Question about taking medications

Hello all

I've been in the hospital again, having been taken out of work in an ambulance with an apparent heart attack.

Good news is after 3 days of testing, they've concluded that my heart and the newly placed stent are doing fine.   The pain I experienced was from an esophageal spasm. I had an endoscopy and they removed 2 large polyps from my esophagus. ugh.

So now I'm on more medications.    And although this entire episode has delayed my surgery by 6 months, I believe it is 6 months well spent getting healthier.

As I lay in that hospital bed though, I could not help but think "What if this all happened after my RNY surgery?...Would I be able to take all the medications that I am required to take ?  Lots of capsules and some rather large pills.

My question to everyone out there is.... Have any of you had to take medications such as capsules or large pills since your RNY surgery ?    Do all pills also come in liquid form?    More than likely I will be taking aspirin and Plavix for a long time, if not the rest of my life and I'm concerned this will be a problem after RNY surgery (which I'm now hoping for in June).

Thanks so much!

Linda

I take several medications.   My Centrum vitamin is the largest and the calcium tablet is large also. However right after surgery I was taking the Flinstones and they are much smaller.  My other medications are "normal" sized capsules and pills, aspirin sized or a little larger.  I have never had a problem with it. The doctor thought right after surgery I should take a different form of one of the medications as he thought the capsule would be too large but by the time he brought it up I had already been taking it for several days. Anyway, your doctor may want you to switch to another form of your meds at first but it won't be something that is permanent.  Glad to hear you're heart is ok. I too had a heart attack years ago and at first was constantly afraid I was about to have another one.

If at all possible I only do liquid or chewables, there are a few that are not in that form. Most medicines can be gotten in liquid.

In the beginning all my vitamins where chewable, and the one prescription pill was the size of an aspirin. At about 3 mos, switched to capsules for a month, but decided I liked the chewables better. I recently had to start on Repliva (Iron RX) since my iron was low and it is a horse pill! But no problems swallowing. I take it at bedtime when pouch is empty.

Glad to hear it wasn't your heart and they got you fixed up.

Talk to your surgeon about the Asprin. My surgeon says that no matter what you can not take asprin because of the risk of ulcers post RNY. Plavix will be no problem. Not all medicine comes in liquid form. Plavix is not that large and you should be able to swallow it. You can cut it in half if you need to. You would do well to make friends with the pharmacist where you get your prescriptions filled. Neither the cardiologist or the surgeon are going to be able to tell you everything you will need to know about taking your medications post RNY. Different medications are absorbed in different areas of your intestines. I take an extended release medication (capsules) and I kept reading that you could not take extended release after RNY. I talked to a Pharm D at work and she looked it up for me and found that this particular one would be absorbed just fine. Any pharmacist can look up which medications can be crushed, split or chewed. They can also look up where they are absorbed. Doctors don't necessarily know all of these things. Most pharmacists now have a Phd in pharmacy and know all the specifics.

Thanks, Cheryl!   I will make good friends with my pharmacist!

Linda

You are SO right, Cheryl. I worked as a Pharmacy Tech for over 20 years and what the Dr. do NOT know about medications is very scary! Most of them only know what the pharmaceutical reps tell them. You know, that person you see in the Dr.s waiting room dressing in a power suit and dragging an carry-on bag with them? We could always tell when each companies reps had made the Dr. office rounds, we'd suddenly see more scripts written for the same meds.

So by all means make friends with your pharmacist. They are more than happy to help you and really appreciate it when patients strive to learn about what they are taking instead of blindly following a Dr. In fact when I feel like I need a change in my meds, I start with my Pharmacist.

I just had my surgery and am working on getting my meds in each day. I have large capsules (for gallbladder) that I open up and mix with food 3x/day, a large tablet that I crush and mix with applesauce or pudding once a day and the rest I swallow whole...they are quite a bit smaller. I mix my calcium with my water during the day and take a liquid vitamin each evening, 4hrs after the calcium is done. As far as aspirin, you'll have to discuss that with your surgeon.
Best to you and take care,

Linda

Sorry to hear you have been having problems, but I'm so glad you're okay.  Take good care of yourself and keep in touch.  Concentrate on getting better and have a terrific holiday!  Hope to see you at the support meetings in the new year.  My date is hopefully the 14th of January.  If so, I'll be in the hospital for my birthday!

Donna