Bariatric eating-Vitamins

A friendly suggestion to ask your bariatric team if they advise for or advise against the 3+3 vitamins--taking a guess they would advise against. (My admission: I have skipped a calcium dose when taken in pill form...never when taken in caramel-flavored chew form)

My doctor only pedals his own formula which i can't stomach

I would be sceptical of those claims. Take your vitamins. Set a timer if necessary.

When those vitamins were introduced, the BE team came to a OH Conference. People laughed them off the stage. They went home early. They are expensive and a marketing gimmick. Go with something that works. The best out there are the OPurity from Unjury.

I 100 per cent assign my good health, all these years later, to being vitamin compliant.

I don't buy anything fancy schmancy or obesity related (I use Celebrate or Kirkland multivitamins) but you know what? I take them! That's the secret.

A general comment, not aimed at the OP ... seeing post after post about people "forgetting" their vitamins just beggars belief. I've seen people DIE from deficiencies. It's not a little thing!

JUST TAKE YOUR BLOODY VITAMINS PEOPLE.

I take vitamin compliance very seriously but have had serious issues that have kept me from them for a few months. I get that we must take them. That is why I am working on becoming compliant.

I've had periods of non compliance. I think it's hard over the long haul.

I've tried and continue to try new products and different routines for taking them. It's been easier not having to work iron in anymore. I just don't absorb it by mouth period.

Trader Joe's under the tongue b12 have worked for me since the beginning.

I struggle with the second multivitamin dose.

Overall post op WLS patients have poor compliance long term. That why they wil even recommend Flintstones because it's better than nothing.

Keep working at it. I do.

Hi stranger!

It is impossible for us to get everything required without taking supplements at least 4 times a day. Impossible.

You can lower the number of pills per day, depending on what brand you are taking. But you cannot alter the number of times per day.

This is because we can't -- no one, WLS or not -- can absorb more than about 500 mg at a time of calcium. So to get 1500 mg per day, it has to be taken 3 times per day, at least 2 hours apart. And we need iron -- the farther out you are, the more we will need -- and if you take it with calcium (or coffee, tea, soy, and several other things), we will not absorb the iron.

So, calcium 3 times per day, plus iron, makes 4 doses.

We can take our multi with the calcium, and that's fine. If it has iron though, you won't get any benefit.

Now, the ASMBS recommends 200% per day of vitamins and minerals, along with the 1500 calcium and iron. To get at least 200 percent of everything (except the calcium) we need you would need to be taking 12 (TWELVE!!) of those Bariatric Eating 3 + 3 vitamins per day. My guess is, you'd be choking them down to get all that in. To get enough calcium, you'd need EIGHTEEN of the Bariatric Plus 3 + 3. But don't bother, because the kind of calcium in those is the type we don't absorb well anyway. And, you would likely not be getting enough B12 or D3 either, and would need more of those.

You can take just 2 of a high quality multi, from Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate, Centrum, or any number of drug store generics, to get as much as those twelve 3 + 3s.

So, look for a better vitamin. And for god's sake, stay away from Flintstones, gummies, or any other children's multivitamin. Everything I wrote about the Baraiatric Eating 3 + 3 goes for Flintstones and others as well. They are outright missing many essential elements, and are very deficient in others.

There's no avoiding some of the work we need to do with supplements. But it is extremely necessary.

Preach on Grim, Preach on!!!

Newbies take note of Grim's post, save it somewhere and refer back when you are feeling like not taking your vitamins or thinking of something stupid like taking a Flintstones vitamin. I wouldn't even give those to my dogs!!

Take your damn vitamins people, being lazy or making excuses will only get you 1. SICK 2. COMPLICATIONS, and possibly even 3. DEATH.

Daisydoo, thanks for the tip about saving information.

As I was reading Grim's post, I realized I wanted to "save" it, so I copied and pasted it into an email to myself.

Is there a way to bookmark or "favourite" *** "favorite" -- please forgive this Canadian for her spelling, LOL!), or should I just keep sending emails to myself when I see a post in the forums that I would like to reference in the future?

Thanks in advance! :)