Surgery Date and a Vitamin Question!

Hi everyone! It's official, I will be having my surgery on 12/29! I have my pre-op testing Thursday and an endoscopy next week, but then all that's left is the surgery itself. It's been a bit of a whirlwind journey so as it gets closer I'm getting a little worried that I'll end up regretting something. From everything that I've read I don't think I will; the majority of people seem to be happy with having the surgery, while a minority has severe issues. If anyone wants to offer up some insight with that, please feel free.  

My main reason for posting, however, is a question about everyone's vitamins. My mother had RNY a few years back and I am going to the same doctor to have mine. I was talking to her about her vitamin requirements and she says she only takes Flinstone's complete and a monthly B12 shot. This doesn't make sense to me as in addition to what I've read on here about people being sure to split up calcium and iron, I've been reading research articles looking at how calcium inhibits iron uptake (which reinforces the idea of splitting up these supplements). At my pre-op testing this Thursday I'm going to speak with my nurse practitioner and doctor about vitamins because the regimen my mom is on seems at odds with what everyone else has been told by their doctors. To that effect, can people comment their vitamin regimen/schedule so that I can glean some more info? I'll be searching through the boards to piece info together, but would be grateful for any input on this post.

Thanks all!

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25 y.o., HW: 310, SW: 292

Oh my. I hope this isn't what the surgeon still recommends. We really hate the Flinstone Vitamins here. Not the family...just their vitamins. :-)

This link will take you to a page that shows you the recommendations made by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) Scroll down to Table 5 Our surgery is the 2nd column

Now this is the official stance. After surgery and you have a few labs run you can start to see trends and how your needs may vary.

But if nothing else, please, (and I am begging) back away from the Flintstones. And the calcium in Tums is the wrong kind so that's also a no. For your own benefit compare the labels between the Flintstone's and Centrum or it's generic. You need more than a children's vitamin can give you.

Even though I am menopausal I still need iron. Which you are correct in that you need to take that seperately from your calcium about 2 hours apart at the minimum.

And don't neglect your calcium. Calcium Citrate is what you need. Citracal makes a petite version that is not so hard to get down because you do take a lot of them. 9 of the petites/day.

Myself:

2 multivitamins/day (morning and evening)

Iron (I forget the dosage on that one)

Calcium 9 Citracal petites/day 3 at a time

B12 I am able to maintain using 1 5,000mcg sublingual tab a week (b12 must be sublingual, spray, shot...no swallowing the pill you won't absorb it)

D3...wow, sorry it's been a long day because I am blanking out on that one as well dosage wise. But others will be along.

You can do this. Now raise your right hand and repeat after me: "I swear to never take any Flinstone's vitamins believing they are all I need" LOL Kidding of course.

Hahaha thanks for the reply! Your comments are exactly in line with what I said  when my mom told me that that is all she takes. I knew from the research I've been doing that there's no way what she told me was in line with what's typically recommended. I'll give you an update after Thursday with what they tell me at  my appointment. 

Cautionary stuff; does you and your Mom get a full panel blood test, shows all the elements in your blood and if they are in range required range? It will let you know what is in your blood low and high stuff and out of range elements would be a concern, since too low for too long a time could give you effects that cannot be reversed by adding them trying to fix things. I got my first full blood panel at 6 months then yearly after that. One year my D3 was low and after I started an extra-extra supplement, I definitely felt the difference and varied by an addition blood test for the values. Today, I make sure to never skip vitamins, all good range for all elements. B12- shots? Wow, I just take the under the tongue types at 5000 iu... and yes, each person is different. Best wishes.

Thanks for the well wishes! My mom does get a full panel and so far everything's been fine, I just worry about her. I'll be getting a full panel Thursday and will continue to get them post surgery. 

Hi! Congrats on getting your surgery date.  I'm not quite 1 month out from my surgery and until I go to my 6 week check-up my surgeon only wants me to take the following:

Liquid Multi Vitamin (I use Wellness complete liquid multivitamin)

Potassium

Prilosec

When I go to my check-up, they are going to check my levels and start my regimen based on what my numbers look like.

Personally, having the surgery was the best thing I could have done.  I'm down 35 lbs as of today; I'm getting my energy back.  I was lucky and basically didn't have any pain from my surgery.  Just make sure you sip lots of water as soon as they let you have it and walk, walk, walk, walk!   Good luck

Thanks for the reply and advice! Best of luck to you too for the rest of your journey!

Similar for me - I didn't have to take calcium until I stopped the Pepcid(which has a bunch of calcium).  I did start with the nasal B12, right after surgery. No iron - mine was OK at my 3 months blood work.

Today, I had my one year blood drawn - 7 tubes so it prob covers everything. It looked red, so everything's OK.

Thanks! And good! :-)

If you mother no longer has periods she probably does not need iron pills.