Question:
I really do not want to take vitamins daily, is it possible to eat enough food withou

   — peaceangel58 (posted on June 29, 2000)

June 29, 2000
I'd say that the answer is "no." We don't absorb the vitamins in our food or our supplements like a normal person. If you fail to follow the doc's orders on this, you will likely end up with deficiencies and the problems associated with those.
   — Cindy H.

June 29, 2000
Why is it that you don't want to take a daily vitamin? Are you concerned about swallowing it? The taste? Afraid it will be harmful? Don't want to be "tied" to a daily routine? You need to understand WHY you don't want to take it and then figure out how you ARE going to take it if you have WLS. Any type of WLS requires at minimum a daily multivitamin. Personally, I have developed a taste for sugar free Bugs Bunny complete... LOL... it has become part of my daily "candy". I also take a chewable 500 mg Vitamin C tablet, chewable calcium supplement, and a sugar free orange flavored fiber tablet. I know it sounds weird.. but I look forward to them; they taste good and I know that I'm doing something really good for my body. You have to be able to commit to taking vitamins or you will have negative long term ill effects from your surgery. You don't have to go overboard.. but some supplement will be needed. If you just "can't" do it, you will have trouble with other aspects of WLS and the requirements that it will impose on you regarding your eating habits. Hopefully, your concerns are just regarding the taste... which you can overcome in the name of better health.
   — BethVBG

June 29, 2000
It is absolutely necessary to take vitamins. Be sure to follow your surgeon's/nutritionist's guidelines. If you check back on old postings on this site you will see that people who don't take vitamins in many cases will have problems down the road with anemia, severe lack of energy, vitamin deficiency and other issues. I agree with the previous posting. Ask yourself what bothers you about taking vitamins. Don't feel that you will forever have to crush them. After a time it won't be necessary. And there are so many brands out there. You will have no problem finding ones you do not have to chew. In my case, the only ones I chew are tums for calcium. My iron, multi vtamin and folic acid are small enough to swallow whole. My B12 is sublingual. Good luck.
   — Paula G.

June 29, 2000
Debra, yes you really do have to take vitamins daily but a good, potent vitamin/mineral/iron tablet may be enough without other supplementation. Different surgery types seem to necessitate using different supplementation routines. The more the normal gastroinintestinal pathways are modified then the more supplementation you will need. The VBG is the least disruptive so those people may not need too many supplements if any at all. The DS maintains the normal upper GI "traffic pattern" and therefore more nutrients (like calcium and iron are absorbed because the duodenum is left intact for the most part) but then also with the DS there is greater malabsorption of other types of vitamins but because there is a greater chance of eating more normal portions of food, the supplementation is less. Then the RNY will need supplements because the amount of food is so restricted it doesn't seem realistic to assume that that person would be able to ingest enough food yet if the RNY has a proximal component then what you acually do eat has a greater liklihood of getting into the bloodstream. So again here is the age old advice, weigh the pros and cons of each and every type of operation out there and available to you. Sometimes those pros and cons lists written down in black and white can really help you make up your minds. I didn't want to take a million different vitamins and suplements after surgery but taking a couple of vitamins and such sure beats taking all the prescrition medications I needed prior to my operation. I do not take any prescription meds for diabetes, hypertension, depression, or arthritis any more. Give me my Centrum (generic brand, of course, much cheaper!!!), and pass the water.
   — Fran B.

June 29, 2000
Debra, If the problem is swallowing them, there is such a thing as liquid vitamins and there's a liquid spray multivitamin that someone makes that you just spray into your mouth and it's absorbed that way. I'm trying to find the info for those kinds of vitamins myself. I know they're made, my ex-boss uses it.
   — Carol Ann M.

June 29, 2000
Debra, Well, again putting myself on the line on this one but here goes. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take a look at my website and see what not taking vitamins can do to you. I was one of thos people, who after about 6 months thought, gee, I am getting enough food now, I eat like a normal person, so I don't really have to take the vitamins anymore. NOT! Yes I eat like a normal person now, but do they have a bypass??? NOPE. I do and I don't absorb like a normal person. If anyone is the expert on here about vitamin deficiency, I would say that I am. Been there and done that. If I didn't list what I take now, on the website, here is a partial rundown.... 3 prenatal vitamins a day 8 iron pills 4 zinc pills 1 vitamin D pill and 1 hour of sunshine a day minimum 4 calcium pills 120 gr of protein Of course, this is NOT normal but, I let my body get so depleted from just thinking I was getting enough in my foods that now it's soooo hard to bring those numbers up again. It will take months and I have already been taking all this for 1 and 1/2 months with very little change. I am a waitress and have to lift very heavy things alot of the times and can't. I have no strength left really. I lost alot of muscle mass. Please talk to your doctor again and find out "why" he is adement about the vitamins and then go to my website and see the results if you don't listen to him. I am sure that you will decide that taking a multivitamin once a day is far easier than going through what I am right now. Good luck to you.
   — BARBARA R.