Taking meds post-op. Some things you need to know! - Page 8 - ThinnerTimes

sdgrrl · 04-12-2008, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MiladyB

Personally I would stay away from it. Like Michelle said, it is an NSAIDs and you run the risk of irritating your new pouch and developing ulcers. Just not something I would want to take a chance with. I'm not sure why your surgeon would order it so if I were in your shoes I would stop taking it. If you feel as if you need to take it make sure you are on some kind of protectant like Prilosec, Tagamet, Prevacid or something like that. Your new pouch is healing and you are very prone to getting an ulcer right now. Even though your doctor ordered it you have the right to refuse to take it. Your decision.

With being mere days post op, I would go even further and say Carafate or Protonix, as you're so right about being more vulnerable to pouch owies of many sorts.

I also want to thank you for your vast knowledge and willingness to share it in a most easy to understand form. If my printer wasn't dead, I would def print out your list.

I also love the suggestion about putting my Rx in my phone for going to Drs office. I see at least 4 different docs, and it's good to have that knowledge accessible. I would also add that putting one's vitamins and supplements on the list, as they, too, can interact with meds. Tracie is the best resource on the forum for info on vitamin/supplement doses and interactions. There are all sorts of different combinations and ways of taking certain vitamins to maximize their effectiveness, and it would be great if Tracie could give us a downloadable list similar to the great list you wrote out for us. But, Tracie has an 11 day old baby to care for as well as 3 other young'uns, so she has more on her plate than the time to write out that info requires!

Thanks to all who have shared such valuable info on this topic.

Duckie · 04-12-2008, 01:34 PM

Who's Tracie?

sdgrrl · 04-12-2008, 04:59 PM

Tracie is here in San Diego, and lives maybe 2 miles from my house. She almost always comes to the Central San Diego Support Group at my house on the 3rd Tuesday of the month. She just had her 4th son on April 1st, Charlie. He's just a doll!

Anyway, Tracie is absolutely the most learned person I have ever known about vitamins and supplements, and is lovely about sharing her knowledge. The trick is whether or not she logs on--obviously with 4 boys under the age of 8 (I think), she has her hands pretty full. I was planning to give her a call in the next couple of days, as we meet on Tuesday, and I think she might need a ride. Send her a pm, and I'll ask her if she is amenable to giving you some education.

MiladyB · 04-12-2008, 07:38 PM

Thank you, Donna. I'm so glad you found this information useful. I think having Tracie make a list of information would be a great idea, if she ever has free time.

I've appreciated her input before on this forum and she most certainly is very knowlegable.

Mumsy · 04-14-2008, 11:17 AM

What a very enlightening thread. My surgeon and primary doc were very upfront about what I could take and couldn't. BUT...inquiring minds need to know: (Which may seem silly after all this heavy duty info)...

Do you take your pills "as is" or do you crush them? I have read so many different ways of just taking pills that my head is spinning around and I'm not pretending to be in the Exorcist either!

Some people take them whole; some people just cut them in half...and some, like myself...have been told to crush them and add them to pudding or jello or something to make the taste less objectionable.

Now this may seem pretty lame and pitiful...but I just dread taking my meds crushed. I take high-blood pressure meds and anti-depressants and such and they are the most foul tasting drugs ever to be crushed with my handy-dandy pill crusher. I think I'm going to puke every time I have to take them...am and pm.

Yeah...whine, whine, whine.

So if any of you wonderful sources of all things bariatric have some good tips about this pill business...just the part about ingesting them...Please let me know! I am only post-op since April 2 and between the crushed drugs, the pursuit of getting in enough protein (arghhhhhhhh!!!!!!) and actually still being hungry...I am wondering if I have done the right thing in having the surgery. (Pity party officially started...please bring only pureed foods).

Love you all. You have been such an inspiration to me in this journey.

