vitamins and protein????

Hello all, I just need some help on vitamins and protein, and I thought this would be the best place to come to for answers. I am Pre-op. but I want to get a head start on my vitamins and protein. Thanks for your help Dawn J.

Dawn, Remember to consult your nutritionist! The best vitamins I've found are the Bariatric Advantage chewables ($16.95), you can buy them on-line, I also take the chewable iron (you may not need iron until later) and sublingual B-12 from Bariatric Advantage. They taste great! Most people start off with Flinstones chewables, or the Bugs bunny chewables with Splenda, and they are a bargain by comparison. The liquid vitamins taste terrible, and you won't want to swallow pills after surgery. I also recommend Citracal creamy bites for your calcium. Remember Viactiv is not absorbed after surgery because it is calcium carbonate. We need calcium citrate, and the creamy bites are delicious. I love the lemon, and have heard the caramel are also great. They sell those at Walmart. You will also need fiber, I take the chewable Fiber Choice orange tablets, 2 twice a day. Finally the chewable Pepcid really helps prevent nausea, 2 before meals, and it is berry flavored. Additionally, I started Biotin, and B-1 Thiamine before surgery. I chew the tiny tablets with my Citracal, instead of swalling them. I got these at The Vitamin Shoppe. Biotin supposedly helps prevent hair loss. Oh yeah, remember to make sure not to take the iron at the same time of day as the calcium, because the counteract each other. Take one in the a.m., and one in the p.m. I also really recommend Nioxin Protein shampoo, it's at the beauty supply store. It will protect you from hair loss. Use it a couple times a week. Then when you are 3 months out, and your hair starts to shed some, it will hopefully be only a small amount. I think it has helped me along with taking the biotin. Whew! Long response. These things work for me. Today is my 3 month post op anniversary and I am down -53 pounds and doing great! Protein shakes are yucky, but you have to do them. I found that by my second week post op cottage cheese was more appealing, especially Breakstones 2% in the small 4 pack cups, each has 11 grams of protein. Good luck! Rebecca RNY 2-9-06 269/216

Thanks for your replay, and congrats on your loss. That's alot to take in. But I am so happy that I'm going to have a chance to do this . Did your taste buds change, or have you always liked cottage cheese? Because I hate that stuff thanks again Dawn

Also, Dawn, you may want to venture over to the www.BariatricEating.com site. You will find a WONDERFUL group of supportive people there as well. In addition, the service for the products that you can order at this site is second to none.