Pre-op. Low D and B12

I am pre-op and am in the process of doing all my preliminary testing. My lab work came back and showed that I have low B12, (216) & low vit. D (15.2). I have just started taking Opurity bariatric vits. 3 days ago. Can anyone tell me what else I should do to get on top of my deficiencies prior to my surgery. I do not have a surgery date yet, but am aiming for Nov.- Dec.

Thank you for any advice.

Keep taking your vitamins. I had super lower Vitamin D and now I have to take like 4,000 IU. I only started taking them a couple of months before surgery but was good to go by surgery day.

Take them as your doc suggests. I had low D and B12 for years pre-op, but strangely they've been normal since surgery taking the same amount of each supplement (1000 IU/day D and 2500mg every other day B12).

Thank you for your responses! My PCP has prescribed a much higher dose of Vit D for me.

Just FYI.... After your surgery you will need non-prescription, dry ( not gel-caps) D3.  Prescription vitamin D is in the form of D2 and we RNY'ers can't convert that form of D.  Your prescription D will work just fine pre-op.

After surgery, your B12 will have to be sub-lingual ( dissolves under the tongue), nasal spray, or injections.  We can't break down B12 that is swallowed in pill form.

Thank you Rocky513 and to all the other wonderful people on this board. I have read this info several times here on OH. I really do appreciate how helpful you all are!! I just wanted to see what I needed to do to get on top of my deficiencies prior to surgery.

My Vitamin D was low like yours but I had to take a PRESCRIPTION VITAMIN D to get the levels up sufficiently enough the doctor said was too hard to do with over-the-counter D.  

PRESCRIPTION VITAMIN D  did not raise my numbers at all.  As soon as I started taking large doses of D3 my numbers went up. Then I had to adjust the dose to maintain at around 70.  I'm glad it worked for you, but most RNY folks can not convert the D2 into D3.

Do you have the label handy? Is the D in your prescription D2, or D3? Someone in my local group swears that her prescription D from her PCP is D3. In the past, all the prescription D was D2.

D2 has to be converted by our bodies to D3 before we can actually use it. D3 is absorbed 500 times faster than D2, and is 87 % more potent than D2. Further, most D2 is packed in oil, and won't be absorbed well by RNYers or DSers.

Hi Grim, here's hoping I'm understanding questions/comments...  My prescription D was back in 2012 when I was preparing for WLS.  My Vit D level in the 40's then.  I vaguely remember the prescribed Vit D2 pills as being dark-colored gel capsules, the first one was like 50,000 units to start  (didn't keep a label or detailed record).  Post-op, I have been taking daily 6,000 IU D3.  My recent lab result was in the 60's...the doctor said "good" but have read D levels in the 80-100 range is better. I plan to contact Vitalady for more help.  Thanks again for bringing up important differences between D2 vs D3 and pre-op vs post-op.