Soft food-3 1/2 weeks post op

I've learned, over time, that I need to be my own best advocate for my health. There is so much information out there, and doctors are so busy, that there's no way to expect a doctor to be able to know everything that they need to know for my health. So I research and learn and try to make the best decisions I can based on all of the information I have because, as I've learned too often, my medical team does not always have all the answers.

Well. You should talk to DS patients sometime. There are some very established centers of excellence with truly appalling DS vitamin and nutritional advice. In their case, it can be potentially lethal, too. Always do your healthcare research. We must all be our own best advocates.

Generally following the ASMBS guidelines is a decent bet, as the amounts they suggest do not cause toxicity, and the worst that happens is you excrete anything unused.

I have taken biotin for years because of PCOS related hairloss so I took it before and after surgery and I still lost a lot of hair. It won't stop it if you're going to have it, sadly!

Yup! All the biotin in the world won't help with telogen effluvium.

Thank you for the comment.

For anyone wandering by and wanting more information, I just read this and it was really useful:

http://www.americanhairloss.org/types_of_hair_loss/effluviums.asp

I'm happy to say that I think mine is finally stopping. I'm sure it's the new shampoo, right? (kidding).

Wouldn't it be great if a shampoo did the trick? Mine is definitely regrowing and I'm a month behind you. The shedding has slowed quite a bit, but I'd be happier if it stopped altogether!

My bariatric program calls for everyone that gets the surgery to have calcium (citrate), multivitamins, and B12 for the rest of your life. They also recommend D with the calcium. The recommend iron with C if you are menstruating or have anemia issues or your numbers call for it. No calcium within two hours of the iron and only take 500mg of calcium at a time as the receptors for calcium are the same as the ones for iron so you cannot absorb both at the same time.

My supplements are tailored to me due to the fact that I have other health issues. I contracted a flesh eating bacteria, vibrio vulnificus, 6 years ago and almost died. Warning, if you look it up, it is quite horrible and graphic... you have been warned. It left me severely malnourished (even though I was over 500 pounds! and I've always been anemic. So I take extra iron and was taking maternal vitamins even before the surgery, so for me, supplements are an absolute must. I've been left with lymphodema and chronic kidney disease (low level 2) so I have to be extremely careful with both water and sups.

I started with soft chewables from Celebrite for the Calcium, vitamin and iron and c. I also went with the B12 sublingual which is like a dinner mint. However, since I log everything, I was not happy spending 15 calories and 4 carbs for every single chewable. That totaled 75 calories a days and 20 carbs. So I switched to the pills. Much better since they are zero calories and no carbs and I am able to swallow them with food.

Another tip: If you want to go the route of Celebrite, you can get a sample pack so you can try each flavor. I can tell you that some of them are quite NASTY. (Everyone's taste is different so I'm not going to bother listing my favorites.)

Ideally you adjust vitamins and minerals in response to labs. I am 40 and took two multivitamins before switching to Procare bariatric ones, which are the same in one pill and gluten free, thankfully.

I didn't really experience much telogen effluvium after the first big initial burst. I cut my hair very short before surgery so that might also be why. I also, though, was up to 80-90g of protein a day only a few weeks out because I bypassed all of the applesauce, beans, mushy oatmeal, etc, soft foods everyone seems to want to try. I just did pureed meats and stayed the course with other protein foods. When I couldn't do those I just kept having protein shakes.

Food boredom is a state of habituation and attitude, and more rarely biology (cancer, and other similar things cause it). It was hard for me to struggle with the idea of this, so I got it all out of my system before surgery by doing two extra weeks of liquid diet.

Back to hair: protein is a factor in hair loss beyond the TE, too. A lack of protein can cause hair to be brittle as it grows in, so that coupled with the TE can make for a more abundant hair loss, possibly.

The biotin probably is just a waste of money at this point, though. You'd need far more than two weeks to show discernible strength in hair and nails.

I'm just curious....were you strictly liquid for the past 3.5 weeks or did you mix in some semi-liquid foods? (watery applesauce, milky oatmeal, etc?)

Did you experience any upset hours later from the meatballs?

Thanks for sharing!