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

Take iron and calcium 2 hours apart. Take it an hour away from dairy and eggs. I read somewhere nuts too so I've started doing that and my ferritin is coming up nicely.

Definitely going to chime in.  I am a DFW area DS patient.  I did my research,  and it only took a few clicks of the computer to find enough bad information regarding Barker and the DS. There is a large you tube community, I ran into two Barker Patients with the DS who had terrible complications due to Barker....and even though complications can happen with any Dr.  the quality of after care is something to look into.  One patient is just now (years after her revision to DS with Barker) getting back to normal...numerous hospital stays, countless follow up surgeries etc.   Yes, i have run into satisfied Barker Patients, but the unsatisfied ones totally outnumber the satisfied ones.  And the satisfied patients now consider themselves lucky, and do not reccommend friends to Barker for the DS.  I'd give Dr. Stewarts partner more consideration than Dr. Barker because of the caliber of surgeon Stewart was and the fact his partner trained under his watchful eye for more than a year, and performed DS's under Stewart's watchful eye for more than a year.   The DS community lost a great and skilled surgeon when Stewart passed.  

Supplementation...what you are planning on taking

 is not enough...period.  Stewart's office has slightly better protocol but he formulated his own multi specific to DS malabsorption issues....and still makes us take 50,000 -100,000 IUS of dry D a day and at least 25000-5000IUS of dry A a day.  Plus 2000 mg of calcium citrate.  He monitors E and K very closely and if not taking his DS multi recommends to take supplements of those as well.  That's a bare bare minimum.  I also supplement Zinc, C, proferrin  and potassium gluconate.   My labs have been pristine until I decided not to refill my calcium one month and my PTH spiked.  

Barkers office is state of the art and all flash, but does not make the best DS surgeon choice. ANd any minimum amount of research you would have discovered that.  

You replied to the wrong person - I'm already switched thanks.

Minimum amount of research? Gosh some of you vets are really hard on us newbies and i've done tons of research on him.... i have a family and two babies. i'm not walking in this blindly but came on here for advice from vets instead getting advice from those who truly don't know... or complain about his huge falshy office. or his aftercare vitamin system.... which those have nothing to do with his ability as a surgeon.  He has a big flashy office and practice for a reason if you ask me... lots of people going to him.  also... on youtube..there is good, bad and middle of the road reviews like with ANY doctor. if you had done more research yourself, maybe you wouldn't also ignore the good reviews. 

 

 

Because the good reviews are primarily RNY'ers and VSG'ers, NOT DS'er's...

The thing is....you have other options outside of THAT office. Do research on them as well. Most of the bad stuff on here has been scrubbed out of the system. And the reviews on his profile...those are controlled by his office.

While his aftercare is not a real issue as long as you don't follow it BLINDLY, his skill is still in question even if we could point to those threads...just because they have been removed doesn't make them nonexistent.

A couple of ex-members here are a physician and his wife...they WERE active in the DFW support groups area until others wanted him to help with professional issues. They had to pull back because of the liability concern. However, THEY do not recommend Barker or any of the doctors in his group due to issues they saw.

As to a BIG flashy office, that would be a turn OFF for me...as it tells me he is more concerned about making money than being a surgeon.

He can be a damned GOOD cutter for the RNY or VSG and still not be a good DS surgeon. But TALK to some of the Barker DS'ers at those support groups versus the other DS'ers in that area. Stewart was hands down, the best...Stewart's partner, Folahan Ayoola is a good possibility. Provost is another I've heard of.

But if you are determined to be a Barker or Hodges guinea pig...go for it. Hope it works out.

Liz

Looks like the basic starting point I got in my DS "owner's manual" - no pushing of  brands, though.  The only thing I see missing is a separate B1 (Thiamine) that my instructions included, at 100mg weekly.  I take all my vites *daily*, and I would say to anyone else, "smile and nod" at the advice to take any vites weekly...and go ahead and take them daily.

Here's what I did:  I ordered Vitalady's DS package for immediately post op, then, as they ran out, I hunted my own less expensive sources for the same vites.

I order from Lucky Vitamin, eBay and purchase from a local health food store here for what I can't find online.