Lab work

I keep reading how people go in to get lab work done to see about levels, etc.  I have yet to have anything like that done.  When does that start?  I had my sleeve done back in Nov.  Should I have had lab work done by now?  Does it start after a certain month later on?  Just curious.  I was thinking it was going to start on my first check in, but it didn't--which surprised me as I was concerned about my levels of protein/calcium/iron/etc. 

Mary Lou

I'm pretty sure my surgeon did labs at 3 months out, but I can't remember if I had them done before.  I also had them at 6 months out, and 12 months out.  I'll have an 18 month checkup where I'll get checked again, and then it'll be annually thereafter.

I dont think I had labs done until 6 months then at a year.
Will be getting check again soon.

I can't believe so many people go 6 months at a time with out getting labs even the first year.  during my first year, I got them at 5 weeks, 3 months, 5 months, 7 months, 9 months, 1 year.   I am now a little more than 3 years and I still get them every 3 months and many times more often then that if there was a deficiency and they need to be rechecked.

If I would have waited 6 months at the beginning, I would have been in big trouble.  I  had deficiencies in iron by 5 weeks and B1, vitamin A and selenium all by 3 months.  Then they were rechecked again to make sure the supplementations were working - if they weren't checked in the first place, I could have been in serious trouble - B1 deficiency causes nerve damage and A deficiency causes blindness.  Iron deficiency we all know causes anemia and if I was already anemic at 5 weeks, things would have been really bad off

See, that's why I have been concerned.  So many are told 6 mos...and I think that's what I'm supposed to do.  I've been really low with my energy for what seems like forever, and I've wondered about the iron, among other things.  But, my surgeon, internist and doctor that saw me while in the hospital are not going to check.  I hate the thought of finding out 6 mos down the line that something needed to be done.  Yet, I don't know about upping stuff "just in case". ha  Ah well.  Probably just worrying over nothing.

If you would like me to go over some stuff with you, I would be love to help.  Please PM me a list of what supplements you take - the name of the vitamins, the brand and the dosage  = plus how often you take it - it would also help to have a daily chart to see what you are taking with what.

I can try to make some suggestions based on what you are taking now and maybe make suggestions of somethings that you can improve on even without know your labs levels = somethings we need levels as we don't want to go to high but somethings we can tell that you aren't taking enough and other things dont' matter if they are at a high level and are even better if they are high.

IF you don't mind paying for your labs, there are online lab sites I have to do more research to get the names but that is an option I have seen many on this site use.

so, if you are intested, please PM me

I saw my surgeon last week and asked about labs, he said not until 6 month check up.

I had pre op labs, 3 months, 6 months and 1 year are next. If there are issues, i have those specific labs redone after 30 days. Then they will be annual after that, again barring any problems.

My surgeon says most people don't show deficiencies that early out so he only does labs earlier than the first year if you have something going on that needs to be looked into. So most people get them annually though I get spot checks in between because something is always going on with me. I'm such a trouble maker. 

Also, with the VSG, if your labs are always normal for the first couple of years, after a while he doesn't make you do the full set as it's the nature of our WLS that most people don't have issues with deficiencies.