No longer lurking!
Hey folks! I hope everyone is doing alright! I haven't been active on the boards in regards to posting; however, I have been 'lurking' on everyone elses posts!
A little about me. As a child I suffered from an extremely over active thyroid that has sense decided it is no longer having the love affair with me as I have long for. As a result, it is working against me. In fact the doctor pretty my explained to me that my thyroid did what it should have done for my entire life in the span of 16/17 years. Yea - not much for me needless to say. A few years ago, I was informed that I am now type 2 diabetic. Oh no! I can't have that! I do not like *****ing my fingers or any other body parts as a daily must.
I currently have a 14 month old toddler who has since entered my life. He's the best thing ever! (Why did I wait so long??) Before you ever even have a child you think you know what your life is going to be like once they arrive. Oh, little do you know! He's changed everything for me. Before him, I was always on the fence about surgery - talking myself out of it for one reason or another. Once he came along, as you can imagine kids give you a whole new perspective. I have to thank him for making me realize that if I do not do something, I may not live to be an old grandma!
I finished my 6 months of weight loss management that was mandated by my insurance company (United Healthcare). I got a call almost two weeks ago informing that my surgery had been approved and what the next steps were. I live roughly 4 hours away from the surgeon who is going to be performing my surgery, so I go in for my second consult this Thursday. I'll find out when my surgery is then.
A few questions for you folks who has already or is about to go through this. I have been having a hard time trying to find a multi-vitamin that includes K. Everything I have found and came across has AD&E, but no damn K! Any suggestions on some that is not like chalk!
Thanks ahead of time.
Great decision to have the DS!
However, you need more info about the necessary vitamins, and in particular the amounts and types you will need to stay healthy. A multi will not suffice, no matter what it contains. You will need the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, and K) in the "dry" form and in far larger amounts. This is because we absorb only about 20% of the fat we consume, so taking these vitamins in the standard form, i.e. oil based, will not work. You can purchase these vitamins separately (the only way to go) either from Vitalady or directly from the manufacturer. Vitalady is cheaper.
You will still need a multi, and generally any good brand will do. I buy the regular CostCo brand. You will need lots of calcium in the calcium citrate form (not carbonate - less well absorbed). Costco has this also, just make sure you get the right one because they also have carbonate, and make sure you take 2 at a time as that constitutes one dose. I use the calcium citrate lozenges from Bariatric Advantage because those pills are big and I find they difficult to swallow, but that's just me.
There's lots more but I won't overwhelm you with everything, just that you need to become very well informed to maintain good nutritional heatlh, and your surgeon is unlikely to provide all the info you need. I highly recommend dsfacts.com as a great website with lots of good general info about the DS.
Larra
Glad you have a list. However, the ADEK's aren't a good option. They sound perfect because they contain all the right things, but such small amounts of each component, compared to the amounts we need with the DS, as to be almost useless. If anything, we fool ourselves into thinking we're taking all we need when we aren't - and this is said from personal experience, because I started out with them myself. Now I take the "dry" forms separately in much higher amounts, and my labs are good. The malabsorption of fat and fat soluble vitamins with the DS is very powerful, and the amounts of fat soluble vitamins we need to take are substantial. I wish ADEK's were sufficient, but that isn't reality.
As far as your surgeon goes, anything I have to say will be said privately.
Larra
But you're a fresh post-op - your body hasn't had time for your vitamin levels to drop from malabsorption...yet. You might get away with the ADEK's for awhile, but my guess is not forever. If our levels start dropping, even if still not below "normal", start supplementing with the separate dry A D and K before things get bad. It's much easier to maintain good levels than it is to catch up after they tank.
Larra
Most people don't take the multi ADEK because the dosages are too low, the results can be very much YMMV. If you stay with the multi follow your labs very closely.
Sometimes the nutrition advice from Doc's offices is not as good as it should be. For a start either look at vitalady or google ASMBS nutritional guidelines for the DS.
If your set on a multi ADEK you might look at the Bariatric Advantage web site.
HW 552 CW 198 SW 464 4/15/13 - Lap DS by Dr. Philip Schauer - Cleveland Clinic.
That's the main reason. Dosages end up greater than the multi's have. A secondary reason is that it works out cheaper
to buy them separately but that is far behind the dosage issue.
Vitamin A and D are the main culprits. I've never seen anyone post of a vitamin E deficiency and Vitamin K can be pretty variable depending
on the person. A lot of Doctors start out at what most long term DS'rs consider dangerously low dosages and then work to get the levels up when you eventually test below normal levels. It's definitely something you will have to think about and decide how you are going to handle it post-op.
Do a search in the archives for other vitamin threads. That will give you an overview of questions to talk to your Doc and nutritionist.
