Vitamins....what to take and what not to take???

I have been a WLS patient for 2 years; thought I knew all about the vitamin regiment. Yet, when I post on a Gastric Bypass site, the Admin in there always says I don't know what I am talking about regarding the vitamins and everything I am taking is the WRONG things and that it's vitamins we cannot absorb. This is what I take:
1x daily: Centrum Silver Multi-vitamin
3x daily: Citracal petites with D3
1x daily: Iron (45 mg Ferrous Sulfate) this was chg'd recently by Doc; I was taking Feosol Carbonyl-30mg
1x-Vitamin C tab (taken with the iron pill)
B12 Sublingual (liquid under the tongue)

What are your thoughts? The reason for the change in the IRON by the doc is that my Iron reserves are dangerously low (-7) and my iron is low (I started the Iron IV's yesterday and for the next four Fridays) they aren't sure why this is so low.

Thanks for the responses and your time.
Bren

Please respond.....I am really bummed out about this. Not only is this person making me feel stupid; but I am concerned about my health over this.

brenlee,  while I don't know what to say about what you should be taking or not, I do have these two things:

take what your bariatric surgeon tells you to take.

Please do NOT allow others to make you feel bad, stupid, ignorant, etc!  Especially a site administrator!  This person should be removed from their perch for acting liker that.  Maybe you don't know, maybe you do..that's not the point.  The point is that you cannot allow others to make you feel that way.  You are intelligent enough to ask those with experience on this site, and your doc and you have your blood work done and can read the results.  Don't give this person any power to make you feel anything but good about yourself!

There is a saying I love:  don't argue with ignorance.

Good luck.  hugs

i just had my surgery and was reliced from hospital today and my Surgeon started me on multivitamin with iron 3x daily and calcium 2x daily and vitamin D3 2x daily ... plus he said he will start me on b-12 shots in 2 weeks ... I also don't take any pill with out talking to my doctor first...

 

I don't see anything terribly "wrong" with what you are taking. Obviously you've kept up with your blood work so you know your iron is low and you are having infusions to fix this. The ASMBS provides a guideline for post-surgical patients listed in the following link - check out Table 6 for specifics: http://asmbs.org/resources/clinical-practice-guidelines-for- the-perioperative-nutritional-metabolic-and-nonsurgical-supp ort-of-the-bariatric-surgery-patient

Karen

Most of us modify how much and what type vitamins to take based on our labs. 

But the basic what is recommended for gastric bypass person is

2 x multi vitamins (best in divided dosage 1 pill x 2 a day )

1200-1500 mg calcium citrate.  No more than 600 mg at a time

Vit D3 (depends on current blood level. But most recommend blood test D3 to be more than 35...)

B12 - i like my blood level to be higher than 800)

Iron + vitamin C (some of us don't absorb that our deal with severe pain and constipation when taking iron)

And in addition some of us take magnesium, and any other vitamins that we show low - or low normal on blood work. 

I bruise easily and i don't eat a lot off veggies/ greens so i supplement K and K2..., B1, and folic acid. (I can't take B complex because my B6 were way to high at one point....).

Hi

1st of all you're doing great because you are trying to get it right. It's not easy when we all absorb differently. I'm 6 years post op. My blood work always came back fine. But this past 2 years my life has been crazy and I actually forgot to go. I took a friend for her 4 week check up and I had not had blood drawn there in 18 mos. My family doc had but not nearly to the extent of my surgeon does. I have just recently switched from the adult gummed to a prenatal vit. I'd been having chronic headaches for some time. They suddenly just stopped. It took dr. Oz lol saying on one of his shows that low magnesium causes migraines. My prenatal has magnesium in it.  I also have been bruising easily. I take 500mg. Of b 12 sublingual 2 calcium citrate. I don't go until the 22 to get blood work. Not sure what to change at this point. 

I am 8 years out. 

I take two flintstones in the morning

Three times a day bariatric advantage calcium

B12 every other day

My bloodwork is always good... I have had to make adjustments to iron/b12 in the past but everything else fine. I tried switching vitamin brands and iron was too low so went back to flintstones and if I take b12 every day mine ends up to high.

I had many complications and ended up having 4 surgeries which started as an RNY and resulted in a vertical sleeve made from small intestine because my stomach basically died and had to be removed.  Therefore, I likely do not absorb as well as most of you, BUT I do have bloodwork done annually and it is ALL the tests that are normally done at the one year mark after surgery. To that end, I have found that I have become defficient on several things over the years. Therefore, I take the following:

Solaray High Energy Once Daily Multi-vitamin (daily)

Solaray 1,000 mg Vitamin C with bioflavanoids (daily)

Soloaray Magnesium (300 mg) & Potasium (40 mg) (daily)

Potasium 99 mg (daily)

Biotin 10,000 mg (daily)

Zinc 50 mg (daily)

Raw Iron 22 mg (daily - Also had 4 iron IV infusions at the beginning of the year. I do not have a menstral cycle, so it isn't as difficult for me to keep my iron levels reasonable)

50,000 iu Vitamin D (weekly pill)

Vitamin B Shots (bi-weekly)

Sounds like a lot, but I just take my supplements with a protein shake in the mornings and I am good. I still get tired sometimes, but I think it is because I am extremely busy. I work full-time, go to college full-time, own and maintain a large home and try to live life :)

Best wishes to you!! Keep up the bloodwork and make sure you are getting ALL the bloodwork done that your bariatric surgeon would do at the one year mark after surgery. Otherwise, there are too many things that can be missed.

 

 

Just an extra comment about the iron -- (most everything else looks OK to me)

It's more expensive, but I have had good success with heme iron (ProFerrin Forte in my case). It is absorbed better than the plant-based iron. I know that many folks don't think that it is necessary, but I am a patient who tends to drift down with iron levels to the point that I need infusions every few years -- so anything that can stretch that out helps. So far iron has been good for several years. 

FYI -- I'm 7 years out with DS.