Question:
Hiv & RNY Laparoscopic Surgery

I take 21 pills Daily will i get them all in after surgery! one is a very large gell cap.    — Daveydoo (posted on October 12, 2006)

October 12, 2006
I would ask your doctor about that ... I take several pills per day and have no problem, so I would think that it's possible, but consult your surgeon.
   — peacefuldaizy

October 12, 2006
I would have to agree with the first respondent, alway's consult your doctor regarding medication issues. I know that many meds come in liquid forms, maybe this could be an option for you to speak with your doc about as well. You may initially have trouble taking large pills (and that can also continue til many months post-op;that depends on how your body reacts to the surgery) Also speak with him (your doctor) about concern of absorbing your medications:for example, i take depakote for bipolar disorder...the typical level in my blood stream pre-op would have been 85-100 / on my last labs my level was only @ 35 therefore i needed to have my meds increased. These are just a few suggestions i would have to offer about discussing with your pcp and/or surgeon hope this response helped a little~big smiles...Tiffany
   — tiffany E.

October 12, 2006
Hi David, I don't even really remember how many meds. I took before surgery but there were alot. I guess I should read my own profile or look back in my records. I will have to count them out when I set them up in the organizer again....today...but I know I take about 20 or so pills twice a day now and about 6 in the afternoon. Not cool. I have now started B-12 shots. Anyway, I am also anemic and the doctors don't know why. They are trying to blame the meds. After my surgery, an open rny - proximal- I had a g-tube. Through that tube they put crushed up and mixed with water and liquified versions of my medications. I insisted that my other doctors gave me the smalllest pills available whenever I had to take pills until at least about 1 year after surgery. So, instead of 1 - 100MG tablet, they gave me 4 - 25MG tablets. It makes a difference in the beginning. Now, I down them all - all at once. When I got home after the surgery, I had the g-tube for a short time and still got my meds. that way. What a lucky husband I had! I couldn't look. It grossed me out. There are liquids that can do the job too. Just make sure to drink liquids or suck on a popsicle so they don't sit in there and burn. The liquid Roxicet is great for the pain but be careful. I thought recently I would absorb it better than the pills for my back and neck pain. So, the doctor agreed. My stomach didn't! It hurt so bad for about a week. (It did kill the back pain though.) Then, dumbly I forgot and took it the other day...here we go again. Pain! It's just getting better now. Let me tell you though....make sure you bring these concerns up with your doctors before surgery and have the plan all set (AND in your record) or you will be fighting doctors and nurses afterward! As the respondent prior said, you may at some point need higher doses of some meds. even though your surgery is proximal. Just recently, and this really angered me, one of my doctors started a, can I say, rumor, or concern like they like to say, that I may be selling my meds.! This was because of the increased amounts of meds. I was on. Well, I told them to do a drug screen right then and there. Hardly any showed up but just enough to save my butt! If I sold these meds..... I would be living the high life and not driving Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Actually just the sound...if I had that car, what a blast! Best wishes with your surgery. Check into those meds. XOXO Jeanne
   — mrs.qtip

October 13, 2006
Dear David, This is something you need to talk about with your HIV doc and not with your Bariatric Surgeon. I am a HIV Social Worker out in California. As you and I both know, unless a doc is trained in HIV, they know very little. It is my guess that after surgery there are some pills that you will not be able to take - like Kaletra. That one is HUGE! Directly after surgery you can barely hold water or an ounce of cream of wheat - much less one of those meds. I know that most HIV meds can not be crushed and the liquid forms that they make for kids do not come in strengths potent enough for adults. You are more than likely taking a lot of pills other than the Anti-retrovirals. They may have those in other forms. Perhaps you should talk with your doc about a drug holiday? OR, perhaps they can make arrangements to keep you hospitalized or do at home nursing care to give you your meds in an IV until you can take them. Good luck to you!
   — MissKimberly