PLEASE help me scare the CRAP out of a DSer who is not taking her vites!!

 Maybe this link will work:

http://www.springerlink.com/content/t472u11470701370/

Thank you everyone for posting these stories.  I'm still pre-op, but this is the one thing I've made a promise to myself about.

The way I'm looking at it, is that the vitamin supplementation will be just like taking a cardiac med, or a blood pressure med.  Non-compliance is out of the question.   A diabetic wouldn't consider NOT taking insulin, right?  Same thing.  

I think it's really important to point something out here.

I've worked with a lot of patients - from all over the world - who have found themselves for one reason or another (believe me, I've heard some pretty amazing tales of woe!) on the brink of disaster as a post-op.

Something happens at some point in time during the downward slide where the brain stops being able to make logical decisions.

Yes, deficiencies are a part of that.

But I don't know any way to explain the look in the eye that I can totally spot a mile away now that says, "I'm not really sick.  Well, maybe a little sick.  I'll be better soon.  I do extra protein this week, then I'll be better."

There's this disassociation with reality.

There's a lack of sense of urgency.

There's a lack of ability to discern some basic reality about what's going on physically.

It goes beyond what a basically not-very-clued-in-about-their-own-body type of thing.  There are just some folks who aren't, and are the last the figure out something that's blaringly obvious to everyone else - even in the best of times.  This is something entirely different.

I wish I could somehow explain to you how surreal all of this will seem to someone who is truly on the brink.  This is when I take a patient by the hand and physically take them to the right doctor, and present all of the information, and work with the patient's family to help formulate an appropriate treatment plan.  And in some instances, hold their hand as they board a plane to get to the physician or surgeon who can best care for them.  Or hop in the car and drive a few hundred miles to hand hold or hold someone's face in my hands making sure that they know that I'm really there telling them how DIRE cir****tances are.  Done it before, will likely have to do it again.

I don't know why some patients end up there.  Sometimes there's a sense of power that goes with being for the first time in control of hunger - being able to have power over something that they've never had power over before.  Sometimes it's a passive aggressive lash at a controlling loved one.  Sometimes it's a sense of euphoria over losing the weight, feeling like a million bucks - and feeling bulletproof - like nothing you can do can make this amazing feeling go away - so why should you have to be bothered with the basics.

Honestly, I've seen a LOT.  A lot of stuff that NEVER had to happen.

Blessings,

dina

huh!  made me get up off my ass at 11:30 p.m. to take the 10 p.m. vitamins I had missed!! thanks,

pp

Bookmarked for future use!  What a scary as hell reality!

this whole thing breaks my heart, that people could give up on themselves this way. No one else can save you but you. To Nicole's friend: Stop giving up! Stop letting yourself down. Stop now, take your vits and go for a walk. Notice how beautiful the world is, how much people care about you, how you matter to people and how they need you in their lives. How could you be so selfish to not see how much you are hurting the people around you by not taking care of the the person they love? Take care of you. Love you. You deserve it.

Bronwen's guest appearance article on Melting Mama regarding vitamins.

http://www.meltingmama.net/wls/2009/08/this-post-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-v.html

  Okay, i'm curious about the long story lady. Did she really have all those disorders or were they all lack  vitamin induced? Just want a clearer picture. Or did she have lupus prior?

Post Date: 10/23/08 11:52 am
I posted this on the general board as well but since Im 5 years out - thought I should post here too!

First - let me start by saying my spelling and grammer suck so if you feel the need to correct me and point out every word I spell wrong, please just ignore my post now before you read any more.... Also - don't flame me for my post - I am not writting this to hear how stupid I am - Trust me - I have been telling myself this enough. I am writting this to open everyones eyes to how dangerous things can get if YOU DON"T LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR!!!!

I just had my 5 year anniversary. I have successfuly kept off 140lbs. I had a 15 lb bounce back at about 2 1/2 years out but have maintined since then. For the first 2 years I saw my doctor exactly as required. I followed the rules.

