Question about crushing pills?

I specifically asked my doctor about this as well since I take several pills and he said there was no reason I wouldn't be able to take them even in the hospital.  I asked my Registered Dietician as well and he said the same thing.  They only advised that I might need to slit large pills in half.

And that's what the ASMBS says, as well.

I was directed to have chewable forms of meds that were over the size of an m&m for the first six weeks. However, I had some multi vitamins that I wanted to use and a couple times they ended up getting stuck in my stoma and caused me to foam and puke. It sucked. And hurt. So I switched to chewables. I've not had a problem with any of the other pills I take though which are generally smaller. I don't think I could pull off the crushed med thing. Gag. 

I started taking a regular multi (whole) around six weeks. I just couldn't stand the chewables any longer.

I actually love the chewables haha. Glad you found something you like!

I totally agree with your post...and my surgeon does, too. I could not swallow pills until the day after surgery and it took me a while to get them all down, but he's against crushing pills and tells you not to do so unless you cannot swallow a pill normally. Some pills cannot be crushed or opened and it is dangerous or ineffective to do so. I sure hope these 'crushers' are aware of the rules of their pills!

My former calcium pills were really large (I am now on chewable) and even they never got stuck, they just made me feel full. And I have never seen a larger pill for humans than those calcium pills!

A couple weeks after my RNY I ended up in the hospital with pneumonia and they had me on potassium pills and those were the biggest pills I've ever seen.  Bigger than calcium pills.  I had to have the nurses cut them in half and even half was still big.  But I was able to swallow them and they never caused any problems.

My doctor told us we could swallow whole pills the size of am m and m or smaller and cut the others in half for the first two weeks.. I never had any problems even with large pills. I would gag if I had to crush them!

I don't fully understand the logic of it either...I crushed them the first day in the hospital post op (I needed to take my fluoxetine even though I hadn't started the vitamins while still in hospital). On day 2 post op I asked the nurse if I could take my meds normally as the taste was really getting to me and she said it was fine. They just said to cut in half anything large (or quarters) but for most it's a non-issue...I don't cut any of my vitamins, not even my Centrum Silver which is kinda thick. It bothers my thyroid nodules (feels stuck in my throat for a few seconds) more than anything actually (I have a multi-nodular goiter and it's quite enlarged) but never my pouch was bothered...

I take about 17 pills  a night, not counting vitamins. Prior to surgery I could pop the whole bunch of them in my hand and a gulp of water, down the hatch done. After reading comments here, I can see where it makes sense to take them one at a time after bypass, because, while maybe one or two pills might not get stuck, a handful could. And be unpleasant.  At the same time, I am not quite  four months out, and have a hard time, not so much with the size of the pill, but the massive amounts of water it takes to take all those pills at the same time. open some of them I cut, one or two I open and dump into my liquid vitamins, since i take at the same time, and some I just take regular.