Question:
LONG TERM POSTIES: Vitamin question...

I have read here that after 2 years, our bodies pretty much totally compensate for the surgery -- the pouch & stoma relax and we can eat more, the bypassed intestine grows cilia and absobtion is more normal. The hope is that we've all established solid lifestyle cahnges and can be fairly "normal". My question is if absorbtion is back to normal, why do we have to take vitamin & calcium supplements forever? (Other than it's just a good thing to do anyway.) And along the same lines, dumping should no longer be an issue, right? Can anybody supply some info on this?    — jen41766 (posted on July 8, 2003)

July 8, 2003
i dont think absorption is 'back to normal' no matter how long you are a postie. at least not in my case. i am 19 months out & if i cut back on my anti-depressant dose, i feel it. the dose had to be doubled after my surgery because i had been feeling like i wasnt taking any meds at all. tylenol doesnt work as well now as it did pre-op either. my pcp regularly checks my nutritional level (he is not wls friendly & is afraid i will become mal-nutritioned) because i can still only eat 3 oz at a meal & as of my last blood test, just last thursday, everything is normal & within limits & i am perfectly healthy, as he put it. i eat exactly the same way today as i did immediately after wls. protein first & foremost, veggie & if i have room, carbs last. i also try to eat at least 3 fruits a day. i take 1 sublingual b12, calcium citrate, magnesium & a multivitamin every day.
   — sheryl titone

July 8, 2003
My surgeon told me that at about a year we start absorbing more calories - we will never absorb 100% but we do absorb a lot more. Vitamins and nutrients are another matter. Some of the vitamins, like B12, we need the other part of the stomach for - and it's not there. I was told before surgery that I had to committ to taking a multivitamin twice a day and calcium three times a day for the rest of my life. And I will have a protein supplement daily too - or at least I will if I don't get 50g of protein from food.
   — Patty_Butler

July 8, 2003
Even though I am distal, we all (RNY) have the same portion of the stomach & first part of the intestine byassed, meaning they are still there, but the food no longer passes thru the stomach for digestion, nor the duodenum or jejunum for maximum absorption. So, we (all RNY) malabsorb the same 8 elements, just in differing degrees. While it is true that your common channel will hypertrophy (hyper= too much, trophy= growth, sorta) to some extent, if it returned to full function, you'd better get your money back! The back end of the intestine will TRY, but can never take the place of the missing digestion function AND the duodenum/jejunum. We will not ever "digest" again, so while we can eat larger volume of food, and the appetite returns (sometimes with a vengeance), absorption doesn't go back to original. And so we supplement, with pills (no sugar/no calories) that do not require digestion as a function. We're also not FORCED to eat those foods that might put weight back on to try to obtain nourishment. We can maintain the small portions & high protein regimen we need to be successful.
   — vitalady

July 9, 2003
I am 2-1/2 years post-op RNY open. For some dumb reason I stopped taking my 2 Flintstones Complete vitamins and I felt the difference immediately -- tired. I started taking them faithfully again and I feel great. I, too, have wondered if we will still dump this far out;I'm too afraid to try something sweet to find out...and that is a good thing.
   — Betty Todd