Question:
What about med absorbtion 10 years from now?

What if a person who had WLS needs, 10 years from now, medications for a medical condition? Will the medication capsules or tablets needed to treat such a condition be absorbed by the body? Or will the medical treatment be affected by the patient's inability to absorb the medication?    — vitoria (posted on July 20, 2004)

July 20, 2004
Vitoria, its my understanding that the only meds that don't work for us are time released meds. Many meds work by entering your blood stream and that is no different with WLS. Also, many meds are now in liquids or are injectable, also no difference with WLS. I wouldn't worry about it. Let's see what the others think....
   — Cindy R.

July 20, 2004
Unless you are a super long bypass RNY then you don't malabsorb THAT much. It may mean you might need a slightly increased dose of something but as long as it's not a sustained release med most will be okay. Like anything this will vary from person to person, but for the majority it won't be an issue than cannot be dealt with.
   — zoedogcbr

July 20, 2004
Thank you for your responses. It's kind of scary that when we are older our bodies may not be able to 'accept' medications...does anyone have results of any scientific studies on the subject?
   — vitoria

July 20, 2004
My surgeon has patients in their 60s who are doing great, and take pills just fine. Other than timed release I dont believe its a problem. They only bypass a small part of the intestyine in the RNY. DS may have more issues since it tends to be more malabsorbitve in nature.
   — bob-haller

July 21, 2004
My surgeon told me our intestines "adapt" to absorb more as time passes. Unless it's something that use to be absorbed by the duodenum like calcium, it shouldn't be a problem. I take synthroid for hypothyroidism and haven't had any problems with my meds. At three years out, I can even take some forms of sustained release meds, although I take them at a little higher dosage.
   — mom2jtx3