Hi everyone! you al...

Hi everyone! you all seem like such a nice bunch of people here. i dont post often but i browse here almost every day. i wondered if i could get some encouragement or words of advice.............. well i'm 60 lbs down now so feelin pretty good. i get in my water most of the time, and do pretty good with protien. but..... i dont take my vitamins. i just dont! i hate them. i spent a small fortune on vista vitamins because i read they were the best for wls patients. i'm supposed to take 5 of those a day. they're sweet and nasty and they make my stomach churn. then, three vitamin d's, calcium magnesium zinc and b50. and i just started my prevacid again which i dont have a problem taking. i swear if they made injectable vitamins i'd much rather shoot them up then try and swallow that many. yesterday i took one of my pills and immediately with no warning i threw it back up on the kitchen floor. i have a real problem with this. i was Really bald before surgery, ( i have pcos ) so i've found products and hair loss concealers to help me along the way.. but now my hair is literally clogging the drain every time i wa**** so...... i kinda feel like i'm the road to some big health problems. has anyone ever heard of intravenous vitamins ? anyway. the post was long. sorry. any tips would be great. thanks

Have you tried liquid vitamins? You could likely disguise it in some juice or milk or even with some apple sauce. I know you can get liquids for almost all your vitamin and calcium. I also have PCOS and my surgery was also on June 18th... I think you are doing great with your weight loss. I have read that our PCOS symptoms should get better as we lose weight... so hopefully the hair loss will let up as time goes on. I think the key is getting in your vitamins and enough protein. Check out the liquids and I hope they work for you. Best of luck. Sherri

hi Sherri! i've heard that pcos symptoms go away with weight loss too. i hope it's true. it would be a dream come true to have my gorgeous head of curls back! but that would be a miracle from God i'm sure. i'd be happy to be less hairy though! lol. i've been making myself take my vitamins. i havent gotten up to all of them a day, but im taking some so it's better than just nothing i hope. thankyou for writing. that's so cool we had surgery on the same day! hope you're doing well. -sarah

Sarah!, it's so good to see you post. We are surgery sisters! I wanted to post something that was on the MN board not very long ago. You really need to find some vitamins that work for you, they are very important. Take care of you darlin....check with your surgeons office for some suggestions. I take Centrum Chewable Multivitamin (2/day), a B12 sublinqual tablet/day and Calcium (chocolate type thing) really good. I think the liquid vitamins would be great for you if you're having such a hard time with what you have now. Sounds like you are doing GREAT otherwise, keep up the wonderful work! Pam Here's the post... Post Date: 8/31/07 5:23 am First I had my 2 year check up and it's not good. My liver, kidneys are not functioning at full capacity. It's my own fault; I haven't been taking my vitamins and calcium. My iron is VERY low and now I'm 6 different prescriptions trying to get everything back to where it should be. I have 1 month to improve or I might have to go into the hospital. So I guess they know what the doctors are talking about when they say how important it is to take your vitamins. I learned, but the hard way. But it does explain a lot as to why I was so tired so a few other things. I have lost 120 lbs and went from a size 28 (tight) pants to 8-10 and from 3X shirt to Med/Large (12/14) I really want to lose another 5-10 lbs but until I get all my levels back up I have to really concentrate on what I'm eating. I can't have coffee for breakfast, lunch and supper and a night time snack anymore.

oh my goodness Pam. i didnt know your organs could shut down from lack of vitamins! that poor lady. unfortunately, i do have an appetite and i do eat! and i hate coffee. eck. i have been taking some vitamins which is more than zero at least. so i'm feeling better about it. i've started working out so now it's my goal to get healthy. i dont know why i didnt get those chocolate chewable vitamins! i see em everywhere! i think i'll get some of those. my vista vitams call for 5 a day, i've been taking 3-4. my pcp prescribed the other vits. without even knowing the percentages of what's in my vistas. but he's really knowledgable about wls so i just assumed i should take them, but daang. how are u doing with your weight loss? mine has slowed down considerably. i breathe a sigh of relief when the scale finally goes down a pound! thankyou for taking the time to write. sorry it took so long to reply. -Sarah

cant say that I've heard of any vitamin shots, other than B-12...... but have you thought about finding another chewable one that you tolerate better? I started off with the Centrum Multi-vitamin but honestly..... didn't like em, so I didnt take em. They're not 'bad', they're just not good. The NUT had told me to take flintstones 3x a day, I thought she must be crazy..... but guess what, they've got almost as much of every vitamin that the centrum does and they dont taste bad at all. In fact, I dont think twice about taking them. Its the Flintstones Complete that I take, they're small, not TOO sweet, but not chalky or anything. All I take is my 3 flintstones and 1 calcium pill a day. The calcium I take is made by Nature Made and also has Vit D. Its chewable, not small but not huge... doesn't taste horrible and since I only have to take it once a day, I take it first and get it over with. The B-12 I take is sublingual 2500mcg and only once a week. Its not bad at all, its TINY. But you can always do a shot of B-12 if its just too many for ya. You're right..... if you're throwing the vitamin back up, its not doing you any good anyway... so just try some others and see what works for you. Good luck... you'll find what works for ya!!! Mel T

wow Mel you've really got the vitamins pared down. what kind of sublingual do u use? i havent been told to take b12 yet but maybe i should?

Welcome fellow Junester! I know what you mean about vitamins. I spent hard earned money on vitamins I hated, but they were recommended by my surgeon so I did what he said. These chewable things were sickeningly sweet, and I had to take 4 a day, plus calcium 4 a day plus iron 1 a day. BLECH. I switched out to OptiSource that you can buy in Walgreens and they taste a bit better. When these are gone though, I'm going to try Centrum chewables because I know a lot of people taking them and their blood work always comes out perfect. I'm also taking Citrical chews and oh dear Lord they aren't a hardship at all. I think I could overdose on them they are so good! They taste like little pieces of chocolate fudge. Although I guess you have to like fudge in order to take them hehe. I agree vitamins are VERY important, and since you were willing to spend top dollar on the best, it looks like you agree. Keep experimenting until you find some that work for you and you like the taste of. It's too important to not take them. (hugs) Good luck! Donna

lol donna! you made me laugh about the citracal. with all the dang yummy chocolate vitamins out there i have no idea why i opted for horse pills!! next time i go to walmart i'm picking some up. i'm doing better with the vista vitamins. not up to FIVE!! but getting 3 or 4. the thing that throws me is, it says to take with meals.. well, i dont eat five times a day. i'm kind of hustling to get some vitamins in because i've got blood work coming up and i adore my pcp and i dont want him mad at me, i've heard some people suffer his wrath and cried over it. ack! thankyou for writing !!

Sarah - As other posters said, if you're not taking the vitamins, you need to find ones you will take. If you can get past the money you've spent, get a different brand. I tried to go back to my pre-surgery 1 a Day for Women, but just couldn't stand them and they are big. I went back to Flintstones Complete (2 per day). I also have a problem with calcium pills if they're too big and found Citracal Petites w/ Vitamin D (4 per day at least 2 hours before or after taking mulitvitamin because the iron interferes with uptake of calcium). I also take 1000 mg liquid vitamin B12 sublingual once per day (no bad taste) and 500 mg biotin twice per day. I just found out I'm not good with taking my vitamins when on vacation! Keep trying - it takes 3-4 weeks to establish a habit and anything you can do will help you establish the habit.