grows fast, but i think it stopped growing as well. also anyone have prob with dry skin now, think i could soak in lotion and it doesnt seem to help.

I do swallow pill with no problem. They told me to not take to much asprin. When I get a headache that is the only thing that helps. I chew some of my vitamins and swallow th rest. No problems here and my doc said it OK... Diana

Congrats Laurie on hitting all those goals we set for ourselves! I hit the onederland quit a while ago and am only 3 lbs away from 100lbs gone. Can't wait... Anyway.. I take Tylenol that are red round shaped. I usually only need 1 to deal with a headache or backache vs. the ol' two before. Think it has to with how much quicker the drug**** our system. Anyway.. I stick to chewable and round - not long pills. Those seem to go down without any trouble. I was told by the nurse in charge of my program that the dryer skin is due to way reduced about of fat in our diet. I'm loving it for the most part. My skin is clearer than it's been since before I was a teenager and for the first time in my life I only have to wash my hair every other day instead of daily, or even sometimes twice a day. I don't think the dry skin goes away. Dawn

Hey Laurie.. I was told to never swallow pills again. I know what you mean about the liquid Tylenol - it's definately not good. As far as the hair loss, I've taken Biotin and used Nioxin with no results. I'm just dealing with it. I have thick hair anyway, so I guess I am lucky in that aspect. I had notived that my skin was like sand paper lately, but never even thought it had anything to do with surgery. I have eczema, so I figured it was that. Learn something new everyday! Glad you're doing well with your surgery. Clarissa 346/243/150

I had RNY on 8/30, started taking pills in the hospital (BP meds initially). I take all my meds in pill form, although I do take chewable vitamins. The surgeon sent me home with Percocet for pain relief after surgery, although I didn't need many. We are not to take advil or aspirin. I have taken Extra strength tylenol "rapid release" which are a capsule looking thing. They don't always do the trick, but I try them first (I have never found tylenol to be that helpful). A lot of the liquid meds have alcohol or lots of sugar, so you would likely be better off with the pills. I was splitting my calcium citrate pills with a pill splitter, but "felt" the rough edges when I swallowed. I actually feel more comfortable swallowing the big pills now... Good Luck!

hey, Laurie. I swallow pills without any problems whatsoever... but if you can't , there is always chewable type made for kids and adults that have different flavors one of which you may prefer(tylenol/motrin/vitamins). To go by the book we are not to take any NSAIDs (ie Advil/Motrin), but I occasionally do it anyway because it just works better for me. I used to be an Advil junckie before surgery, but now I may take couple of Advils in 3-4 weeks. So far no known issues.. .As for dry skin, that has become a big issue with me too, and it never ever was before. I don't have much of a hairloss to speak of yet (knock on wood), and I credit my Centrum Chewable vitamin and Ponten- Pro V along with short (boyish) haircut that I got after surgery. But I dno't think there is any magic bullets , and I know it will improve for everyone anyways. Now... you mentioned that you don't have a Dr. now due to Ins. reasons.. I'd still highly recommend doing labs at 6 mo. out to make sure you are not defficient in any significant way.(lites, Iron, Vit B12, B1, and B) It may be costly, but I bet if you explain your situation to even your PCP, they can get you some discounts. best of luck to you, Rita. P.S. ohh... after all this rambling I forgot to congratulate you on you success of loosing 103 lb. WTG!! Keep up with good work.

thanks for all your helpful responses. as far as sugar in liquid meds...tho, unfortunatly i dont think sugar effects me like it should after this surgery, as i have never dumped...i try not to eat sugar anyway..but once in a while i have a little treat..like 1-2 hershey kisses instead of a bag full..lol. i will keep the advice in mind on meds. also ive tried eating avacados again thinking the fat will help my skin and hair. still early in the process tho. at least its a healthy kind of fat and i love avacados.if everything goes well i will hopefully have insurance again shortly, i really want to get my labs done to make sure everything is ok. thanks again