[howietam]

I had a routine appt with my FD today and I got in trouble for stopping my BP and chol meds! When he asked me why I quit I told him first of all, there is only sooo much room in that little pouch (he was unimpressed), then I told him that I thought the weight loss would take care of it. He said that was "magical thinking" and sometimes it takes a year or two after the surgery to come off those meds...and depending on the cause of my HBP (familial, weight related, etc) I may not come off of it at all. My BP was 188/106. He was not pleased with me and I realize that it WAS magical thinking. It just seems like I spend all day getting meds down. And he also tells me I am supposed to be taking my vitamins TWICE a day, instead of once.....I missed that somewhere along the line....

Oh well, moral of the story...keep taking your meds until your Dr says it's OK to quit!!

[fr1endly2]

(((HUG)))) big big hugs!
SORRY but yes were not doctors as much as we think
we are!!!!! I know i recently stopped takeing my prilosec
and started not feeling well so put myself back on....
i shouldnt be makeing the decisions.

SORRY along the way it got confuseing how many vitamins to take.
I know at a year my surgeon had me increase mine to 2 for some
health matters. IT didnt change things and i also went back to one
vitamin...guess i shoulndt be playing doctor again .

I take the chewable centrums which ones you useing??????
HANG in there im sure in time your BP will come down. MINE was
dangerously high pre op..so high i almost didnt get my surgery, i had
some stressful events two weeks prior to surgery that caused it but
they medicated me and brought it down thankfully. BUT now i have LO blood pressure. I am sure in time it will come down but it takes time.

HUGS

[howietam]

I know what you mean...

I use the Viactiv calcium chews, as well as the Viactiv multivits. They are yummy. I tried regular chewables and Tums, but couldn't stomach them after awhile. The Viactivs are rather expensive. I didn't see the chewable Centrums. Are they cheaper?

BTW, did you say you had an ulcer? Was it actually in your pouch? How did that happen? Did it develop after your GB surgery?

[fr1endly2]

HEY TAMMY.....

FIRST off chewable centrums are only OKAY as far as taste....and now im just used to them. I get large bottle at walmart reasonable priced. PROBABLY is cheaper then viactive multi viatmins. I like their calcium
but cant do their multi vitamin.

I used the viactive calcium chews and there like my little chocolate
cheat in the day like candy to me and i love them so much......

ON to my ulcer. Well my surgeon is stumped why i developed one. I never
had any pre op he scoped my pouch before surgery. I followed the rules
perfectly post op took my tums 4 after each meal, i dont drink coffee, alcohol, didnt smoke, never took advil or motrin.... We are at risk to this post op and i developed one.
I unfortunatly didnt know the signs and just thought that was how my
pouch was supposed to feel. I just never felt right when my pouch was
empty. WHICH also got me into some bad eating habits but thankfully being
i always FOCUSED on protein up and carbs down i lost wonderfully. ONE afternoon this summer i started throwing up and after the 2nd throw up the color changed to something that alarmed me coffee grind color. I was thankful that the wonderful doc Sanae was online and i talked to her right away about the color i was getting sick. SHE was wonderful as always keeping me calm (she knew i was throwing up blood) but kept me relaxed
and insisted i phone my surgeon right away even though i was starting to feel a drop better after few throwing ups. I reached my surgeon who booked me for a scope the next morning and i was diagnosed with a small bleeding ulcer. I was treated on nexium and now i stay on the prilosec OC.

We have no sure reason why other then i live a pretty stressful life and carried alot of stress at the time of my surgery. so might have been that
NOT sure but i feel better and now learned that when your pouch is empty you shouldnt feel icky my mistake was thinking that was normal and not really emphasing it to my surgeon. I only mentioned that sometimes i feel icky and when i eat i felt better but really blew it off as unimportant.
FOR that i learned you keep your surgeon very informed of all symptoms early out when this is new.

ANYWAY thats my storey on the ulcer!
HUGS

[wannabethin]

Hey guys, Viactic is calcium carbonate. We need Calcium Citrate after surgery. I got those in a chewable form (like the Viactiv) for a while, but can't remember the name of them. They were really good, but expensive. Right now I'm doing pills, cutting them in half. But, I'm starting to think the chewy type were better and less hassle.