Over the past year, I have been very sick. I have seen 3 Neurologist and have been tested for everything from Lupus to MS. MRI's, various scans, tests, you name it - I've been through it. I have quite a few cognative problems. My short-term memory is a mess, when I speak- sometimes the wrong words come out (I know what Im trying to say - it just doesn't want to make it from my head to my mouth), I have a lot of confussion now, I get very dizzy, I can't manuver my feet well enough to even walk down a flight of steps, I have numbness in my hands & feet... The list goes on..  I have racing heartbeats, I am always freezing cold - even if its 80 degrees out. I have absolutely no energy or strength at all and I use to go to the gym twice a day. Its been one of those "I know my body - I know something is wrong - please help me" feelings but we could never find out the cause. About 6 months ago my Neurologist said that MS comes with so many different signals that he was pretty sure that was what what happening to me.

This week I had my 5 year check up with my Bypass Doc & as soon as I walked int he door, I could tell he didn't look happy. I couldn't figure why... Well --- my bloodwork was a mess!!!!
My Iron should be in the 170-28 range and it is 12!
My B-12 should be near 180 and its 42!!!!!!
My Hemoglobin should be 15.5-11.5 and its 8
My folate should be 5.2 and its 8.6

I stopped taking my vits about 2 years out. I knew how the doctors stressed that it was a lifetime change but thought I was the exception. I figured that since I had reached goal and maintined that I could follow my own rules and now I have done perminant damage to myself. Its going to take months to try to get my levels up to where they should be & to see what neurological problems correct themselves. My doctor said that he has never seen a B12 as low as mine (yipee - I win the prize) and that he is afraid that with as long as I have been without my suppliments, the damage may all be perminant.

PLEEZE PLEEZE PLEEZE -  Be smarter then me!!! Listen to your doctor. Don't feel that you are the exception to the rule. Spend the extra few dollars each month for the correct suppliments and take care of yourself.

And Compliments of One of my heroes - Andrea U:
Post Date: 5/19/09 10:47 am
So deficiencies in the following can result in:

B1 or Thiamin
 - irreversible neuromuscular disorders
 - permanent defects in learning and short-term memory
 - coma  (aww.. this isn't so bad..)
 - death  (Nothing worth worrying about, right?)

B9 or Folate (Folic Acid)
 - forgetfulness
 - irritiability
 - hostility
 - paranoid behaviors

B12 or Cobalamine
 - neurologic sumptoms
 - numbness and tingling of extremeties
 - difficulty walking
 - memory loss
 - disorientation
 - megalobalstic anemia
 - permanent neural impairment
 - extreme delusions
 - hallucinations
 - overt psychois
+ Permanent damage can occur if treatment doesn't start soon enough!

Calcium
 - chronic low intake creates metabolic bone disease presenting as
  - osteoporosis
  - osteomalacia
  - hypoparathyroidism
  - combo of above
 - muscle cramping
 - hypotension
 - bone pain

Vitamin D
 - rachitic tetany
 - mucle pain and spasms
 - weakness
 - bone pain
 - decrease in daily calcium absorption
 - rickets (osteomalacia)
 - osteoporosis
 - concentrations in blood greater than or equal to 80nmol/L, there was a 50% reduction in colorectal cancer rates
 - concentrations in blood greater than or equal to 50nmol/L, there was a 50% reduced risk of prostate cancer
 - risk for type 1 diabetes increased dramatically in vitamin D deficient children
 - higher circulating levels of vitamin D linked to a significantly lower Multiple Schlrosis risk

Iron
 - anemia
 - fatigue
 - hair loss
 - feeling cold
 - pagophagia (constant desire to eat ice -- pica)
 - decreased immune function

Zinc
 - decreased sense of smell
 - altered taste
 - poor wound healing
 - poor appetite
 - hair loss
 - low libido
 - lethargy

Vitamin A
 - problems with skin and mucous membranes
 - dry hair
 - broken nails
 - increased risk of infections
 - linked to anemia and iron absorption
 - ophthalmologic consequences such as night blindness

I appreciate your honesty - and your courage in posting this.  I've had a great surgical experience - no complications at all - but I admit that this summer, being out of school and kind of out of my usual routine, I missed a few vitamins.  I hear the wake-up call - thanks!