My labs after switching to the vitamin patch

First, there was a screw up and my calcium didn't get drawn, so I have to go in today to have them draw that. My last two DEXA scans showed some bone loss, so that's one of the things I'm most concerned about. Will know that in a few days, though.

THe vast majority of my labs were good after being on the PatchMD multivitamin patches for about 4 months. I was using their multivitamin patch (and used their B12 patch for one month since they sent it as a freebie with my first order), and then was taking an additional iron pill daily and one extra 50,000 Vit D a week (to keep the amounts as close to the same as what I was taking before switching to the patch as possible). I did not take any additional B12 despite the fact that what I had been taking was higher than what is in the patch. I should have, though...

Everything was in the middle portion of the reference range -- and close to what they were last year -- except the B12 and PTH. My B12 was only 531, down from 719 last year.  That is still "good according to the reference range, but I was more comfortable with it higher based on my own research and the info from my surgeon.  The B12 I was taking before the patch was 5000 units (I took just one a week), and adding that to what is in the patch will be too much, so I will need to get a sublingual that is a lower dose.

My PTH is the other significant change.  Last year it was 32 with Vit D of 81.7, and calcium of 9.6; this year the PTH is down to 26, the Vit D is 85.8 (and I don't have calcium yet). Will have to get the calcium and then see what I need to do...

My iron was down a bit, but not enough to cause concern.  I will just throw in an extra iron pill every few days (since I am already taking one extra iron every day, anyway).

I have to say that I LOVE not having to take pills 5 times a day (I was doing 4 doses of calcium)!  I am 8 years post-op, so the vitamin ritual is more or less habit, but the past couple of years it has been more and more of a drag (and the bone loss issue is concerning).  I try not to think about having to continue doing it for the rest of my life), so I am very glad that the patches with some minor additional supplements seem to be doing the job.

Lora

Thank You for the info. I have been debating on switching to the patches. I am horrible about missing doses. I try to be diligent, but sometimes at the end of the day I realize I forgot a calcium dose or B12. 

Assuming calcium levels meet your standards, it sounds like your daily regimen will be 1 patch, 1 iron pill, and 1 B12 each day, plus one D per week?  All of which can be taken at once?

I don't supplement iron and my daily 1000 units of B12 has so far always resulted in levels >1000.  It sounds like the patch could be a complete solution for me.

I'm one of the people who splurges (perhaps necessarily) on bariatric vitamins so $20/month for patches could even be a savings on top of the convenience.

Yep!  I will probably just try my current B12 dose every other week (was doing it weekly prior to patch), though or get a smaller dose taht I can do weekly.  It sounds pathetic, but I don't want the hassle of the sublingual every day, LOL.

Right now they have a 40% off coupon code, BTW...

What's the coupon code or where can I find it, I don't see it online?

Thanks!

PMD40.  It appeared on one of the ads here on OH.  I don't know when it expires, so you might want to use it right away.

When you plug in the code it states:

Valid from: 7/13/2015 - 10/31/2015

So yay!

Great to hear! Thank you for following up and posting. Like I mentioned I have a really hard time with multivitamins now (pre-surgery) so using the patch and adding some individual boots is what I would like to do. Sounds like over all things seem well with the patch! Thank you again for sharing! Greatly appreciated!

Thank you so much for the post!  I have also switched to the patch without blessing from my doctor so I was a little hesitant.  I am currently using the multi vitamin, B 12 and calcium patches.  I will now start throwing in an iron pill once or twice a week!  Thanks so much for sharing your labs with us, you certainly did not have to do that and I appreciate it!

If you're doing the multivitamin patch, you probably don't also need the calcium patch since the multivitamin patch already has 1500mg of calcium.

I am really excited that my labs look good, because the patch is such a nice break from the vitamins 5x a day routine!