Question:
First B-12 injection what is the benefit?

It is hard to take all the vitimins and minerals during the early days of post-op. As well as drinking the required amount of protien. I'm trying to geti it done. Are there other vitamins or mineral in injection form? Is chewing vitamins all going to be the norm for us. It is much easier to shallow.    — Toby2 (posted on August 1, 2008)

August 1, 2008
My choice was liquid vitamins, as I found it inconvenient to do the supplement pills twice daily. One ounce each morning and it's done for the day. I speak about this issue on my profile page. DAVE
   — Dave Chambers

August 1, 2008
For the first 6 weeks, I was told to keep to the children's vitamins, no sugar (Flintstones or Bugs Bunny). Now I cut one of the 'horse' vitamins in half and take that. When they are gone, I will move to liquid form. Lyn
   — SkinnyLynni2B

August 1, 2008
I take bariatric advantage...2 chewable multi vitamins, 2 chewable calcium, 1 chewable iron, 1 chewable b-12 (3x a week), and swallow a vitamin D...I also take zinc (swallow - 2x a week) which is an over the counter regular pill. I don't have to take the BA vitamins a few times a day...the only thing I have to do is make sure the zinc and calcium are taken separately because they negate each other. It obviously varies from dr to dr what they recommend, because my dr said the normal vitamins that you swallow are not absorbed as well, and that the chewable (children's) vitamins don't contain enough of the needed vitamins/minerals due to the malabsorption. I have never tried the liquid vitamins...but whether you go w/liquid or something specifically designed for WLS patients, yes, you do need to take them for the rest of your life. That's the trade off of losing all this weight and still being healthy. Talk to your dr and see if he recommends a vitamin you can swallow. Personally...I'd rather chew them up. I swallow the zinc and I also take two cranberry extract supplements (for my kidney...I had one removed last year and take the cranberry to give the remaining one a boost), and folic acid...and swallowing all those pills, one after the other (I don't want to spread my pill taking out over the day...take 'em and get 'em over with is my motto) makes me feel blechy. Plus the BA supplements I take taste decent. Not great...but decent.
   — Hollywog

August 2, 2008
I have an extremely discriminating taste toward liquid medicines and gag easily on them and chewing the horrible tasting calcium and vitamins in the few weeks after my RNY was difficult ay best. After weeks of trying to crush them and mix them in pudding and yogurt and gagging and shivering with every bite, I decided that it was just way too much work and that there had to a better way. So I went to my surgeons office and bought the swallowable kind. I was so excited to swallow the pills and be done without any gagging and puking. The pills went down easily but then they would not stay down--they would just churn and churn in my pouch. Turns out I had a stricture in the outlet of the pouch and it had closed up to 3mm. Once the surgeon went back in and dialated the stoma swallowing pills has been incredibly easy. At about 4 weeks post op I started with the swallowable kind---at first I took one pill at a time waiting 5 minutes in between each one as recommended but recently (7 months out) I have graduated to taking them all at the same sitting and can even take 2 or 3 pills at a time. (I take 4 or 5 pills in addition to the vitamins). The vitamins and calcium citrate that I take is "Building Blocks" and they are specifically formulated for bariatric patients. The pills are not very small but as I said before, they are surprisingly going down just fine. I know you can buy this beand on line so you might try googling it to find a source. I am not a fan of shots so that would not be an option for me and it seems like that would be a biggger hassle than just getting the hang of the swallowing pills. I wish you the best of luck. I promise that it will get easier!!!
   — ChelleBelle

August 2, 2008
A powerful liquid vitamin/mineral like VEMMA is the only answer. Chew your heart out on pills, but you only absorb 10% of them, the rest goes right thru. Go to www.TrySomeVemma.com Any questions go to [email protected] Best of luck
   — [Deactivated Member]

August 2, 2008
One more quick caution - I was 47 at surgery, now 50. In the initial months following surgery I apparently added damage to my aging teeth chewing pills and broke 3 molar teeth in quick succession which required crowns. Very expensive lesson to learn! I now use liquid vitamins (as well as liquid chondroitin/ glucosamine supplement) from www.mothernaturesmiracle.com. Taste good and I feel much better. While I can't quote all the benefits of taking the vitamins I can tell you that when I become vitamin B deficient the cvorners of my mouth will crack. Just a little warning signal from the body that you can watch for. Good luck!
   — sunny99