Cost of vitamins & supplements

I originally posted this on another message board and then realized that this is the best place to post it...

I'm hoping to have lap band surgery soon. My insurance covers the cost of the surgery, but I'm concerned about the expense of the vitamins and other supplements. I'd like to work it into my budget BEFORE I have the surgery. If anyone could give me an idea of how much they spend each month, I would appreciate it.  Also, if you have advice on the best places to make purchases, that would be great! My surgeon requires the use of:

- Chewable Multivitamins (Flinstones are fine)
- Vitamin B-12 (500 mcg daily or 1000 mcg sublingually 3x a week0
- Iron (liquid, gel cap or chewable)
- Calcium Citrate (1500 mg daily, chewable or powdered)
- Vitamin D (800 mg daily)
* Protein Powder (if necessary)

Thanks for any input you might have!

I dunno maybe $10-$20 depending on what you take versus what others take. It's a lot cheaper than even one blood pressure med's copay, at least for me. One thing I was recently did was to ask my surgeon's PA for an FSA (Flexible Spending Account) waiver form so I could run vitamins and calcium supplements through my FSA saving me the ~25% income tax. Nice.

I spend a lot, easily $100 or more for the calcium, multivitamin (although I'm not aloud the flintstones), iron and protein powder (that can be very spendy depending on what you get) ... If you find cheaper alternatives, let me know! I get most of my stuff from www.bariatricadvantage.com.

I'm curious about the  supplements you listed.  Did your surgeon or nutritionist recommend you take all of these?  The reason I ask is that I see you said you are having lapband surgery.  I thought since lapband doesn't have a malabsorptive element you didn't have to take as many supplements as an RNY or DS patient does.  I don't know this, I am just asking.  Thanks.

Even though Bandsters don't have the malabsorption issue to worry about, they still need to take supplements.  Because they are eating less food than normal,  they aren't getting the full amount of nutrients from food.  Plus, the general popullation is walking around vitamin deficient, so most people need to be taking a multi-vitamin, vitamin D and calcium -- and for menstrating women, iron also.  Factor in the surgery and it's something we need to do for life anyway.

The ASMBS has a list of recommended vitamins and supplement for post-op folks based on the type of surgery they had.  Check out the chart that starts on page 7
http://ullberg.us/Andrea/SOARD_Bariatric_Nutrition.pdf

I broke down my monthly expenses on this blog post:
http://pamtremble.blogspot.com/2008/07/price-of-post-op-life .html

For vitamins it comes out to about $30/month --- a bit more than that now since I've added a couple things based on my lab results.

For protein (yes, even at 15 months out) I still spend around $15-$30/month on jars of protein.

And don't forget to factor in clothing costs (since everything is going to be too big for you very soon) and Rx Co-Pays.  Also just because you're eating less food, doesn't mean the grocery bill is going to be cheaper --- because I buy higher quality food, my bill is about the same or a little bit more than it was pre-op.

This is going to sound rude and it's honestly not meant to be, I had to justify it to myself this way too. But you'll be spending no more in vitamin costs than you would on fast food and/or junk food in a months time.

My instructions vary a little from yours, I don't use protein powder or iron (per my surgeon) but I do a chewable muti, B-12 and calcium citrate with vitamin D and my cost is about $50 per month.  That does include shipping though because I prefer my vitamins from Bariatric Advantage online as opposed to the ones offered at my local stores.

Lots of luck on your upcoming journey!