can you tell me if i want to go ahead and use the peg tube for taking my meds how i do this?

i currently crush them and put them in pudding but this gets old so i thought i would ask how to put em in the tube instead

do i crush em, put em in water and then out this into the syringe and then squirt it into the tube like when i flush it?

I was told to crush mine up, dissolve in water and and put down the PEG.

I also take a capsule and the nurse had to check first, then told me it would be OK to empty the contents into water, etc...

Remember that some meds are time release constructed or coated. Be sure that you check on this before crushing them. Also, many meds are available in both liquid and capsule form, you just have to ask the pharmacy/docs to give you the one you want.

I always ask for liquid meds first. I am able to take coated tablets by mouth but the uncoated ones I dissolve in water and put in the tube that way. The tube has worked out great for me since its only function right now is taking meds. Dont forget about what Brian said, always ask the doc if the medication is time released and if it is ask for something else that you can put in the tube.

thanks. none are time released - i had to check on this for crushing them to go in pudding too .. a couple of mine they have in liquid the rest just pill form and some are so big it tastes awful even if mixing with an entire pudding cup so that was getting gross so i will take advantage of the tube being there and put it to some use i sure hope once i have the permanent obturator that it fits tightly enough i can swallow pills again ...

thanks all!

I'll add just a note on this general topic...not necessarily concerning use of a PEG, which I did not have.

After my surgery, I couldn't swallow much of anything, so my sweet husband would crush up my medicines (I take a good many routine medications, as well as the pain meds I needed then.) After a time, my mouth, in addition to the misery from the surgery, was on fire! I went to my friendly periodontist, who said that it was inflamed because many medications are not formulated to come into contact with the tissues of the mouth. They are designed to dissolve in the stomach. He suggested using his own "miracle mouthwash" recipe: 1/2 liquid antacid and 1/2 liquid Benadryl.

So....be careful about crushing medications not intended to be crushed, and get liquid ones if possible. (I don't thnk that they make liquid lipitor and premarin and synthroid!)

To add to the complication of crushing pills, mixing them in something, and taking them oraly (other than qwhat Colleen mentions above) is that someare meant to be taken by themselves without anything fizzy OR containing calories. Synthroid/levothyroxine is one of these.

However, getting medication in liquid form is not always a solution if, like me, your mouth gets set on fire by anything with alcohol in it since ofen the liquid solutions are in an alcohol base. If alcohol sets your mouth on fire, be sure to ask about that. This past year my MO very considerately found me a form of liquid tamoxifen and liquid iron because of my swalloing problems and I found I had to flush them down the tube anyway because of the alcohol base in both of them.

For me, this is one of the reasons I question whether I will ever get off the tube is I'm just not seeing any other good way of taking the emds I need to take each day. But I am an extreme case, I can't swallow any kind of pills at all that are not ground up and I have a very oversensitive mouth--more so than others.

Nelie

My liquid meds, I never take by mouth. I ask for liquid cuz its easier to put in the tube. I havent tasted any yucky medicine in a LONG time.

Hope you are making out ok Rita, with the new process.

Well I will give my 2 cents worth of PEG help.

Always ask when you are give meds if they can be crushed!

We crushed all meds with handy dandy crusher from the drug store and added them to warm water then pushed them just like when you flush. Kill two birds with one stone...water and meds.

Time released meds we tried to find alternates but when we couldnt we heard about putting the pills(whole) in Yogurt.

Time released Capsules took us a long time to figure out....take the suringe and pull it appart. Put the base in the tube with a little water then open the capsule and empty into the suringe base add water if needed and flip the switch on your peg and down the drain it goes. Follow with more water if lingering meds in base. I cant tell you how many $100 emend pills we lost before we got the hang of this. Sometimes we were quite comical.

My husband is getting close to having PEG removed and he takes most meds by Yogurt...just drops it into his bowl and swallows.
He has troble with tablets so he is still crushing them...and I am pushing for the Yogurt.

Good Luck!
Cray

Save yourself a lot of stress and make sure the pills are crushed up really well. I had nexxium that I put through the tube and it wouldn't crush up very well, or dissolve (it's time release but the only way I could take it was through my tube - there was no way I would have been able to swallow a pill) and it would clog up that stupid tube almost every time. We kept some coke on hand for that reason. I spent many mornings in the passenger seat of the car on my way to treatment trying to unclog pills from my tube only to get it unclogged right as we were pulling into the parking lot! Just make sure you crush everything really well and let it dissolve in the water to save your sanity!