Question:
Has anyone not taken their vitamins?
Ok, I did pretty well choking down the vitamins for 6 weeks. I did like I did when I was pregnant, if I could get it down I would if not, I'd wait and try the next day. Well..... I had this bout of nausea- no real vomiting, but just felt yucky for several days. I forced myself to drink water and ate bites a couple of times a day, but was unable to take the Vitamins- I would either gag and they would come back up, or be so nauseated that I couldn't make myself try. Now, the nausea has passed but I seem to have some type of mental block about the vitamins- like I am afraid to take them, that they will make me sick. I had a similar problem w/ Zoloft early on but it passed fairly quickly and I am able (w/ MD permission) to take it every other day. I KNOW how important they are so please don't bash me too hard, just help to get back into routine. I feel fine and labs are good. I do take a monthly b12 injection and would love a "vitamin shot". anyone else have this? What do I need to do? Thanks. open rny 12/6 down 37 pounds. — Leigh S. (posted on February 5, 2003)
February 5, 2003
I still can't swallow anything but tiny, tiny pills with just water. What
I do is take a spoonful of yogurt (Dannon Light or Yoplait Light), hold it
in my mouth and then pop the pill in. Then I can swallow the pill down
with the yogurt. This also works with Jello (sf, of course), applesauce,
sf pudding, etc.
— garw
February 5, 2003
I'm preop, so I don't have advise from experience, but I see many protein
supplements also have vitamins and calcium in them. If you can handle
those, maybe check the label to see if you are getting enough that way.
Also, as the other poster suggested - liquid vitamins may be more
palitable? How about chewables? Flintstones? Or those gummy vitamins for
kids (oo, but that might be hard to digest). HUGS. Hope you find
something that works.
— w8free
February 5, 2003
I take two chewable Flintstones vitamins per day - they are pretty easy to
take and tolerate.
— GPoynor
February 5, 2003
Whatever you do, do not dismiss the importance of following up with taking
the recommended dosage of vitamins. Your life and well being depends on
it. Everyone has given you great ideas: chewables and liquids should do
it. Beyond that as my mother would say, "Grab a backbone" and
just do it.
— merri B.
February 5, 2003
ok, i am not going to remind you how important it is to take vitamins cause
our innards are all different now. what i will tell you is the story of my
sister who at 3 yrs postop, thought she felt fine and never got into the
habit of taking her vitamins, iron and calcium religiously. she had a great
wt. loss, had lots of energy, had her tummy tuck and life was grand. she
noticed that she craved ice and chewed ice on a daily basis. thinking it
was an old wives tale, out of curiosity only, she looked the craving up on
the internet and found that it was a sign of anemia. she works in a
hospital and was able to test herself for this. lo and behold she had
levels so low, most people would be getting a blood transfusion pronto. she
went to the doc, got more tests and found her iron level was so bottomed
out it almost didnt register on the test.
so the moral of the story is .... get motivated by the mistakes of others.
put your vitamins in your purse, in your car, in your bathroom and in your
kitchen. try any flavor or form you like and keep trying til you find one
that works. you are worth it! this is a marvelous gift, wls. but it comes
with the responsibility to follow thru with the nutritional requirements.
good luck. the fact that you are putting the question out there means you
are on the right track.
patsy in las vegas
— PATSY N.
February 5, 2003
I take two chewable children's vitamins, plus 4 400mg calcium citrate
tablets, plus 1 pepcid complete, plus Biotin, plus zinc, plus Iron, plus
sublinqual B12, plus about 6 of my own prescription medications per day. I
still cut up all these pills into fours to help it go down easier. If I
took all this at once, I'd blow up! So, I scatter them out throughout the
day. That way I don't have too many in my new tummy taking up precious
room needed for other things and not making me sick. Good luck!
— thumpiez
February 5, 2003
Leigh....I take liquid vitamins and love them. It tastes like cranberry
juice. They are called Seasilver. You can find them at seasilver.com or I
suggest going to ebay.com and bidding on a bottle to try them. You only
take one capful a day and when you take it you hold it in your mouth for 30
seconds because it absorbs kinds like a b-12, you know, under your tongue.
