Anti-reflux drugs
After surgery, your health care team will prescribe anti-reflux drugs for at least three months. This medication prevents sub-optimal healing, gastric reflux, and, if you had a gastric bypass, it prevents anastomotic ulcers. After three months, your health care team will evaluate, on the basis of your symptoms and the procedure you underwent, whether you need to continue to take these drugs.
Gallstone prevention
If you still have your gallbladder, your health care team may prescribe ursodeoxycholic acid for six months to prevent gallstone formation. Unfortunately, this medication is not subsidized, and the cost could be prohibitive. Starting the prescribed diet well before surgery to avoid rapid weight loss immediately after surgery, keeping well hydrated, and making sure to stimulate the gall bladder with small amounts of cream and butter every now and then in your food could help to prevent stagnation and eventual stone formation.
If you have diabetes
On the days following your procedure, you will not be eating much, and your diabetes treatment will therefore be adapted to your blood glucose. Typically, insulin doses are reduced by at least half and oral drugs are only taken if necessary. Our bariatric physician will plan your pre- and post-operative diabetic management, but we also advised regular check-ups with your endocrinologist after surgery to determine if and how your diabetes treatment should be adapted over the long term.
It is important to stop taking newer oral anti-diabetic medication (flozin’s), SGLT2, about 3 days prior to surgery. To prevent a dangerous reaction, your surgery may be postpended if the medication stoppage is overlooked.
If you take diuretics
If you took diuretics before surgery, you would need to refrain after surgery because you will be drinking much less, and there is a high risk of dehydration. Your health care team will tell you what to do about diuretics.
All your routine medications will be reviewed before surgery by our bariatric physician and a management plan will be drawn up. Your heart and blood thinning medication are very important and need to be carefully reviewed prior to surgery.
If you use a CPAP
Remember to bring your CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device with you to the clinic when you check in for surgery. You will need it on the night before surgery and for several weeks afterwards. Later, after you have lost significant weight, your health care team will evaluate whether you need to continue to use it.
