LarsMorgan
Four Weeks
Jan 28, 2010
My name is Lars and I'm a 52 year old female that is 4 weeks from her R_en-Y bypass surgery of December 30, 2009. I had a gastoplasty many, many years ago in 1986. But I got pregnant and blew the surture line six months after (which was the plan...to get pregnant, not to blow the line), herniated, and then ended up with ulcerated stomach and some other digestian problems. I put up with them for 22 years, and then had the revision. I've gone from 318 pounds to 265 so far; 53 pound weight loss. I'm learning how to embrace the differences: eating smaller meals, eating more nutrition packed meals, and not having tons of heartburn, upset stomach and vomiting. The last three were easy. LOL.My problems are my meds. I believe now that I need med revision because of what all I'm taking and how sick they are making me to take. I thought I had come home from hospital with a bad cold...now I suspect that the pills are the culprit. I'm on what is supposed to be Instant Release Effexor...but the bottle says SR. My PCP says I should take my Effexor, Wellbutrin (which is helping me wean off Effexor) and my Lamotrigene (which is given to me for "suspected bipolar"). And there is my Allegra. I'm allergic to Arizona it seems...to air. When my doc ran my allergy tests he found that not only was I Celiac, I was allergic to almost every tree, grass and animal that lives in my state. And the cats and dogs in my house, probably too. But I have taken Allegra since age 38 and never had a problem. Now...since surgery...problem. All these drugs carry a black box warning saying not to crush, chew or cut. And when I try...I end up with dry, intense stomach heaving that lasts anywhere from five minutes to a half hour. And hurts. A lot. My thought is "overdose reaction" because I'm getting too much at a time. So....what do I do? Do I cut them up and spread them out? Try to find something else I can use instead?
It's a quandry and I need to fix it. I have no intention of staying on everyone of the 18 drugs that I take....but some will be necessary, I'm sure. I have taken thyroid meds since 13 and I weighed 150 pounds and ran track. I don't expect the weight loss to fix that. Or to fix the other things I took meds for before I gained all the weight: asthma meds, allergy meds, and the Lyrica I use for my Fibromyalgia. And I may have to keep taking my heart med to "slow" my heart down too. That is a family trait that I finally just ended up with. And, the surgeon put me on Prilosec for uclers to keep me from GETTING them now that I am "straight piped" to my intestines. But that is six meds. Six of 18 that I take now. Oh, and I use a Bipap for obstructive sleep apnea at night. That I might keep too as I sleep great on it...though rough on my hair. But that is not one of the 18 meds currently on.
So...of those five meds...which ones can I take by cutting up or crushing? Can I crush Allegra, Effexor, Wellbutrin, and Lamictal (Lamotrigene)? If I cut them up do I have to spread them out over the day? I can open up the Prilosec and Lyrica onto applesauce or yogurt...get that....
Since this is my first post...and my first day here on site, will read the back archive posts if I can figure out how.
Right now, the rain has stopped. Time to walk the dog as first of my four for today!! I will DO this.
Lars
Every step, every day.
