Pills...

Will I ever be able to swallow a pill whole again or will I forever have to crush them? I am 6 weeks post op and very sick of having to taste the disgusting flavor of my daily meds. Please tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I am just 4 weeks out, but my surgeon cleared me to swallow pills as long as they are smaller than an M&M.  I have had no problems and was very happy to be done with the gross taste.  Hopefully you can move on soon!

I don't know of any reason why you would not be able to swallow them now, at six weeks out.  The ASMBS says it's OK to swallow pills as soon as you can tolerate doing so.  I was swallowing pills whole 12 hours after my RNY.

I tried cutting mine in small pieces and I still have trouble getting it down. I need to drink more than just a sip of water, but every time I do it hurts.
I also wonder if I will be ever able to drink normally again. Some times I forget, and after working out I drink too fast.... Owwww! Is all I can say.
Hopefully as time goes on i will be able to tolerate more things.

I thought we had to sip sip sip for life right after RNY so was very happy when I was able to drink liquids normally again.  Seems like that was under two months post op.  My surgeon suggested sipping warm water while the stomach heals but I did best with ice cold water.  Just one of those things where we are all different.   I can swallow pills but a large pill gives me problems so I cut the larger ones in half. 

There is no reason for you to have to crush meds for the rest of your life.  At 6 weeks out, you should be able to swallow almost any pills (but you might want to cut large ones like calcium in half).  Many of us were taking pills smaller than an M&M the day after surgery with no problems.  I think this is one of those things where some surgeons just want to be ultra conservative.  EVen if a pill gets stuck, which would be very unlikely, if you sip on water, it will dissolve until it can pass.

Lora

I have never crushed a pill. Very early out I had to cut my calcium in half, but haven't done that since about 4 weeks out. I can now swallow 11 pills at one time.