Taking Rx meds after RNY?

Hi forum,

What happens after RNY for those taking medication (pills) for things like high blood pressure, depression, diabetes, etc. 

Does the liquid diet prevent taking pills? When will you know if you need to even take pills anymore (like for high blood pressure, diabetes)?

Every person and every med is different.  Your doctor will advise you on your specific situation.  

In general, medications that can be crushed are often crushed for at least a while (for me, first 3 months). If you need a medication that is not able to be crushed the doctors might change you to a crushable alternative or decide to keep you on the same and monitor. I had one type of med that could not be crushed and the tablet was really large.  The heart doc switched me to a lower dose tablet that was smaller at more frequent times.

Side note, I made sure to ask about each medication to see if it needed to be crushed or changed.  Neither my heart doctor nor my primary care doctor seemed to realize that the RNY would/could impact the absorption.  Once I asked them they made changes as needed. I recommend you are a good self advocate and ask each of your doctors about this.

As far as changes in medication due to changes in your health conditions (ie, blood pressure and diabetes) it will be something that your going to get checked during your post surgery check ups.  Also, you will likely notice very quickly if your BP is running very low or if your sugar is very low.  Just stay alert and discuss with your medical team.

~E

I can take my medication since have RNY.  It goes down fine.  HOWEVER, when I went to the DR for my follow up, he took me off all my meds (blood pressure pills) because i didn't need them anymore.  YAY!!!  I did start back on my anxiety medication- because I decided I still needed it.  The only thing pill I have problems with are vitamins so I wear patches.  

I have (had) diabetes Type II, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis.  I was on insulin and metformin.  the Metformin was an extended release type, which is not crushable.  They put me on the not extended release for two weeks, but after that I could take pills again.  For the first two weeks everything had to be rushed.  FYI Tylenol is absolutely HORRIBLE crushed ;), as is senna.  My primary care doctor did not seem to know much about crushing, or absorption issues.  Pharmacy will know, though, and you have to do your research and stay up on things.  Ask, ask, ask! You are your own best advocate!  My PCP still does not understand why I cannot take aspirin or NSAIDs, and that frustrates me.

I left the hospital off of insulin and am still off with perfect blood sugars.  I am off the diuretic, but still taking metformin and two of the high blood pressure pills, and I get monitored frequently.  So for me at 64 pounds lost, diabetes is resolved but high blood pressure not yet.

Once you have RNY you can never take NSAIDs again.  That was hard for me - I used to take meloxicam and can never take that or ibuprofen or any other NSAID again.  You get used to it, though.  I take Tylenol when necessary.  Hoping that in another 30-40 pounds the arthritis will not bother me.  It is much better than it was.

Good luck!

I must be an outlier as I didn't crush or change too many meds at first.  I did dump all nonessential pills for the first month.  But I took my 4 heart pills, cholesterol, PPI and Claritin.  I sipped each pill down and didn't have any issues - other than taking 10 minutes to take my pills.  Funny - Today is my 10 week surgiversary and now I just double pill with a slug and I'm done with pills in about a minute.  Don't stress it out.  Review your pills and take what your doctor wants.  I was back on my heart pills while I was in the hospital because my blood pressure shot up on day 2 post surgery.

Just a side note, it isn't just the swallowing that can be an issue.  Your lack of digestive acids can actually cause the medication tablets to not dissolve properly and therefore pass through without any medicinal benefit. Just as we are generally recommended to take chewable vitamins ongoing due to absorption issues, Rx meds can have the same issue especially right after surgery.

~E

When I was healing from being banded I had to learn to crush my pills.....and I learned to mix them into applesauce to mask the awful flavor!  

I'm actually glad you posted this question because there are a couple medications I will need to continue post-revison, specifically for my thyroid and mydepression/anxiety.  Luckily both are super tiny pills (smaller than my pinky nail)...but I'm going to ask my surgeon next time I see her for sure.

I know there are pharmacies who do compounding, you might be able to also have them make it into a sugar-free liquid form during the liquid phase if meds are too large.

I took everything within 3 days of RNY surgery.  Blood pressure pills, cholesterol pills, etc.  The only thing my doctor had me take softer was B12 Melts once a week and Calcium Chews. 

Every doctor is different though.

My surgeon doesn't require crushing of pills just had us cut ones that were larger than an m&my. My blood pressure pill was small enough to take as it was. They monitored my BP as I lost weight and I've come off two of the three pills I was on prior to surgery.

I checked, pre-op, to see if all my meds could be crushed. However, except for one really big pill, they told me to go ahead and take them whole. Swallowing seems a tad harder now, though.