Me and my Vitamins :sigh:

Last week I read a post on the RNY board about "making your vitamins work" and it really got me thinking. I was taking my vitamins totally wrong . Taking your vitamins wrong/or not taking them at all can lead to a host of possible problems down the road and I am definitely NOT ok with that. Here is what I have found out - hope this information is helpful to everyone.

-Never take your iron supplements within 2 hours of taking your calcium, if you do, you have just cancelled each of them out completely.

-When taking Iron, you must take it with some type of citrus, either Vitamin C or a sip of orange juice in order for it to be absorbed.

-We cant take just ANY calcium, we have to take Calcium Citrate as opposed to Calcium Carbonate, as post-op RNY we can not absorb Calcium Carbonate, so it is a waste of time.

-B Complex may not be enough of the B vitamins we need and because the blood tests are so expensive for the other B's in our bodies, its better to be safe than sorry and just take an extra couple of pills such as B1 and B12 along with the B Complex. All B vitamins are water soluable so you can not OD on them.

-When taking Calcium Citrate, you must take one that includes Vitamin D or the calcium will NOT be absorbed. I found these Citracal Petites w/ Vitamin D that are very easy to take, they are much smaller than any swallowable pill I have ever seen and went down with no problem last night!

-Blood work that tests calcium levels will always come back ok because the calcium in our blood must always stay in a certain range or we will die. The problem with calcium is that if we are not supplementing enough then our body leaches the calcium in our bones to be used in our blood so we dont die. Therefore the only way you will find out if you are calcium deficient is being diagnosed with osteoperosis down the line.

For the past 4 months I have been taking all of my vitamins at the same time, before bed and I am so glad that I was informed that this wouldnt work before I incurred any serious health problems from vitamin deficiencies.

Here is my new Vitamin Schedule:

9AM - 2 Iron Ferrous Sulfate 325 mg
1 Vitamin C 500 mg

12 PM - 1 B1 - 100 mg
2 B12 - 250 mcg
1 B Complex
1 Centrum Chewable Multi Vitamin

2 PM - Citracal Petite w/ Vitamin D 400 mg

4 PM - Citracal Petite w/ Vitamin D 400 mg

6 PM - 1 B1 - 100 mg
2 B 12 - 250 mcg
1 Centrum Chewable Multi Vitamin

9 PM - Citracal Petite w/ Vitamin D 400 mg
Fish Oil 1000 mg

Now, while everyone should do what is best for them, or recommended by your doctors, these are my recommendations. I have done some research and found that this is going to work for me. I guess my bloodwork in May will be the real test.

Moral of the story... take your vitamins, and take the right ones!

LB

Very cool information!!!!   Also I wanted to add to that-  medicaions for your thyroid also affect the absorbsion of vitamins and minerals.  I am postive they block the absorbsion of calcium, so muct be taken 12 hours apart.  I think they may affect other also- but need to recheck my thyroid book for that info (which is still packed in a box I haven't found yet)

Thanks for the info! It's important that we know exactly what is happening when we take our meds/vitamins!

LB

Laura,  The Citrical, are taking one pill 3 x a day?  That brand I believe is 2 pills for 400mg calcium. I believe our surgeon is recommending 1500 mg Calcium Citrate + D a day.  It would be 7.5 pills a day.   To get the recommended amount. I just wanted to make sure you are getting enough.

Emilie! Thanks for the info, I am definitely going to check the back of the bottle to make sure that I am getting enough. I didnt even think of that!

LB

Hey Emilie! I did check into this and you are correct, they are 400 mg for 2 pills...that means I have to take even MORE vitamins!!! LOL

Thanks for pointing that out to me!

LB

Laura,  Glad I could help. These vitamins can be tricky.  Geting them all in and in the right amounts at the right time is a project.

Great post LB!  This was our most recent topic at our meeting. One women explained how she hadn't taken her vitamins after about 8 months post op and with in six months after, she had almost died because of this. She literally meant, had she gone another week or so, death would have been end result. She was hospitalized for this until she was stable.   Your post is right on the money as to the How to take you vitamins. Please always take your medication or vitamins that are prescribed for the  WLS patient. Not taking the properly can leave you extremely ill too. I like your post so much LB, I will be making a quick tutorial on myspace.come/wlsuccessstriders Thank You!

Thanks LB for the very helpful information!

Thanks for letting us know this!! So much to remember! Later!