Getting There !!!! Finally !

Hello All,

I first just want to thank all of you for your advice and support.  I am happy to report that I am finally starting to feel better.  Up until about Wednesday I really was feeling terrible I did not know how I was going to make it any longer feeling that way.  But for the past few days I feel like a brand new woman.  I have finally been advanced to the next stage of my diet and can add pudding and yogurt and my protein shake as well as my vitamins.  I have lost 16 lbs since the day of surgery and I am so excited for what is to come.  Do any of you have tips for getting in a routine for vitamins and meds?  I have major trouble eating that many huge chalky pills at once lol, especially since the mornings are still difficult for me as far as nausea is concerned. 

Thanks again so much,
Tiffany

I'm so glad you're feeling better. As far as you calcium goes, you can dissolve a couple of pills in water and add it to your protein shakes or CrystalLite. It take a few minutes to dissolve so you could set up several small cups and dissolve your daily doses so they're ready to go when you are. Other large pills I just cut in half, never could crush them. I choose capsules when given a choice, I don't like pills either.

--gina
 

Great idea!! I will try dissolving them.

I'm so glad you are starting to feel better and I'm super excited about your weight loss and your future!!!  

I take my pills at night before I go to bed because I'm so tight in the morning.  I've never been much of an eater in the morning.  I make my protein drink right before I leave in the morning for work and it takes me a good hour to drink it. 

I use a "week" pill container.  I fill 2 of them.  That way I can see right away if I remembered to take them plus filling 2 gives me a week to buy anything I might have run out of. Make sure you buy one big enough because those calcium citrate petites take up a lot of room. 

I also have Bariatric Calcium Citrate chocolate chews that I take during the day.  It gives me a little Chocolate fix and I get enough calcium in to.

I know some  pills don't mix together but someone else "Gina" will have to help you with that. Except for my Calcium Chews, I take all of mine at the same time and I get capsules whenever possible.

Glad to hear you are feeling better!!! 

My mother always told me to take vitamins after I eat so they wouldn't hurt my stomach. My doctor told me to take the C and Iron later on in the morning or the day separate from the rest.

All of my vitamins are chewable. Sometimes I hate it because the Calcium chewables I bought are supposed to be a chocolate wafer. (I should have bought the viactive chews) The ones I bought from wonderlabs.com don't taste so good. So, I eat that one first.

Then the two flintstones multis, then I put the B-12, Folic Acid, Biotin, B-6 sublingual under my tongue. I also take the ulcer liquid med (That is the most gross tasting med ever).Then I take a small swig of green tea iced tea. 

It's all over in like 3 minutes but it's something to get used to. lol 

Then later on in the morning I take the GNC C chewables and the iron liquid from Target and take another small swig of whatever I'm drinking. 

I wake up pretty early when I start going to the gym so I think I might need to get one of those old lady pill boxes to bring my meds, and vitamins with me. 

Oh dear.  Flintstones don't have what you need in them.  You need an adult multi like centrum, 2 a day and take one am, one pm.  I do the CVS generic centrum because it taste better.  also, don't get the viactive chews. they are the wrong kind of calcuim, carbonate instead of citrate.  We need citrate.  I do CVS brand also am and pm then use the chocolate chews from Bariatric advantage during the day, like Roz. 

Gotta watch the calcuim to be sure it is the right kind and take the 2 multis with 100% of everything for adults, spaced apart, not taken 2 together.

Good luck, you will be healtier with the right stuff.

Thanks for the advice but taking 2 flinstones chewables are the advice of my biariatric surgeon and my primary doctor at this time. We've even talked about that in group and that is the consensus of the doctors there as well.

(Sometimes things change.)
I have a chart from the hospital and my doctor's office on what I'm supposed to take and when I'm supposed to take them. Neither of the charts say to take a multivitamin twice a day. 

You are not supposed to take the solid pills right after surgery so centrum would be out for me. I never liked it before and probably won't go with it when I can resume pills. 

I have not bought the viactive chews as yet. I have a chocolate calcium citrate chewable from wonderlabs right now. 

Thanks for the info about viactive. I also learned later on that it's 20 calories a chew. No need for that.

Over doing it on vitamins doesn't do anything for the body. It just comes out in waste and you waste your money by taking more than you need. 

So, I'm following my doctors' orders and everything has been working correctly. I'm gonna go with their experience.  

One thing I've learned after 4 years post-op, and reading the experience of people even further out than me, is that doctors haven't got a clue about vitamins and nutrition. They get 1 elective on nutrition their first year of medical school and it's barely the basics for normal people, not WLS patients. They're giving you bad advice concerning vitamins.

--gina
 

i really trust my surgeon too, to do surgery.  However, as good as his group is, and as much good information I got from them, I also got some bad info.  They think it is ok to do 4 optisourse vits a day.  That doesn't provide 200% and is the wrong type of calcuim.  So, I listen to folks who have done more research, the american Bariatic folks, and folks who have lived for years with WLS, looked at labs and seen first hand what it takes to balance what we need to take to be where we want to be.  None of us want to be peeing away money, but it is much easier to stay on top of things than to have to play catch up.

You are still early out.  Keep reading and doing your own research.  Best of luck.

My bariatric doctor has 20 years experience. He and his colleague, Dr. Greenbaum are members of American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), where he was chairman. They are also fellows of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.
I'm sure they have done the research and as you can see I've done my research on them, the surgery, and the post-op. 
However, since you brought it up, when I go back I will ask him and see what he says.

I also have 3 friends who have had the exact same surgery I did; One 8 years ago and the other 2 years ago. I'm not sure when my other friend did hers as I met her afterward but it's been a while for her as well.
I'm trying to stay on top of things so I don't pee away my money.  

I'll need it for new clothes lol


Thanks