vitamins
So here you go.
Here's what the ASMBS says you should start with:
A multi with 100% of the RDA of most nutrients. Take two a day. Stay away from kids' vitamins and gummy vitamins, because those will not have what you need. Even though Flintstones says “complete" on the bottle, they really are not complete but are missing a number of important things. The ASMBS recommends a multi with iron. If you take a multi with no iron, you’ll need additional iron at a separate time. They say to start your multi as soon as you get home from the hospital.
1500-2000 mg calcium citrate. Make sure it's citrate, not carbonate. That means no Caltrate and no Viactiv. They say you can wait up to one month to start your calcium – not that you should wait, just that you can.
54-63 mg iron for menstruating women (18-27 mg PLUS 18 mg twice a day in your multi, if you use a multi with iron). 36 mg a day for people that do not menstruate. We absorb carbonyl iron better than ferrous sulfate. Ferrous sulfate will also make you constipated. They say to start your iron as soon as you get home from the hospital.
B12. You can use a sublingual, 350-500 mcg per day, nasal spray once a week, or shots once a month. Unless your labs show you need more. They say you can wait up to three months to start your B12 – not that you should wait, just that you can.
They say a B complex is optional.
Many people also need D3 so you should get your vitamin D level to find out if you do. Don’t bother with the prescription vitamin D, because it’s D2 and in oil so we will absorb very little of it. Everyone needs D3 and post ops need “dry" D3, not in oil.
Watch out for those all-in-one bariatric vitamins like Optisource and Bariatric Fusion that say they give you everything you need in just four chewable tablets a day. Four only has 100% of the RDA of most things and we need 200% so you’d need eight a day. They don’t have the right kind of calcium, so in addition to eight multivitamins a day you’d also need to take calcium citrate.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Also, I am sooo confused as to why we are told in pre-op classes not to mix iron with calcium, but Centrum and Celebrate do just that. Do you think their iron really is "taking"? Perhaps because it is iodide (iodine)?
Thank you for being so helpful. I try to read your posts every day.
Hattie
I don't think the Celebrate multis have iron, do they? But I know most of the Centrums do. It's because the amount of calcium in them is so low, that much calcium does not prevent the iron from being absorbed. You need more than 300 mg calcium to prevent the absorption of iron.
However, the calcium in Centrum is calcium carbonate, so you won't absorb that calcium.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
