Vitamin question- if skipping, then back to being consistent how long until labs show this?...

Hi,

I am guilty of missing vitamins a couple of days per week- usually I remember 4 days out of 7 type pattern. I previously also took the typical multi with iron pill, and would never remember to take the second one. I switched over the the patch version and now consistently remember to put on a fresh one daily. I am having bloodwork done here in a few weeks and would like to compare how I do on the patch compared to the pills, but I am not sure how long I would need to be on it for it to give me a reliable reading?

Really hard to say. Your body stores most things, so you have reserves. Some vitamins, like B12 and D3, go up pretty quick when you increase your dosage. Other things, like iron, take much bigger doses for a much longer time.

I'd want to wait at least six months on the patch before coming to any conclusions.

Thanks Grim!

What Grim said.  Since you have been inconsistent in taking your vitamins, it wouldn't make any difference whether you were now routinely taking them orally or vis the patch now... Either way, your next labs are really not going to be a very good indicator of anything except whether or not your levels dropped too much when you weren't being consistent.  (Fortunately, as a  VSG patient, it probably isn't as big a deal as it would be if you were a RNYer or DSer.)

You will likely want to get labs drawn again another six months.

Lora

I consistently used to forget to take my evening pills, whi*****ludes my vitamins.  I now have an alarm that pops up on my cell phone and I don't clear it off until I have taken them.  Easy way to remember if you ever decide to go back to the pills.

Believe me, I have tried everything. I am ADHD so it is a known issue for me. I have tried setting alarms, posting notes, carrying them with me at all times, setting up pill boxes with am/pm boxes, purchasing pill boxes that "annonce" when it is time to take meds, asking family members to remind me if they think about it (yea, totally adhd family... the whole apple/tree thing!). It truly is not a wilful noncompliance thing. I literally will remember to take them, but by the time I make it downstairs or what have you I have managed to redirect myself to something else and then later can't remember if I actually followed thorugh in taking them or only started to and then didn't follow through. The patches, I hope, due to being time released will be a higher absorption rate as advertised. I am much better at remembering the stuff in the morning, but evenings (after adhd meds have long warn off) not so much :(

I would give it 6 mos