All about my PPI

I am 1 week away from my surgery (I'd like to take this opportunity to say YAY!)! I am super excited, can't wait, BUT I've had some issues with my PPI script. My surgeon's office insists that all medications for the first 2 weeks (at least) be liquid, chewable, or crushed, so their preference for PPI is Prevacid Solutab. As expected, it is not covered by my insurance, so they called in Nexium, which is "covered," but the copay was $210. I called and told them no way, and they completed a Prior Auth for the Prevacid Solutabs, which now that it has gone through, makes them $130. I'm sorry, call me crazy, but I can't see paying that for a script when the capsule is available in generic, and would be a $5 copay. Besides that, I am going to be paying out the nose for all my medical bills already, and I see this as an unnecessary expense. Did anyone take Prevacid capsules opened right after surgery? I am so frustrated!

I am on a two week liquid diet and I am post op now. Had surgery on 11/12/13. I am on Pepsid. generic. The nurse just crushed it and now after 1 week I can swallow it whole. My Dr said it was fine. Its smaller then and M&M. total cost was 10.00.  I would call the dr and see what they say. Super excited for you. I am down 29 lbs.

 

 

I think you can surely have the generic, and over-the-counter but sometimes the OTC is more expensive than a $5.00 co-pay....Tums is a chewable.  I take Protonix but the omeprazole, which is the OTC heartburn med, is more expensive than my Protonix script of $6.00.  I wouldn't pay that huge amt for that script either...NO WAY!  I thought the liquid vit/min supplement was disgusting.  Same with the chewable so am looking for another vit/min.  Some pills can be huge but your doc may say hold off on any supplement vits until the throat becomes less swollen and you can swallow better.

Go for the generic.....you may or may not get any heartburn if you eat very slowly and chew all the food.  Same with shakes, etc.  drink slowly.

Good luck to you on your upcoming surgery.

alese

 

I was given the liquid PPI immediately after surgery and all I can tell you is that it is the nastiest thing I've ever tasted. After taking it for 3 days it got to where I would vomit if I even smelled it. I called my doctor and he moved me to a capsule. I opened it and took it with some applesauce for a couple of days but after seeing the comments from some others here I decided to just try swallowing the capsule which I did with no problem. I stopped crushing all pills within a week of surgery (that was just too disgusting IMO) and have had no issues. I have read that many people were given pills whole from the day of surgery on. So I would encourage you to talk to your surgeon about your concerns and ask about options.

I was given PO protonix while in the hospital.  It's so tiny it wasn't even an issue.

I was taking huge metiformin pills the day I came home from the hospital with no problem and the liquid calcium was terrible  I could not take it and gave it away at my support group 

 talk to your surgeon about taking capsules , my hubbies Dexalant is a small capsule that would be easy to take

My surgeon prescribed generic Prilosec for me. In the beginning, I could open up the capsules and just put the granules into yogurt or sf pudding or something like that. The granules were large and flavorless (as long as you didn't try and chew them--ew). 

My surgeon said as long as the pill will fit through a straw it is okay for those first couple weeks. I was able to take the CVS generic of Prilosec without any trouble. I only needed it for the first couple weeks.

As you can see from the other posts, each program/surgeon has different ideas regarding pills/vitamins and how they should be taken.

I am 3 weeks out....My surgeon has me opening the Prilosec Capsule and adding to applesauce/yogurt.  I just had my 2nd  follow up appointment and I tried to get off of crushing/chewing pills.  No dice.  I have at least 3 more weeks of  "pill chalk dust".   Blah!!!  Of course, I will be following my Drs orders and continuing to dine on "chalk dust" for an additional 3 weeks but you can bet I will ask again when I have my next followup appointment again next week, just incase he decides to change his mind. 

Protonix is a tiny pill, super cheap and VERY effective.  My reflux/acid issues were resistant to all the normal stuff (and I was allergic to a couple).  Protonix kicks ass!