Please ...scare me back into compliance!

I have not been to OH in ages but desperatly need some support  so I am turning to my surgery anniversary group.  Here's my story:

I had my RNY Jan. 20, 2004 with a starting weight of 405.  My lowest was 149 and am currently at 170.  My 8 year anniversary is coming up and I have my yearly appointment to see my surgeon.  I want to honestly tell him even though I haven't been compliant the last couple of years I have now changed my ways. 

I had some blood work done about 3 months ago and found out my iron was low but my gp doesn't really understand all our issues and told me to buy something off the shelf at Walmart. I called my surgeon's office and he told me to take 180 mg a day of Bariatric Advantage iron.  I told him last year I would take try to do better about vitamins, calcium, B12, et.  Well.....

The last two years I have really struggled with taking my calcium, vitamins, etc. I will do okay for a couple days and then the thought of taking them almost makes me gag and I quit for a week or two!  I KNOW I need to take my supplements and that bad things can happen if I don't but am not exactly sure what those bad things are. 

My surgeon will do blood work and I know the numbers are not going to be any better. He told me if I didn't get my numbers up we would have to talk about administering iron by way of IV.  I need someone to scare me bad enough by sharing any bad experiences they had by not supplementing.  Then maybe I can assure him it won't be necessary because I am now taking everything I am supposed to. 

So please scare the crap out of me as I can't seem to do this for myself!

Thanks,
Noncompliant Idiot
(Valerie)

The supplements are very important.  I have always taken mine, but I have friends/aquaintances who did not.  One lady I know didn't take her B-12 and she started having symptoms very similar to those of someone with multiple schlerosis.  By the time they figured out what was wrong she had lost the ability to walk and her speech was slurred.  She ended up being hospitalized and then moved to a rehabilitation facility where she had to have speech therapy and relearn to walk.  They got her B-12 levels back up and lucky for her there was no permanent damage done.

Another friend of mine had severe low iron and has been hospitalized 2 or 3 times for that having to get infusions and transfusions.  I have been told that once your iron gets low as a WLS patient, it is very difficult to get it back up with supplements alone.  You should check into infusions to get your levels back up and then supplement to maintain.  This same person also never took any of her other vitamins with the exception of B-12.  She did do that one.  She and her family were in a wreck.  No one was hurt but her. She had a fracture in her neck and back more than likely due to the fact that she didn't supplement her calcium and it affected her bones. 

Are you scared yet?  You should be.  Vitamin supplementation after RNY is very important.  From the sounds of it, you have done exceptionally well with your weight loss and maintaining.  Now, get your rear in gear and take your vitamins.  For a complete list of labs you need drawn and for supplements you may need, WLS Vitagarten is a great site to visit.  And, Andrea, owner of the site is great about answering questions.  She also has just written a lab tracker book for WLS patients so that you can keep and compare your lab results and adjust your supplements accordingly. 

I take:

1 Centrum Ultra Multi every day
1 Sublingual B-12
1 Sublingual D-3 (they discovered we can get deficient in this too)
1 Skin, Hair, and Nails
1 B-Complex daily
1200 mg per day all total for Calcium
3 different probiotics daily

I dont' take all of this at once.  I spread it through my day.  Congrats on your weight loss success, and I wish you success in remembering to take your vitamins.    I hope I wasn't too hard on you.  LOL.  Hang in there!

Just remember what you had to go through to get where you are today!  I forget to take my stuff from time to time, but take it when I remember it.  Also rememeber you got alot of great years left stay healthy.

I just leave mine out in the open... Your GP should have all your nutritional labs drawn to see what u are lacking in so u know for sure what u really need to be taking.  Depends where intestine was cut what u absorb!  Also vitamin D is a big one....