Question:
How long do we actually have to take calcuim and protein vitamins?
I have read so many different things about our protein .I read if you can eat enough you will not have to take supplements is this true? I also read we will have to take them because we no longer digest food, which is it I am confused?? — davonjack (posted on March 7, 2010)
March 7, 2010
Well if u had ur surgery i had bypass have to take them for the rest of my
life everyday!!!!
— bage09
March 7, 2010
Yep, for the rest of your life or as long as you want to be healthy.
— Kathy Thomas
March 7, 2010
I agree with everyone else - every day for the rest of your life. Your doc
should have told you this.
— Dawn A.
March 7, 2010
If you have the RNY, you will need to take multivitamins, calcium, B12, and
iron, at least, for the rest of your life. Depending on what you annual
lab results are, you may also have to supplement all of the B
vitamins-1,2,4,5,6,9, Vitamin A,D,E,and K. There are minerals that will
deplete after time and those wil need to be supplemented as
well-phosphorus, copper, zinc, manganese. This is a lifestyle change and
you have to be totally commited to it to be successful. Deficiencies of
any vitamins can cause health problems, some can be life-threatening.
— babs71958
March 7, 2010
It is a travesty when Drs. do not tell their patients the do's and don't's
of gastric bypass surgery. Thank goodness for OH. My Dr. who happens to
be a center of excellence Dr gave me a book to read, and I still see their
nutritionist. I now see why it is so important to find a really great
surgeon when I read questions like this, it is scary to me.
— FSUMom
March 7, 2010
You will have to take these viatamins for lifetime. Even if you could eat
more you still won't injest all the nutrients. That's the difference now in
your pouch after bypass. Because it bypasses and travels a different route
now it doesn't comsume all the nutrients that you do actually eat.
— RaMona ForMyEyesOnly
March 7, 2010
You will have to take your vitamin suppliments the rest of your life. The
RNY you had bypassed the part of the intestine that would get the vitamins
out of your food.. so as long as you are rerouted (the rest of your life)
you have to take the vitamins you were told to take..
As far as the protein.. you do the protein shakes until you are doing solid
foods and then you try to get your protein from your food.. if you are not
able to get all your protein needs from the foods you eat then yes you will
have to suppliment that daily.. this also is a lifetime thing. Protein is
very important and you must maintain the proper amounts everyday not only
for your body not ot eat your muscle as you loose weight but it also aids
in weight loss.. if you get the proper protein level you body will let go
of the weight. .. your goal is to get it from food or you can have protein
bars to help.. the drinks and shakes usually are not the perfered method of
getting protein once you move on to solid food as this empties from the
pouch too fast to provide any fullness for you and you absorb less protein
as it moves along too fast... I hope this answered your question. If you
have questions on the type of vitamins or amounts you need to take go to
the website www.asmbs.org that is the AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR METABOLIC
AND BARIATRIC SURGERY.. then select RESOURCES.. next selection would be
GUIDELINES AND STATEMENTS, then scroll down till you see on the right under
guidelines the Pdf ASBMS INTEGRATED HEALTH NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINES FOR
SURGICAL WEIGHT LOSS PATIENT..once there go to page 579 and 580.. that is
the list of vitamins and the amounts we need.. This is a great website and
you can get a lot of answers there.. The ASMBS sets the standards for the
doctors to follow.. so if you think your doctor is not telling you
everything you need to know then this is the best place to find the
answers.. If you want you can pm me and I will try to help more..
— Teresa S.
March 7, 2010
Hi! I was told we would take them for the rest of our lives. I took a
vitamin for many years before surgery and only added the calcium since. As
far as protein is concerned..I was told I do not have to continue them, but
I still have some sort of suppliment once a day. Sometimes a bar, for a
meal, sometimes a shake. I enjoy them. Hope this helps you out some. Have a
great journey! Hugs n God Bless, Kim
— gpcmist
March 7, 2010
For the first 3 years PO..I took the basic minimum of what I was told to
take...After year 4 most of my vitamin levels had depleted to lows and very
lows...Some vitamins store in your body for up to 3-5 years...and some need
to be replaced daily. At year 6, I am taking thousands of times higher
doses of vitamins just to try to maintain healthy levels. I cannot buy
vitamins in the grocery store anymore because they are not nearly the right
doses or types (water soluble or dry) of vitamins needed for Gastric Bypass
patients. It's taken me the last two years to learn just HOW MUCH I really
need to take...It blows my mind. I can eat all my protein without
supplements and prefer to eat REAL food over "supplements" from
the beginning. I stopped protein supplements 3 mos post op! Started adding
a protein drink daily at year 4 for a year....but only as a substitute for
coffee creamer to try to lose a little extra winter weight I had gained!
(Fake foods are so useless, if not harmful to us!) Hope that helps a
little!
— .Anita R.
March 8, 2010
I have been told that you take them for life. Your body only makes use of
about half of the vitamins and calcium you take in. COSTCO has one of the
best vitamins and compares with the best Centrum. In fact it has more than
Centrum. Calccium should be taken at about 1000 to 1500 mg a day.
— Jim Christian
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