Taking meds post-op?

 I'm worried about taking my meds after surgery.  Do they all have to be crushed up? Or can you take the smaller ones whole?  I am the WORST pill taker.  If i can taste the pill, it's all over, I spit it out.  So I imagine that I'll be able to taste them if they are crushed?  Almost all of them make me gag NOW and I haven't even had surgery yet.  Hopefully I won't have to be on them for too much longer after (my regular meds not the vitamins).  

I'm almost 3 weeks post-op. Before surgery, I could take a handful of vitamins pills all at once... in the hospital, I was told they'd all have to be crushed BUT when they brought me my pepcid and bp med, they were rather tiny, so the nurse let me take them without crushing them - one at a time. Three weeks later, I can take Pepcid, my iron, and bp med (3 rather small pills) at once. I still couldn't swallow a normal vitamin tab. So far, I've no had any problems taking them.

Your surgeon (and every surgeon is different) will give you instructions on how to take meds. Most meds come in liquid form - see if you can get them switched to liquid for a few months. Otherwise, if you crush them, try mixing them in a protein shake or something soft so you don't taste them.

I'm sure others will have better advice, but this is my experience thus far.

Good luck! 

~Karen

Crushing your meds might be better, but the taste of a lot of pills...yeah I get it. Check with your pharmacist to see if they can be crushed, and what's best to mix them with.

I never crushed any meds.  I took my regular meds in the hospital the night of my surgery.  None of them were real big, though.  A couple weeks after surgery I had to take potassium pills for a while and those are the biggest horse pills I've ever seen.  I cut them in half and they were still huge, but they went down OK.  I don't really get why some docs recommend crushing meds.  I'm not saying not to crush them if you doc says to.  But it's all wet in our pouch.  Pills should dissolve pretty quickly.