Pills & pain... (Zoloft/Metformin)... any ideas?

You may be like me - and there are actually quite a few others here on OH!

I am not tight; I can eat all foods, can eat a good quantity, don't get reflux.

BUT I cannot swallow even the tiniest pill. My bp capsule really is small, and I even have to break that open.

I could take small tabs for the first year or so and then one day I realised that my bp cap was dissolving above the band not below it. For this to happen is not good! Many tabs contain slightly corrosive substances designed to dissolve in the acid content of the stomach and that is not the same above the band. JeanM, for example ended up in ER when an anti-bio cap dissolved above her band.

Unless the caps send up waves of nasty taste (as happened to me), we may not even know they aren't going down unless we eat immdediately after taking one and it stops food going down.

Many people have no problems at all, some find by experience they can't take tabs, some play safe and try not to just in case!

So far I have not found anything that does not come in liquid form or cannot be crushed. Jut hope I never need anything with timed release! On one occasion, my family doc couldn't find a soluble form of a med I needed and he contacted a senior consultant who was able to suggest one for me.

Things taste nasty quite often but I have just accepted that this is my "price" to pay for being banded.

Kate 

HI,
I was searching for some anwers as  to what is going on with my band and came across this.  I believe that this is what happened to me and am now not sure what to do as I currently have no after care DR.  (I moved to a new state and have not found anyone).   I took a zoloft last night and immediatley went to bed. I woke up at 1am with terrible pain and heartburn.  Can't swallow anything accept tiny sips of water and mylanta....which is an improvement over the not even beng able to swallow my saliva all night.  This has happened two other times in the 7 yrs I have had my band.  Do you know someone that this happened to?  DO you know what they did for her at the ER?   I am trying to wait it out, figured my espophagus is irritated.  Last time, they emptied it completely, but as I said, I have no Dr so even if they can manage that at the ER, I have no way of getting the fill back.  

Any info is helpful at this point! 
Thanks
Beth

It was JeanM who had the tab dissolving above the stoma. Try PMing her.

Hope it gets sorted soon for you.  Kate

Have you tried drinking hot tea or coffee or even warm water with lemon (sounds awful, but is really quite good) before taking your meds?

Now that I am at a good fill level for me, I find it helpful to drink something warm in the AM before my vitamins/calcium.

I hope you find a solution.

I completely understand... NOT taking the Zoloft is simply not an option.  I've had a little trouble with my Lexapro (and it's little bitty, like Zoloft, not something you would THINK would be an issue at all!) and I've finally found that if I cut it in half with a pill cutter, it goes down pretty well.  And if I take it with something warm, I don't get heartburn from it at all.  I think that probably the warm liquid is the key and not cutting it in half but I do both just in case.

Good luck!

My pharmacist said that metformin can be cut in half.  Are you able to get half down?  If not ,can you cru**** and put it in applesauce, like they do in hospitals?  There must be a solution for you as I agree that the crushed pills on their own are absolutely awful.  My pharmacist has been tremendously helpful.  Perhaps a consultation would help?  Good luck!

I have two pills that I take that are too big to swallow whole.  I cut them in half and they go down fine.  I take them after having a cup of coffee and with a lot of water.  Sometimes they get a little stuck, but I keep sipping the water and they go through.  I can cut them in quarters too, so maybe that is what you need to do???
Hope your doctor is able to help you out, but try getting a pill cutter and see if that helps.
Steph

Try asking for the Zoloft in capsule formula that you can open and mix into something. I had to do that with a pill I was on. I have to break my narcolepsy meds in half and take each half with hot tea to make it go down. I drink that tea until I know it has gone thru. And I usually have drank half of my 16 oz cup before I even try to take the pills.

Good Luck!

 You should know that several Zoloft lawsuit has been filed by affected patients against Pfizer, its manufacturer. These lawsuits imply that antidepressants may not be the best way to treat depression.