[wannabethin]

Okay, it just came to me. Citracal calcium chews are what I used. (and will probably go back to). They come in caramel, chocolate, and lemon. I love the caramel.

[FemmeMode]

Citrical Calcium chews....
LisaMarie & Lisa Friendly got me on these....

LM's fav is Caramel...and the other Lisa gave me the Chocolate Mint. (which I think is my favorite.)
Both have an after taste that I don't like much....but I think it's the 'calcium'...and I usually wash it away with a cup of tea or coffee!

[LittleLisaMarie]

I also use the viactive multivitamin. I use the Caramel calcium citrical as Deb said.....i also love the chocolate mint but havent been able to find it. Also tried the lemon and like them alot too......

To me it feels like i am cheating and eating candy....and love them. I have two multivits a day and 3 calciums....

One important thing i have to stress is NEVER EVER stop a medication espically cold turkey without consulting your doctor. This can be very dangerous espically with blood pressure medications. To many people think they know what to do with medications however you need labs and tests and monitoring and weaning with many medications. I have been a nurse for 12 years and i still consult with my docs. SO please be very careful and always consult your physician. Im sure Doc will agree.

Anyway good luck ...Your doing awsome.


LittleLisaMarie

[mike]

Well, first off, one of the things I love about this site by reading your replies is the fact that noone here is critical of your decisions. They may not be the right ones all the time, but they let you know their views, and do not criticize you for it. AMEN TO EVERYONE FOR THAT. I take 2 flinstones per day also. I can see where you are coming from with the little pouch thing. At first, I thought to myself, HEY, I CAN'T EAT A WHOLE LOT RIGHT NOW AND I HAVE TO CRAM THESE DAM PILLS DOWN ME YET TO. LOL I WANT TO SAVE THE ROOM FOR WHAT LITTLE FOOD I CAN HAVE. LOL Then I did realize that I was put on the pills for a reason, so I just kept taking them. I am currently off my b/p meds, but not the cholesterol yet. Hopefully, next month. My doctor just wants to make sure that I had high cholesterol because of my weight with all the nasty junk i was eating, and not that it is just a hereditary thing because it runs rampant in my family. HANG IN THERE KIDDO. It does get way better. Now that I can eat a little more these days, I feel more normal. ALOT HEALTHIER WAY OF EATING FOR THE RECORD. LOL In the beginning, I just felt like, OMG! this is the way of eating for the rest of my life? UGH! Sometimes with me to, I didn't really like what my surgeon and my dietician had to say, but knowing now, that they were watching out for me by keeping me on my meds. Slowly, but surely, I am getting rid of my meds. YIPPEE! Your day will come to howie.
mike

[DocSanae]

Tammy, as LisaMarie says, with prescribed medication, don't go off them on your own. You must have whatever data the medication is applied to, monitored first and made sure you're at a safe level in reducing the medication. In most cases, as LisaMarie says, you have to be weaned off, not taken off suddenly altogether.

For example, with hypertension, if your blood pressure is significantly lower than before, your medication may be reduced by a third or half, then watched, then reduced again, until your dr feels it's low enough to take you off meds completely. Same goes with blood sugar and cholesterol.
Blood sugar is likely the first med that can be reduced simply because you are eating much much less than before. Others like blood pressure and cholesterol takes longer in coming down, the weight has to be gone first.

Also, not to be discouraging but something else. Once your weight stabilizes, and your eating stabilizes and switched to maintenance mode, some times, you may find that you need some medication, though on a much lower level than before. Obesity is not always the cause of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, rather, obesity is a strong factor that aggravates these conditions. In these cases, the amount of medication you need will be reduced with weightloss, but many will find they need the minimal amount of medication to keep their data within premissible limits.

If you find you have a hard time trying to take all the medicines on top of your supplements, ask your dr to switch your meds to more easily dissolved ones -- OD tablets. Or, ask if you can pulverise them (crush them) and dissolve it in water and drink. Long acting tabs are a no-no for post ops, since it may be passed through your pouch before being absorbed completely.

((((((HUGS))))))