Taking your pills

What is the hardest part of making sure that you are compliant with taking all your supplements? Is it remembering to do it? Or is it that some of the supplements have side effects? Or is it that taking the pills makes you naseous? Or that it's physically painful?

I've had the band for 6 years (unsuccessfully of course or else I wouldn't be here) and even unfilled have some restriction. I cannot take pills larger than a normal Aleve pill without breaking it up into smaller pieces witout some severe discomfort. I can't remember what it was like taking large pills before my lapband....with the DS is there any discomfort  from swallowing the large pills?

Thaaaankkkksss

My hardest part was getting organized. There must be 9,428,721 pill boxes on the market and it only took me 2.5 years to find the ones I like.  I use one for my "main" vitamins.  Because I have osteoporosis (which I had prior to surgery so it cannot be blamed on the DS), I take extra calcium which I have in my second box.  It's like protein shakes and immediate post-op fluids. It was a series of trial and error before I found out what worked for me. 

Even at 3 years out, some pills I crush and some capsules I take apart and swallow the contents.  I use my lab results as guidance for what I need.  For me, it's not always been a matter of increasing the dose.  It's more of a matter of how I absorb certain elements.

I try to get all my supplements in capsule form. It must be a mental thing about doubting if our tiny stomachs, lack of bile acids and short intestines can truly break down some of the cheaper pills. Anyway, for me, capsules are easier to take than pills. When I was a new post-op the best I could do was 1 capsule at a time. I also broke my horse pills in half to take them. Start your vitamin plan very slowly and add more capsules every week or so until you get up to the full plan. Maybe start with multies, calcium and D3 the first week and add vitamin A and K the second week...or third, whatever works for you. If you get capsules for calcium, D3, A and K, you can dump the contents into a shake or pudding and get them in that way--no taste. The B vitamins and multies are best taken in tact--nasty taste.

--gina

Link to Vitalady's DS plan: www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_BPDDS3- 2010.pdf

Link to Vitalady's chewable plan: www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramChewable2-2010.pd f

I take alot of pills so finding a pill organizer was challenging. I actually use two different ones -- got both of them from Target. One is an AM/PM organizer and one is from the same manufacturer but just a daily organizer. I take my pills before breakfast, lunch & dinner. I also buy little plastic bags so if I know I'm going to be out I dump the pills into the little plastic bag and throw it in my purse.

For me, the size of the pill doesn't matter. I can actually swallow 3 vitalady calciums at one time. Usually I can get all my pills in 3-4 swallows. No pain, discomfort or side affects. But that's just me.

You have to figure out what works best for you. I think some people even set an alarm to remind them to take their pills.

The first couple months, it was organization.  I held out on buying a pill organizer and now cannot live without mine. 

The first year, it was nausea and fullness.  I had to take one pill at a time and they made me feel nauseated.  If I took too many, sometimes I would get a little reflux that would taste horrible...partially digested vitamins...mmm.

These days, it's still a bit of a challenge to take vitamins.  I usually don't forget my first dose, but I tend to be busy for doses 2 and 3 and I forget to take them on time and then have to play catch up at night.  The last dose...sometimes I fall asleep before I take it and then I have to fit it in the next day.  But if I forget to take it again...then I have a 2 dose backlog to catch up on, etc, etc.  This week, I still have 3 doses to catch up on so that means today I get to take vitamins 7 times instead of 4.  It's just complacency and laziness...lol.

I can take a whole big dose in one handful and one swallow now.  And that includes 2 calcium horse pills, a huge multi, 2 big magnesiums, and all the little stuff.

Anyways, I am committed to NEVER totally missing a dose.  As in, if I miss a whole day, I don't just forget about it and move on.  I double up until they've been taken.  When I was in the hospital for plastics, I expected a one night stay, and ended up being 3!  So when I got home I had 12 doses to catch up on, but I took my doses every 2-3 hours until I was totally caught up.  Have to remind yourself of the importance.

For me, it's remembering anymore.  I run a restaurant and am non-stop from dawn to dusk.  I'm still working on getting into sync with that.  In my corporate life, I simply set an alarm on Outlook to remind me every 90 minutes.

By choice and because my labs look good, I take 6 doses of Calcium a day.  I take 2 large doses that are easy to remember, but the 4 doses I take during the day can be forgotten if I get too busy.  So I set a timer and make sure to take them with me wherever I go.

I don't have any problem swallowing any of the vites.

~Becky