Vitamin A

My primary care doctor let me know tonight that he wants me to start taking vitamin A......5000 mg per day!!!! Is that a huge amount or what?! Does anyone know what vitamin A is for? I just had my 6 month bloodwork done....well, last month. He must've gotten the results and then let me know tonight he wanted me to start taking 5000 mg of vitamin A. Any helpful answers would be greatly appreciated. Jen Halliday

Hi Jen, Did he explain why when he said you had to take it? As far as the 5,000 mg issue, for most people, up to 25,000 IU (7,500 mcg) of vitamin A per day is considered safe. Vitamin A isn't sold in mg (milligrams). It's sold in IU's, and to be honest I have only seen it sold as 10,000 IUs. I suggest you call your PCP back and get specifics. And many times it is sold in combination with Vitamin D...so be careful. -Karen

Jen , Try calling Dr. Cole he might tell you what to do... Anita

Vit. A deficiency can lead to temporary/permanent blindness. There have been several articles writen, I remember seeing one posted by someone on the main board from eye witness news about a RNY woman who went temporarily blind because she didn't take her multis, and didn't do follow up blood work. She ended up getting vit. A deficient, and went blind. It was fortunate for her that the blindness stopped when her vit. A def. was addressed. If your doctor is saying take vit. A...TAKE IT!!! Many multis have 1000 to 10,000 IUs of vit. A in them, but if you are deficient, most doctors will have you add up to 25,000 IUs per day to combat the defience. Remember once you go deficient, you have to work extra hard to get it back to normal. I'd highly recommend, dry Vit. A, you can get it from the natural food store by your house, i'm sure you can get it at Vitalady.com and other online bariatric sites. The dry Vit. A (also called water dispersable Vit. A) is often combined with 400 mg of Vit. D, and is the most readily available for people with absorbtion issues. I personally take 10,000 IUs of vit A in addition to my multis. Scott

Jen: Hello! I am glad to her your doc is monitoring labs, YES the fat soluable vits are a common def. post RNY (A/D/E/K), Vit A is tricky because too little can=blindness, and too much can be toxic! Vitamin A is necessary for tissue and bone growth, helps protect the mucous membranes, and helps maintain smooth, soft skin. Vitamin A is also essential to eye health. http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamina.asp http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002400.htm http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec12/ch154/ch154b.html http://www.gastricbypass.netfirms.com/vitamins.htm#A Dear Gastric Bypass Patient http://www.bbvitamins.com/Research.aspx by: Cynthia Buffington Are you taking your vitamin and mineral supplements each and every day, as directed? Gastric Bypass May Boost Blindness Risk http://www.renewedreflections.com/gastric-bypass-information/gastric-bypass-may-boost-blin dness-risk/#more-177 I recemend getting a copy of all labs (so you can track them yourself for trends!), also call the office again to clarify amount and type. My understanding is because we malabsorb fat, we should use dry form of Vit A! Ask if you need D withit. Vitalady carries the dry A I believe... *She would glady help you out just email her! [email protected] http://www.vitalady.com/cgi-bin/shopper.cgi?preadd=action&key=VTMN1006&reference=/cgi-bin/ shopper.cgi%3Fsearch%3Daction%26keywords%3Dvitaminad%26searchstart%3D0%26template%3DTempla tes/SearchResult.html Bio-Tech Dry A (25,000iu) Palmitate 100 cap/btl Price: $6.49 Chain Reaction: Vitamin Deficiency **THIS IS VERY INTERESTING!!!*** http://www.vitamins-nutrition.org/vitamins-course/vitamin-deficiency.html PS a group u may want to join: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/OSSG-vitamins-minerals/ http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/nutrition/ Take Care, Jamie Lap RNY 10/9/02 Dr. Singh 320/163 5'9'' (lost 45# before surgery) Plastics 6/9/04 & 11/11/2005 Dr. King http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/members/profile.php?N=c1132518510 "Being happy doesn't mean everything's perfect, it just means you've decided to see beyond the imperfections!"