I seen on ebay the other day that you can get a bottle for about $10.00
and that is such a bargain. A bottle will last you for over a month. When
I first started taking them they cost me $35 a bottle and still well worth
the cost to me for not having to take those other vitamins. Good Luck. I
also take the twin labs chewable wafer for calcium even though seasilver
has calcium it doesn't hurt to make sure I have enough.
— DRutherford
February 5, 2003
Hello...I must admit that after the first post-op month or so, I was very
"bad" about taking my vites. I didn't have issues with
swallowing them or anything, just got complacent. Well, I have had some
major plateaus on my WLS journey, and I think this has a lot to do with it.
Since I have become more diligent (I made the commitment on my 35th b-day
in mid-November) I have noticed some great results/benefits...much more
energy, going down sizes, etc. In addition, I have loved what I've seen
from the One a Day Weight Smart; since I've been taking them I have been
LOSING big time (for me, at least)...they have some kind of green tea
metabolism booster, which sound of course like the millions of fads we have
all tried, but I can honestly say I am seeing the results on the scale.
Anyway, I encourage you to see if you can find some vites you can deal with
and take them...it certainly couldn't hoit!
— rebeccamayhew
February 5, 2003
Would just like to second the opinion that they are important and you
should try to get them in some form that you will be able to take on a
regular basis. Would also like to add about Patsy's story with her sister:
I have a cousin with a simialr story, she is about 3 years out, got
complacent and ended up in the hospital. She had to have 3 blood
transfusions, and 2 intravenous iron transfusions. This was a couple of
months ago and she still is feeling tired most of the time. It is way
better to prevent anemis than to try to recover from it.
— Ali M
February 5, 2003
Hi, Leigh. I understand exactly what you are saying. At first I was
really good about taking the vitamins. I was doing the Flinstones. Then
when I couldn't take those anymore, I thought, I can't wait to get just one
normal pill so that I don't have to take those Flinstones anymore. I
bought some from GNC. I took it for about two weeks and was feeling
terrible everyday. Now I'm scared to take them. I'm three months post-op
and have not taken my vitamins for about three weeks. Just wanted to let
you know I'm on the same boat.
— Jessica Hernandez
February 6, 2003
Just a word of advice. Talk with your surgeon or PCP. You NEED to take your
vitamins!!! Not doing so can make you so ill that you will DIE. My surgeon
had a non-compliant patient who experienced paralysis and was rushed to the
ER after vitamins were not taken for a period of time. Have you considered
liquid vitamins? I took Poly Vi Sol (baby vitamins) for a period of time.
Try those. GNC sells liquid vitamins as well. Gag reflex is a bad thing,
but there are other avenues around that.
— lisachris
February 7, 2003
Normally, vitamins make me nauseaus, but I take Centrum Chewable (they're
orange) and so far, I haven't had a problem. Plus, I have so much energy,
I'm bouncing off the walls!
— jengrz
February 7, 2003
I too take lots of pill everyday. I started off with the Chewable Centrums
which were yummy. I took one or two a day for a few months & took my
other stuff in regular pill or capsule form. My trick is to pour water in
my mouth, put the pills in, tilt my head & swallow with an open throat.
If anything gets caught, I just cough a few times &/or with my arms
over my head. Sometimes I too feel like I'm gonna upchuck & I just
focus on keeping it down & drink water. Most of the time it does the
trick. Good luck, hope you find a trick!
— LionGirl2k
February 8, 2003
I don't know how long you have been on this board, but if you have been
reading the posting here and on the message board, you would know the vits
are not optional. You have received some excellent ideas on how to take
them, the only thing left to do is make yourself get over your reluctance
and they will go down easy. Your mind is tightening your throat which is
causing the difficulty. Gar has found a way to fool her mind, I am sure
you can too. Gar is a survivor and I believe that you too can learn
survival techniques.
— faybay
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