DS Vitamin questions.... SO many different answers!

You chose to listen to a salesman v. the vets who have lived with the DS for years.  Your labs will tell you whether you made the right choice or not.  I just hope you get all the labs you need.

~Becky

Barker dont know squat about nutrition...the salseman is just that..a salesman. BA vits are NOT what we need and IMHO they are a total waste of money.

Thank you everyone! I know the vets have tons of knowledge about vitamins and i'm very thankful for your advice. As a new patient, i listened to my doctor and i'll do the first part of my post-op with BA vitamins and depending on what my labs say. I am going to get those regularly so i can have the best success with my WL journey!  I don't think it was a waste of money to follow my surgeons suggestions.... I think each of us need to try different things and pick what is best for us :) 

And I didn't chose to listen to a sale person instead of the vets on this site..... I listened to my physician.  You Vets need to realize we newbies are still learning and that's why i came on here to get advice.  As newbies, we listen to our doctors and then the rest of the research is up to us.... which is what i'm doing :) So i'll try the BA and then after first labs, i'll go from there! I'm very grateful we have this site so we have the opportunity to learn from you vets!

Noreen.... thank you for your input!  I really appreciate it and that gives me hope until my first labs! :) 

For your first year post op make sure that you get labs done at 3,6,9 and 12 months.  Then you can do every 6 months thereafter.  Remember that your body can live off its stores for up to a year, so you may not see deficiencies right away.  My advice would be to change to the individual dry A, Dry D3, Dry E and Dry K1 after you are out of the ADEK's.  

Caligurl, you are making me nervous.  You are about to go through a major surgery with an inexperienced DS surgeon.  Just because he can do the sleeve, the band, the RNY does NOT make him a DS surgeon.  PLEASE get some feedback from others about him and his experience with this SPECIFIC surgery.

A surgeons office that focuses on RNY is not going to know a DSers post op nutriotional needs.  Night and day differences.  Our needs are so different!  Look at the anatomy of the small intestine and the differences between the rny and ds configurations.  Look at what vitamins/nutrients are absorbed in each section of the small intestine.   

You are discounting a lot of good advice from the vets above.  You will have better results if you take the driver's seat and become more proactive with this.

Have you checked the other DS site?  Google proboards and weightlosssurgery.  Hundreds of DSers over there too.   You will get the same advice as above, only more of it.

I hope you put a little more thought into this, but of couse, in the end, I hope you have a wonderful, no-complications surgery and great success.

fullhousemom.... have you researched Dr. Barker?  He is the largest Bariatric surgeon in the Texas area.  He own and a very large practice and hospital and has been in the WL surgery field for years.  I promise he is far from an inexperienced surgeon. And i promise im' not discounting any of the advice given above.  I am doing labs and 1 month, 3 months,6 months, 9 months and then keep going on a regular basis.  I am taking this very seriously and have two sweet babies to be here for so definitely have done tons of research and follow-up. I will for sure take ALL the vitamins I need to take. I have been following someone who takes 42 a day and I will do that if needed but i just wanted to see what my first labs read and go from there.

The largest bariatric surgeon does not make the best DS surgeon.  I don't care how many lapbands or RNYs he has done.  

Texas lost its best DS surgeon around a week ago.  Dr. Stewart.  If you don't know that, then all I can say, is that you are being blindsided by your surgeon and you haven't read enough on these boards. Dr. Stewart's passing has been all over the weight loss boards.  He will be deeply missed by all DSers in your area.

On your post, your surgeons name is in blue.  Select it.  You will find that information on this surgeon and the DS has not been updated.

On this forum, search the entire site for "Barker and DS" and you will find a number of threads about him.  They are not always favorable, and the so-called favorable ones, are RNY patients.

i am not an expert on surgeons, especially in other parts of the country.  Admittedly, most people on the forum know specific details about specific surgeons that I don't.  But I know when I see an unfamiliar name.  But most importantly, I know the value of a surgeon who is experienced in this specific surgery....not bariatrics, but in the DS specifically.

You and I could go back and forth and debate this to no agreement.  Understand that I am not insulting your surgeon's character in any way.  Please, ask for more input on this surgery/surgeon combo on here and the proboards site.  Do not bru**** off because your surgery date is so close.  

I'm done with this topic.  I do wish you the best.

Thank you fullhousemom.... will definitely research since it's close. 

Everybody know what worked for them. The best advice is to follow your labs. Will you be taking the Cal Citrate 3 times a day?
Remember not to take the iron with the calcium. Does the iron have Vit C with it? If not you might want to check with the Doc about adding some to take with your iron - it helps produce a more acid environment that enhances absorption (empty stomach for the iron too). 

You might find the calcium causing some constipation post op. You can check with the Doc about adding magnesium to counter that effect. It helped me.

It looks like you have everything covered from the ASMBS (American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric surgeons) nutritional guidelines (2008, 2013) but you might double check the doses. I used that as a starting point with the Doctor and Nutritionist.

For myself, my surgeon does first labs at 6 months. I got an incomplete set of labs at 3 months from my PCP (incomplete mainly because I communicated my requirements poorly I think). My D3 was at 32 (low normal) but as someone mentioned I would like it higher. I went from 4k daily 50k once a week to 4k daily and 50k twice a week. I'll change more after I can compare my 6 month labs and see a trend.

I hope your surgery goes smoothly and you get out of the hospital quickly. Even though the first month was pretty uncomfortable I am a pretty happy DS camper..

PeteA... This helped so much.  Definitely take the Cal Citrate 3 times a day...the order provides the amount for 3 a day.\\  they stressed this to us so thankfully I know they were correct at least on that point :)  It does kind of concern me that they didn't tell us what to take together and what NOT to take together.  LOVE that the Vets can tell me this. how far apart do i need to take the iron and calcium? I might go ahead and start with the Magnesium just to be safe.  

Thank you again Vets for all your help!!