Need Help with Vitamins after Lap-Band

Can anyone let me know the best vitamins and protein to take after my Lap-Band?  I go in the 18th of this month...I can't wait to start my second chance at life! Thank you, Krista

Good luck with your upcoming surgery.  You will need to take a multivitamin and get in 60 - 100 grams of protein every day.  If you post this on the Lap-Band forum, I'm sure you'll get more replies. 

Congratulations, Krista! I'm a newbie, just five days out of banding surgery with hiatal hernia repair, which added additional challenge points.  Before I went in, I ordered a slew of drinkable and chewable medications and vitamin/mineral supplements via drugstore.com (they have a nice GNC card that offers substantial discounts the first week of every month). Here's what I'm taking: Flaxseed Oil (not capsules) (this enhances absorption of B-12 and iron) Nature's Bounty Sublingual B-12 drops   DRINKABLES Coral Calcium liquid supplements with 400 UI of Vitamin D3 and 2000 mg of Coral Calcium DRINKABLES Liquid Multi Vitamins with Lycopene and Lutein I think I'm eating enough Jell-O to keep my nails growing for the next three centuries, but if I need a hair-and-nail supplement, they have some available in crushable pill form.

Thank you for the info!  What are you doing for protein?  Can you also tell me how you knew you had hiatal hernia?  How did you know it was not pain from the surgery?  I hope that you are feeling better! Thanks again Krista

Hi, Krista, I knew beforehand that I had a hernia, from endoscopies done a few months earlier.  That's kind of what decided me to go right on ahead with the Lap Band, because I would have ended up having hernia repair done someday anyway. My LapBand surgery took about 3 hours because of that -- a wee bit longer than the 45 minutes it usually takes, but because we knew there was a high chance of needing to repair it, it was no surprise.  It required some extra incisions, and the doc warned me about the extra healing time.  I'm already feeling pretty darned good and went back to work today, ten days after surgery.  (OK, I cheated a little and worked a couple hours over the weekend, but shhhhh .... don't tell on me!) As for protein, I've been taking Protein Bullets, which are these little tubes of sort of liquid Jell-O-tasting stuff that have 42g of protein per tube.  It's not bad stuff.  I'm also drinking protein shakes and Kellogg's K20 protein water and powdered drink mixes.  And protein powders go into just about everything I eat or drink. Thank goodness for all the great advice on these message boards!!  I never imagined it would be so difficult to get enough protein.  It takes real planning.   The payoff is that I've lost 19 pounds already.  I'm sure the weight loss won't continue to be this swift once I get back to semi-solid foods.  But it's a huge boost and will help me get back to all the walking I really love to do.

I take childrens' chewable flintstones.  Dr. say's this is ok, but I wouldn't get the extra iron, things are "hard" enough. Nancy

I had RNY, but I take pretty good vitamins so I thought I'd share. :)  I take OptiSource Vitamins - Post Bariatric Surgery Formula... They have EVERYTHING it them from Iron to B12... everything we RNYers need and I'm sure would be good for lap banders.  They take like orange tums... I am supposed to take 4 a day-- 2 in the morning and 2 in the evening (according to my surgeon) but the bottle says four times a day. I'm good with the 2 a day b/c even then it's sometimes hard to remember.  Anyway, I'm 3 months post op and my labs are all NORMAL, so I think they are doing their job. Here's a link where you can find them. I get them from Walgreens locally, but you can order them online also.  Good luck and congrats on your lap band!  http://www.walgreens.com/store/product.jsp?CATID=301120&navA ction=jump&navCount=0&id=prod403359

I have started taking the building block liquid and it's really pretty good. They have a spray B-12 that is really pretty good also. I also like the Orange flavor from Bariatric Advantage. Calcium oh I take all kinds but right now I am on the building blocks capsules. I have done the Calcium Citrate that is at any drug store but I need more. For your calcuim make sure you take Citrate the carbonate.  2 1/2 yrs out I get all my protien in food but I like the slim fast and atkins shakes. I like the Unjury choclate, Matrix cookies and cream is really good. Those would be my favorites. Oh a friend got me on this Nectar carribean cooler mixed w/ crystal light fruit punch or lemonaide. :-) Good Luck!!!!!!