I'm New here: Autoimmune medications

Hello All:

I'm new to this forum. My surgery date isn't officially scheduled but I received my insurance approval on Tuesday. Can anyone tell me whether they have other medical conditions that are not co-morbid to obesity? I have 2 very rare autoimmune diseases. (not to mention some that are co-morbid to obesity) One of which can impede healing from surgery. On top of that my medications also could hinder recovery. Unfortunately, my surgeon said he would only risk the surgery if I stopped my meds for these conditions. (I believe the risk is worth it because I can no longer live like this.) This will involve a very painful process for me and I will need to sustain that until after the surgery. The real concern I have is post-op when I have to start my medications again. It take so many (some are very big) that I find it difficult to believe I would be able to take them with such a small pouch and drink enough water that I won't want to vomit.

Have others gone through this type of situation?

Thank you in advance!

If you tell us what conditions you have, you are more likely to get answers that will help you.

There's nothing wrong with buying a pill splitter or pill crusher.  I do both for my son who has autism and many of us cut up our vits in the early days.

I have a rare, incurable form of vasculitis, and an autoimmune acquired cramp fasciculation syndrome. Both conditions cause me severe pain. These conditions contribute to my inability to do much exercise but then gain weight which only exacerbates the condition by the gain itself. It is truly cyclical. I plan to do more swimming this summer and hopefully this will help.

I hadn't thought about the pill crusher. I will look into that. I do have a splitter. Cutting some of them may work but others are capsules.

My only concern would be absorbtion issues post op RNY.  Some meds i.e. ERcan be purly absorbed by post op RNY person. 

Yes, this has been my concern too. I will be checking with my doctor the next time I see him.

Things I would be concerned about..

Absorption. Are you meds checked by a blood level? Are they time release meds? Are you taking steroids? If you are you may need ulcer prevention meds with the steroids.

What do you take for pain relief? After RnY you can no longer take NSAIDs. Are you on time release  narcotics? If narcotics would your doctor be willing to change to a patch form?

I take meds every 12 hours. Different times it's been hard so I change things to manage. Right now I need 2 oz of chocolate almond milk to take my meds. I didn't have trouble with the size but early out in particular it was the beverage I used to take them. If it's milk they come right back up even after all these years. I can't seem to get them to go all the way down with water.

Good luck. Ask those doctors questions!

Deb