Good Morning. What gives you the most trouble on your labs?

Post-ops, let's give new folks an idea of what gives you, or has given you, the most trouble with your labs. Tell us which surgery and when, when you respond. Thanks. :)

Duodenal Switch, 2007.

Pre-op:
Low vitamin D3
all others ok but on the low side
osteopenia on dexa scan

Immediately post-op:
low D3 even while taking the prescribed oil-based D2 squishy football shaped pill
low vitamin A
low zinc
weak iron markers
all others dropping

1 year post-op:
Nearly perfect labs after switching to Vitalady's DS vitamin plan but still diagnosed with osteoporosis after a dexa scan

2 years post-op:
Calcium, D3 and PTH all crazy after being on Fosamax for a year for osteoporosis

3 years post-op:
Nearly perfect labs with B vitamins being too high. Cut B-complex to once a week.
Iron rising nicely with the addition of Proferrin at bedtime

4 years post-op:
Nearly perfect labs with vitamin A a little high. Cut that out entirely for 4 months and now only take it once a week.
Iron markers finally perfect. Cut the dose in half to see if I can maintain on less.

RNY 9-9-10

pre-surgery D was the only issue

no issues noted until

2-12
ALT high
ALK high
D3 high
ferrintin trending down

So they took me off D3, lowered my calcuim and we retest next month. I'm still sneaking a D3 once a week, 50,000 units. Don't want it to bottom out.

RNY - Aug 2011

Pre-Op:  
Vit  D3 deficient  - corrected with D3 supplement
Vit B12 deficient - corrected with sublingual B12
Low blood O2 - corrected with CPAP for sleep apnea
Dexascan - Osteopenia

3 month Post - Op
All OK.

6 month Post-Op
D3 - great
B12 - a little high, but it's excreted, so no concern.
Protein, albumin and other associated markers identified protein deficiency - treated by significant increase in protein consumption.
Some rise in liver enzymes  (just above normal)
All other tests are fine

9 month Post-Op
Protein etc back into normal range
Significant rise in liver enzymes to 2x previous level - docs are watching
All other tests are fine.

It's close to time that I get mine again.  I dread them!!  11 tubes of blood and I always feel sick but I KNOW I have to get them done!!!

Early out my A and D3 was low so I take supplements for those.  Everything else has been pretty good.   My B's were high but Vitalady told me to not change my B12 intake.  They've been in the normal range since then.

Pre-op D3 was low and still is....everything else is good. I'm now taking Dry D3 50000IU Daily x 3 months and then having labs redrawn.

RNY 8/2009

I had high cholesterol and on medication.  D was low pre-WLS.  I have always been borderline or anemic.

I am now off my cholesterol medicine and hoping the numbers stay good.  I have added lots of exercise and really try to watch my eating.  I had high liver enzymes after WLS.  Hoping they will still be normal now.  I still take the iron everyday.  Last year they said I could stop taking the D3, but I didn't stop.  It was 105.

I just had my 3 year labs drawn today since I'm in town at my parents and my 3 year appointment is in August.

Almost forgot great A1C now.  Off metformin since day before surgery.

Linda

Gina,

You said your vitamin A was very high.    Did your level go back to normal after stopping it?  I havent taken it in about a year and a half and my levels are stilll going up.  At last check, my level was 144, it is crazy (top of range is 98)  I just had it rechecked to see what it is now.

Most of my stuff is pretty good.  My biggest recent problem which is really suprising for me is my iron and ferritin.  My ferritin plummeted a couple of months from 100 to 20 in 2 weeks and I started IV iron.  I was highly alllergic them  12 years ago but we are beiing very careful and so far so far and so fo so good.

I am going for my next DEXA scan in Sept to see if I have progressed from Osteopenia to Osteoporosis.  Keep your fingers crossed that things are status quo.

My vit A was about as high as yours. My dietitian wanted me to try just cutting out A for a few weeks and start back with 3 times a week. I remember you talking about it so I stopped for 4 months and only take it once a week. I'll be getting my labs done in July so I'll know how that has worked for me.

--g

noone can figure it out.  I started out deficient at about 5 months out which is pretty odd for an RNY patient so I started on 25,000 units per day and I had my levels rechecked in 6 weeks or 3 months, I cant remember and it wasnt high enough, so they increased me to 50,000 units per day.  That was a perfect dose for me, I was consistanly in the 70's and 80's.  I was happy, my Endo and NUT were happy and so was my Opthamologist - he was not happy when I was deficient.

So, I was fine for a long time and then when I got sick on my 2 year anniversary, I went into Columbia Presbyterian, all hell broke lose = not only with my health but with my labs.  They were so busy trying to save my life that they didnt worry about my supplements.  During my 2 plus months in the hospital, my D, A, PTH and I dont remember what else plummeted.  They were giving me banana bags, so I got my B vitamins and magnesium, I got B12 shots, they gave me a multi.  I had someone bring me my Tender Irons but they couldnt find my A or D.

When I got out and went back to the surgeon, I had my labs done - my vitamin A done - it plummeted from the 80's to the 30's.  My D went from the 90's to the 30's or 40's.  I immediatly went back on my Dry A from BioTech and my Dry D from BioTech and my levels went back up.

The problem is that I went back on the A right back to the 50,000 unit dose, I didnt start slowly. So my level went up really fast and hasnt stopped.  The crazy part is that when it went over the normal level, which was a year ago, I stopped the A but the levels keeps going up at each blood draw.  About 6 months ago, I even stopped my multi vitamin because I realized I was getting vitamin A in there but after stopping that, it still keeps going.  So, it makes no sense and none of my doctors have any idea what is going on.  It can have anything to do with a liver problem because my liver enzymes are fine.  My opthamologist checked my eyes carefully and there is typical damage from vitamin A toxicity.

I just had it rechecked again last week, so I will find out if it went up again.  We shall see.

VSG - I had trouble with protein levels almost from the beginning. 

Pre-op I was low in Vitamin D but I was able to get that up easily with supplements and haven't had any issues with it since that first set of labs pre-op.

Protein would be low no matter how much I took in and was that way for the first 3.5 years until I injured my brain and had to stop working out. Now they are fine. We'll see what happens when I start training for an Ironman again.