Medication

As you might expect, you have to be careful about what kinds of medication you can take, both prescription and over-the-counter, after having a total gastrectomy.  Since you have no stomach, things like extended release do not work.  You can't take any capsules; you can't take anything with a coating.  The only type of tablet you can take is one that is compacted powder with no coating.  Some people have trouble swallowing pills at all.  I've been able to swallow small ones.  I haven't tried any large ones yet.

Some people prefer liquid medication.  I've had problems with the liquid.  The ones I've tried tasted nasty and came back up.  First of all, I was given potassium as a liquid as I was being released from the hospital.  It promptly ended up on the bathroom floor.  They gave me pills and I was fine.  They sent me home with liquid prescriptions of pain killer and stool softener.  Fortunately, I haven't had to use the pain killer at home.  I haven't used pain meds since the night before I was released from the hospital.  I tried to use the stool softener the first few days, but had trouble keeping it down.  We went to the drug store to get an over-the-counter stool softener in tablet form.  We were very frustrated to find it doesn't exist.  Everything is either a capsule or a coated tablet, nothing I could take.  I eventually decided to just stop taking the stool softener and have done OK.

I also need to take a daily multi-vitamin.  They recommend either liquid or gummy.  I have found the gummy vitamins work quite well.