Medication absorbtion and adjustment?

I'm wondering if anyone knows more specific about medication absorbtion (not vitamins) after surgery. Doesn't seem like doctors study it, although they should. If we have to take mega doses of vitamins to "keep up," do we need to up doses on regular maintenance medications as well?

Do you know specifics about how medication absorbtion changes?

Obviously anything that has an oil base isn't gonna work as well, but how about a regular, granular pill? How much is absorbed?

Does time-release anything work for the DS patient, given that we have a shorter gut?

Did you have to adjust your regular medication doses after surgery? (At least that would give some anecdotal evidence.) 

 Time release is a no-no.

Oil based is also a no-no.

Caps and pills work, but some people need to increase the dosage, but not all. Everybody is different, you will just have to keep an eye on them and if it doesn't work you need to get things changed. I've heard of people having to go with meds broken into 2 times instead of once a day. 

But you won't know until you've taken your meds for a while after surgery.

Good Luck

I actually have tried both the timed release and regular version of a medication I take.  I found that the timed released works better IF I snap the hard caps in half than the regular version.  I got the idea to snap them in half from reading about folks snapping their Proferrin iron in half. 

It is mostly a trial and error proposition.  Luckily most of the meds I was taking I no longer need thanks to my DS.

~Becky

I use time release medications with no problems. Several dosage adjustments and changes have been necessary over time, but all is well now.

Another consideration is WHERE the medicine is designed to be absorbed... to find this out, you'll probably have to contact the manufacturer (as this info is usually not indicated in the PDR or the drug insert).

If it's designed to be absorbed in the stomach, you'll probably be OK. If absorption is in the duodenum, you may need to break (or chew) it up a bit before swallowing or adjust the dosage and/or frequency.  If it's in the ileum, that's like the duodenum - might need to chew/break or adjust dosage and/or frequency.  If it's in the jejunum, then find a new delivery method (injection?) or see about a different medication for that purpose, as your jejunum is now in your biliopancreatic limb and never gets in contact with ingested items.

After you find out WHERE it's absorbed, best to consult with your regular doc AND your DS surgeon about your options based on what the drug company tells you.

Good luck.