I had a question about post-op absorption of drugs and vitamins, so I talked to my primary care physician and then to my surgeon. The responses did not answer the question to my satisfaction, so I went one further. I looked up the 1-800 phone number of the pharmaceutical companies for each of the medications I take. Then I called each one and ask at what part of the gut does this medication get absorbed?

Since all of my duodenum, jejunum and all but seven feet of the ileum have been bypassed in my surgery, I felt it was important to know about the method of absorption for each medication. I was amazed at what I learned from the pharmaceutical companies. With this information in hand, I went back to my surgeon. Then he helped me understand why I was to take my meds the way he had prescribed.

My tip for you or anyone who has had WLS with some amount of bypassing of the small intestines and/or the stomach, would be to spend a little time on the phone with the drug companies customer service representative.

Many of the drugs out there are coated to slow down the digestion or breaking down prior to absorption. If you, like me, have had Gastric Bypassing as well as Intestinal Bypassing you should never take coated pills. They may leave you in the same condition they entered you!

My doctor has me crush pills, pull apart capsules, chew the chewables and for my hypertension medication I now wear a medicated transdermal patch.