Mumsy/Cathy

18 lbs. gone...but I can't tell where from yet???? Oh hahahaha!

lifeismypoetry · 04-14-2008, 12:39 PM

Thank you Beth for all of this information. It is so valuble for our health post-op that it is a must to follow to stay healthy. What brand of pre-natal multi vitamin are you taking and does it come in chewables?? I would really like to check it out. The websites had so much information as well and I suggest that everyone take the time to reading them because there is very important information in them that we have to take notice for our own well being..
Hugz,
Tina

MiladyB · 04-14-2008, 01:34 PM

Hi Cathy! Feel free to have a pity party. I think most of us did. This isn't an easy journey and often the start is really bumpy but I can assure you, it will get better.

I'm afraid I don't have many words of wisdom regarding the crushed pills. My surgeon wanted me crushing mine too for the first 2 weeks. After that I could start to break them up and swallow them. They do taste terrible crushed and I never found a good way to take them. I mixed them up in a little sf jello and it helped a little but not much. There were a couple I just mixed with the jello and took a sip of water to force it down.

Some surgeons don't have a problem with people taking pills as long as you crush them but from what I've read you do run a little bit of a risk doing that. Those pills can get lodged in your new little pouch and block up the opening from your pouch to your intestines. You need to remember that your pouch is not only small but things are still rather swollen down there so large things can get lodged in the pouch. That is why you are only on liquids right now and why even later they tell you to chew and chew.

Hang in there! I'm sure these first few weeks feel really long...they did for me but it does get better.

Mumsy · 04-16-2008, 02:14 PM

Oh thank you for your input Milady! (Said with an English accent)!

I had my first post-op appointment with my dietitian today and she explained to me just about what you said (your advice free...her advice $50

). She also told me that since liquids and food can sometimes move so fast through your mini-stomach...that you don't always get the full effect of your medications...especially when at first you are still on the blood pressure meds and anti-depressants, like me...if they are not crushed. She suggested using sugar-free lemon yogurt because the tart taste is good for disguising BAD, BAD tastes. So I'll give that a try or just continue to hold my nose and gag.

Guess it just comes with the cemetery...er...I mean territory.

Thanks again Milady...I curtsy to your wisdom!

hug...mumsy/cathy

20 lbs GONE (forever I hope)...now just 100 or so to go!

MiladyB · 04-17-2008, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mumsy

Oh thank you for your input Milady! (Said with an English accent)!

I had my first post-op appointment with my dietitian today and she explained to me just about what you said (your advice free...her advice $50

). She also told me that since liquids and food can sometimes move so fast through your mini-stomach...that you don't always get the full effect of your medications...especially when at first you are still on the blood pressure meds and anti-depressants, like me...if they are not crushed. She suggested using sugar-free lemon yogurt because the tart taste is good for disguising BAD, BAD tastes. So I'll give that a try or just continue to hold my nose and gag.

Guess it just comes with the cemetery...er...I mean territory.

Thanks again Milady...I curtsy to your wisdom!

hug...mumsy/cathy

20 lbs GONE (forever I hope)...now just 100 or so to go!

hehehe...you are quite welcome, Cathy! I know its nasty. I gagged pills down for 2 weeks and I could have kissed my surgeon when he told me I could start swallowing pills. I had to take Keflex for a slight incisional infection and it smelled and tasted like spoiled eggs. It was disgusting!!

Hang in there!!!

AnnieH · 04-26-2008, 02:06 AM

This is an awesome thread - THANK YOU so much for all the info.
I'm having my RNY in 10 days time... and have also been told to crush my pills after the op :-( Not looking forward!

Is there any info on taking contraceptive pill post op - I'm not very medically knowledgeable but as far as I know it's a slow release too right? Will effectiveness of the pill be compromised at all post op if it is crushed? I asked my nutritionist last week and she was like "ummm, aahhh, ummmm.... ask the surgeon on the morning of your op"... well I'd kind of like to be prepared BEFORE I'm bedridden!

Love you all!

An