Discretely carrying and taking vitamins as a man

2x daily multi, iron, calcium x 3, sublingual b-12

Sure, vitamins are optional.

How long did you want to live for?

I would take a daily multi, even if I never had WLS. My point with the RNY is that, unlike the DS, it is not a "malabsorptive" procedure .. In other words, the surgery should have no effect on the body's ability to absorb vits, minerals, fats, etc. The B-12 exception is b/c the lining of the stomach is what, IIRC, absorbs B-12, so if you only have a "pouch" then there is not enough active stomach lining to absorb a sufficient amount of it. :

What? Of course RNY is malabsorptive. You've been around for a while. How can you not know this?

And you've had the surgery yourself and don't even know what it's about??? .. NO RNY is not malabsorptive .. it is a restrictive procedure only .. same for the VSG .. You can check this out on any major WLS surgeon's website comparing and explaining the different procedures .. I do commend you though for rocking it .. you started off actually a bit heavier than me and ended up at what would have been goal for me (under 200) and have managed to keep it all off to date .. Wish things had turned out that well for me ..

And Gina (and everyone else) I never advised anyone to not take whatever their surgeon (or WLS nutritionist) told them to take .. Please re-read carefully what I wrote ... Heck, my very own surgeon, Dr. Antelmo, told us afterward all we would need to take were 1-2 "good multivitamins" .. I found out, fortunately shortly after my surgery, that that was obviously not the case, from chatting with fellow DSers on here ..

I think you need more B vitamins if you think RNY has no malabsorption!

Here's a little explanation for you

RNY in simple terms

Oops - I guess I semi-brain-fahted on that one .. I guess what I was thinking of was that it is not malabsorptive as to the large intestine, like with the DS, and that seems to be where most of our fat soluble vitamins (A.D.E.K) are absorbed and hence the big need for our major supplementation. My apologies ..

Wow. It's possible that you could be more wrong, but I don't know how.

Did the same doctor that told you 2 multis a day were ok for DSers tell you that RNY wasn't malabsorptive?

PAUL - tsk, tsk, tsk...I know you know better...I've known you at least 15 years, and know we have been at LEAST 2 of the same WLS centered conferences...

Exactly. We have seen too many deaths posted here on OH of people who thought vitamins were optional or were just too busy to take them...