What to start with

I know that none of the docs in this state know anything about DS requirements because the DS is not done here at all.  I will have to let my PCP know that I am approved so that he can educate himself now in case there are issues that need attention close to home.  I can also have him order the list of labs that I need.  I think the list I have recieved from a vet is a complete one and plan to use that as the list to give him.  I want to get all my levels run prior to surgery so that I know if I'm low in anything right away.  What vitamins would you suggest taking from the get-go?  Other people have told me to not take everything that vitalady says to take right away, that it may cause issues with having too much.  For instance, one vet that I talk to who actually had the same surgeon and is 8 years out, said that she followed close to those doses right away and had such huge issues with the B vitamin levels that she is no longer allowed to even take a multi that has ANY B in it at all.  According to her the only ones I should start out on are calcium citrate, multi, A and D.  Her husband, who is also a DSer 8 years out, takes those and also needs K and magnesium.  They both do iron infusions.  She said to start out with just those 4 and build on those based on what labs say.  Other people then say to never leave anything out, to start on everything vitalady says and drop the levels as needed.  My question with that is that we cannot take fat soluble ADEK as they have to be "dry" or water soluble like B is....which then means that any excess that you take, you just pee out.  So if you're taking them and don't actually need them, then you wouldn't even know that since you just pee out the extra, no?  This vitamin thing is so confusing for me!  Today I ordered the A and D from vitalady and the citracal petites and 1000mg Vit E water solubles from another site.  I have chewable Centrum here, so I'm covered on that.  My question is the iron...do I need to start out on iron?  Or jus****ch my levels and do that if needed?  Also all the weird ones like magnesium, B complex, zinc, copper, etc.  Are those necessary to start out on? 

You can overdose on vitamins...just like prescription drugs.  Imho, I think you need to get your labs done first (with the list the vet gave you) and talk to your doctor to find out where your levels are.  Most likely you're fine to take a normal non-DS dose of vitamins now, with the exception of anything you might be low in.  For example, many people are low in vitamin D pre-op, so if your levels are low now your surgeon can tell you a good dose to take now to get your levels up.  My vitamin D pre-op was very low (37), so I had to take almost as much pre-op as I do now.  If you take the amount that a DS'er needs as a pre-op you might be just opening yourself to problems and possibly delay your surgery.  

Here is a link to one of many sites that explains vitamin overdose:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/421379-can-you-overdose-on-vitamins/

I hope that helps!

~Roxy

Link that may be helpful:

Pre-op: http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/VitaladysPre-op_i deas_11-2009.doc

You get your pre-op labs done and then see where you're low. Start Vitalady's plan slowly and add things over a couple months. Many of us get labs done every 3 months the first year post-op so you can see what's going on. I started on multis, calcium, D3, A, zinc, selenium. When I did add iron, I should have started VERY slowly. Don't try to take the full 300mg on the first day, take one capsule and don't add the second for several days, then add the third and so forth.

--gina
 

Thank you for your input.  I will start out on the ones that I've ordered so far and tweak with labs from there.  So, multi, A, D, and Calcium.  Hope I got them all.