Malabsorption- What Do You Know?

Hey Grads, What Do You Know? I've been seeing a lot of "Malabsorption" Issues out on the Boards. And some are particularly puzzling. -- "Iron deficiencies, while taking prescription Iron supplements," "Calcium deficiencies, while taking Calcium supplements," The one that peaked my interest- "B-12 deficiencies, even though taking B-12 shots," (?) Plus D Vitamin problems, Potassium, etc... Ok old posties- What's up? If you've had a problem, How did it occur? What were you taking when the problem showed up? How did the problem 'manifest'? (Neuropathy, Fatigue, Osteoporosis, etc?) How did you 'overcome'? Pass on what you know? Best Wishes- Dx

DX My thoughts exactly. What's going on

Hey Dx, Only thing that I had was low calcium and that showed up on one of my blood workups...they told me to up my calcium to 3 a day. Did that and it seems it worked....everything else is peachy keen (well, cept I'm still never going to lose weight...LOL!) No, I will never stop complaining about that.... Kari

Hey Kari!!! Miss you! Haven't seen you in a while! Don't be a stranger, Cause complain as you might- You're funny as hell!!!!! Glad you 'dodged the bullet' On what looked like cancer awhile back. What Calcium Sup were you taking When the problem showed up? Hope you're liking NC! Best Wishes- Dx

Well, the only one I can answer on is the calcuim. As you probably know I had the old JIB surgery in 1981. That is the one I had reversed when I had the bowel obstruction the year before wls. I was put on daily calcuim. OsCal. Which back in those days was the "cadillac" of calcuim. Over twenty years I took it faithfully. About six or seven years ago, I was diagnosed with osteopenia of the spine, then a year or so later, osteoporsis. Still taking Oscal. It is calcuim carbonate. As far as the iron and B-12, I have been very low on those also but it was during a period since this wls that I was not taking any iron or B-12. Just my Centrum multi vit and my calcuim citrate. Since i started taking those my labs have been fine. I will be having labs again here in a couple of weeks. It will be six months labs from the surgery where part of my old tummy was removed in Feb.

Delores, So it was a result of the- "Back in those days...." Sort of thing? Hope we keep evolving with the info that we gather. Thanks for the input! Best Wishes- Dx

I have described malabsorption resulting in malnutrition issues as a very low grade anxiety of mine. I don't actively fret about it, but it is on the radar much of the time. I have not had any problems, labs are all good, etc. Still its like knowing there is something out there and you must never ignore it. Why do people have these problems? Is it possible that some people are deceiving themselves regarding supplements? Many of us will now confess that we never realized just how high our intake really was. "I swear I only ate a few Cheetos. How the entire bag disappeared is beyond me." Maybe we do the same with our supplements. I've been hypertensive for 20+ years, diabetic for 10, etc. I am accustomed to taking stuff. Those who were obese but lacking in comorbs may not have developed that behavior. They are normal now so they can ignore it. Like the fat they left behind, they want that to disappear too. I would be curious to hear about malnutrition issues with regard to amount bypassed. Did the distal put themselves in harm's way? Are proximal no less exposed? How about the a comparison of DS vs RNYs with regard to this issue? If the DS does carry more risk (and I do not know that nor am I suggesting that it does) does being able to eat ice cream (or whatever) make it worth the higher risks. We are a gold mine of data just waiting to be analyzed. Nowhere Man/PH/Jay

Dx, There have been at least 3 on the Feb 04 board who have had serious complications from malabsorption when they were faithful taking their supplements. Mary D or Julia (can't remember which) found a website from a clinic that does a fair amount of reversals because of these issues. This surgeon states that there is a small number of patients (~5%, I think) who end up having serious malabsorption problems regardless of what they do. It's my opinion as a biochemist that these people's bodies don't 're-route' their biochemical signalling pathways to get what they need. This may be caused by fewer receptors in areas of the intestine that are doing the digestion, or just a lack of hormones to activate these pathways in other parts of the body. Each person's body is so unique that you can't really tell from one to the next what might be happening. Just as an example, it took me over a year to feel actual hunger again after surgery. That pathway had to find a new way to work since that part of the stomach was being by-passed, and it took quite a long time for my body to find the way to do it. All we can do is be dilligent and hope we aren't part of that 5%. Linn

What I know is there is more in heaven and earth than are in most peoples philosophy (Shakespeer stole that from me). One BIG thing we WLS patients have to remember when talking about this is some of us have had minimal intestines bypassed, others have had extreme amounts bypassed. Reasonly, there MUST be differences in absorbtion. Another thing I've noted is that when people have a 'medical condition' it seems just about everything, no matter how unrelated, gets blamed on the condition. Look on WLS boards, Fibromialgia boards, PCOS boards, even Running Boards, and you will see such amazingly similar posts its almost scarry. Even beyond WLS, there is a reason so much of medicine and nutrition is "lets give this a try and see if it works". The human body is amazingly complex, and there are so many things going in, on, and around it that I don't think it is possible to be able to always draw a direct line between cause and effect. To use your Calcium example... There are people that have supplimented calcium (yes, even the "right" calcium" that end up with low serum calcium, or normal serum calcium and osteo. There are those that haven't supplimented that have no issues. It seems obvious that there are other mechanisms or other influences at work. The mere fact that Osteo is extremely more prevelent in women than men would indicate that perhaps hormones have an effect, or the Y chromosone. Weight bearing exercise seems to have an effect, or people that do weight bearing exercise are doing something else that has an effect. Or perhaps there are other nutritional elements that a connection has yet to be drawn. Genetics. Its all just too complicated to say "Because I did (or did not do) this thing I got (or didn't get) this or that disease" especially since science doesn't bear it out. There are 100 year old people that have done and eaten "all the wrong things", yet there they are. There are others that have died young and have been extremely careful. This is not to say we should just give up and do nothing. Far from it, it makes sense to do whatever seems helpful, whatever makes sense, and above all, whatever works for you. But simply because it works for you (generic) does not make it gospel for everyone. Oddly, just because it worked for you doesn't mean it worked for you. I may have wandered a bit, oh well... Tek

"Oddly, just because it worked for you doesn't mean it worked for you." That's my favorite part of your post! Linn