Question:
What is the best way to take pills your first few weeks post op? Appreciate any help!

My surgery is July 29th (YIKES!) and I wonder what is the best way to take your pills (mine are small) for the first 1-2 weeks when you are on liquids only. PS, all of you post-ops who answer here are wonderful. I have been reading this site for about 3 months and have loved the info I have gotten here. Thanks!!    — Joan R. (posted on July 7, 2003)

July 7, 2003
Beginning in the hospital, they gave me my meds by mouth. I've been taking them by mouth with water since my surgery last Thursday. Some folks grind theirs up and mix the meds with applesauce or yoghurt or something you like.
   — Cammie F.

July 7, 2003
My doctor said I could take small pills (like birth control size), but to crush anything bigger. Yuck. I just cut anything in half, and still do (like Tylenol). I took Nexium capsules whole, during week 2. No problems with anything so far! Good luck, Lori
   — Lori A.

July 7, 2003
I suggest not grinding them up. I did once, eeew, yucky! Just stay calm and take one pill at a time with liquid. I found that warm tea helped get them down the first week. After that, no prob!
   — MARSHA D.

July 8, 2003
I agree with the others. If the pills are small, just take them with a sip of water, one at a time. If they seem too big to get down with a sip of water, then cut them (I use a pill splitter that I bought at Walgreen's for about $6).
   — Vespa R.

July 8, 2003
My WLS surgeon and nutritionist have instructed me to grind my pills for the first three weeks after WLS. Time-release pills can not be ground (and are not good for WLS patients anyway), so I had to get my doctors to prescribe regular absorption pills or liquids. I'm sure that I will not like the tastes as many pills are bitter and nasty tasting, but I do what my doc says anyway. Check with your WLS surgeon and nutritionist for their recommendations, and Good Luck. :-)
   — Beth B.

July 8, 2003
I'm on quite a few medications so this was a biggy for me. I started out crushing my pills. In the hospital they mixed them in applesauce, making a truly vile mixture which required several bites. At home I experimented with 'layering' -- put some yogurt on a spoon, add crushed pills, cover it up with yogurt and try to swallow without disrupting the pile. Unfortunately this filled me up so fast that eating my pills equaled a meal! I tried dumping the powder into V-8 juice which should be able to cover up anything, but it turns out that anti-depressants REALLY taste bad. Several times I took my meds and promptly threw them up (not pretty when they were swallowed with V-8 juice!) I then limited myself to really essential meds, giving up on a few vitamins for awhile. But after a week of this I found that I was starting to avoid meals because I had to deal with all those darn pills. My instructions in the hospital were to crush anything larger than a small birth control pill. One morning it finally occurred to me to break my pills so they were the size of birth control pills and then swallow them with water, thus by-passing the tongue entirely! I've done this since 10 days after surgery without any problem even though I end up swallowing a dozen birth control pill sized pieces. My advice -- crush them, maybe yours won't be vile tasting, not all are. If you find they are, try my method before it becomes such a big deal. I did eventually ask my surgeon about this and he said it was ok and that it probably helps with absorption so it might be a good idea to always break pills up into pieces. I used a pill splitter at first but now just break them with my hands.
   — Laura K.

July 8, 2003
I had surgery last Thursday (lap rny) and I just pop my pills and swallow with water. Granted, I take my pills one at a time. Right now I have a bottle of water sitting here with 4 pills next to it. Every couple of minutes I take a pill. I usually wait until about 1/2 hour after breakfast to do this.
   — Gail G.

July 9, 2003
My surgeon prescribed chewable vitamins for the first month after surgery (make sure they are sugar-free; I used Bugs Bunny brand). They went down very easily, as did the under-the-tongue B-12, which just dissolved into nothing. My anti-depressants were pretty small, so I swallowed them whole. The protonix (generic Prevacid) label said not to cut or crush the pills, so I just swallowed them whole, too. I took my pills first thing in the morning, and found that if I took small sips of liquid in between, usually juice mixed 50/50 with cold water, they went down with no problem. I never threw up my pills. My advice is to go slowly, take small sips in between, and don't worry too much. You'll do fine!
   — Maggie T.