NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY FOR RNYers INEVITABLE?

Does everyone with RNY eventually develop some sort of nutritional deficiency? I fear that because I am so young [just turned 20] that if I do have this procedure, I will one day have a nutritional deficiency, possibly multiple or major ones. If a person takes their vitamins and protein intake religiously and has their blood work annually, is the possibility of developing a deficiency still there?

 

The possibility gets tinie-tiny if you are good with supplements and staying on top of blood work.  The fact that you are young also plays in your favor.  So if you get RNY, take your vitamins religously and you should be fine.  In the off chance you are not fine it will show up on your blood work and then you can act quickly to fix it (for example - I take B12 pills, but some RNYer's have a hard time absorbing B12 from pills so even though they take the pills they get defficient, so when it shows up low on blood work they can switch to a periodic B12 injection or a little strip of B12 you can put under your tongue (think breath strip) that disolves there).   So the possibility is there, but if you are good about supplements and paying attention to your blood work, you will most likely be fine.  I can't say 100%, because there is no such thing, but VERY VERY likely, you will be fine.

There is a possibility - the long term effects of RNY really arnt fully known yet. As more time passes the surgeons learn more about what their patients need. Previously surgeons said any calcium is fine, now they are saying we specifically need calcium citrate instead of carbonate because it absorbs better. So basically you could still have issues - many vitamin deficiencies are minor and able to be corrected - keeping up with the bloodwork is very important because if there is an issue it can be caught fairly early.  Personally I do a physical yearly with my PCP and plan on seeing my surgeon yearly, I schedule to two 6 months apart so I get full bloodwork every 6 months.