| Medications and Bariatric Surgery
Prior to undergoing bariatric surgery (a gastric procedure done to significantly decrease weight loss), it is absolutely crucial to discuss your medication history with the attending bariatric physician and surgeon. Different drugs, whether prescribed or bought over-the-counter can affect the success of the surgery. Even herbal supplements and vitamins should be discussed with the bariatric surgeon. Part of the medication discussion should be the ones that need to be taken before and after the surgery.
Here are some medications which may need to be stopped before and after the procedure: Vitamin E, Coumadin and Aspirin are all blood-thinners, so the risk of bleeding would increase if they are taken before surgery. Hormonal drugs, such as estrogen and birth control pills may cause increased blood clots, which can also cause complications such as thrombosis (blockage of a clot in a blood vessel).
Bariatric surgery is essentially done in order to decrease the size of the stomach. After the procedure, the organ may become more sensitive to certain pills, thus causing pain and vomiting, so any medication in pill-form must be crushed unless it needs to be taken whole because they are in sustained-release form. One must discuss with the surgeon which pills can be crushed and which ones must be taken as they are. Finally, medications need to be chosen carefully and approved by one’s physician, as the new stomach pouch will be sensitive post-operatively. Some medications should be taken with food so as not to react with acids violently, while others need the stomach acids in order to work.
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