Question:
HELP me with my vitamin controversy!!!!!!
I just posted a question about my diet now about my vitamins...I have got so many different opinions or directions from so many places. My surgeon tells me one thing my dietician another and everybody online and people at my group. What am I really suppossed to take? How much of each should I get a day to obsorb what I need? HELP me please and Thanks for all your answers to this question and my earlier one. — Sabrina Plunkett (posted on October 27, 2003)
October 27, 2003
Hi, I am now 9 mths post op and at first I started taking the children's
chewable flinstone's vitamins cuz the regular ones were to hard to swallow
and I didn't like to crush them. I took 1 2x a day. Then after the 1-2 mths
I started to take the one day multivitamin's for women, adn take only one
once a day! And I haven't had any problems with them! My doc said that was
okay and they still get absorbed in our bodies! Good Luck to You!
— Melodee S.
October 27, 2003
Girl, go by what your doctor says to do. You can't listen to everyone, we
don't know your medical history or anything. listen to your doc hon.
— Naes Wls J.
October 27, 2003
I take chewable multi vitamins that I got at my doctors office. They taste
fine. Check them out on their website. It is Chewable Adult Multi at
www.country-life.com
— kkubinski99
October 27, 2003
Here is what my surgeon and nutritionist told us to take: Minimum of 1000
mcg of sublingual B-12 per week, or get monthly shots from your doctor;
<p>Minimum of 1000 mg calcium per day (I think I and the majority of
post-ops here take calcium citrate, NOT calcium carbonate)</p>
<p>Finally either one adult multivitamin with iron OR 2 children's
COMPLETE multivitamins. Personally I take one adult Centrum Chewable;
they're orange flavored, and pretty good in my opinion.</p>
<p>I hope this info helps! Good luck!
— Moysa B.
October 27, 2003
www.wlssuccess.com has guidelines from my surgeon. You can also purchase
the vitamins at this site at a good price. Dr. Oh is a well-respected
surgeon and has an incredible success rate. He is very big on follow-up
care and protein and vitamin supplements. Check it out.
— blank first name B.
October 27, 2003
Ditto, Nadine, You should be going by what your surgeon tells you in spite
of the many opinions of other people.
— Delores S.
October 27, 2003
Sorry to differ here, and I'm not usually one to advise to go against your
surgeon. However, I would go with what your nutritioniost has said. That
is if they are the one that your surgeon has sent you to. They are
educated on nutrition. Your surgeon is educated on surgery. There are far
too many surgeons out there that have no idea what to do after they have
performed the surgery. (and sadly don't really care half the time.) With
me, I took the different advice from my surgeon, the nutritionist, from
here, from my research and combined it all together to come up with what
sounded 'right' to me. There is no right answer for everyone as we all
don't have the same surgery nor the same nutritional needs.
— RebeccaP
October 27, 2003
I agree with Rebecca. Your dietitian is the medical expert on this one,
assuming that s/he understands the particular needs of WLS patients. If
your surgeon sent you there, then take the dietitian's advice; if the
dietitian is not well-versed in WLS, then go by your surgeon. Different
docs and different programs have different recommendations. Your doc knows
your case. Go with his team.
— Vespa R.
October 27, 2003
I'm not totally sure I agree with anyone! Well, not really. I do know
what you are going through though. My doctor doesn't make any
recommendations. The nutritionist he sent me to was just about worthless
and told me to take 2 multi, c, iron, b12 and tums. So, in the end, like
you (and many others I'm sure), I took all of the info and made some
decisions on my own. I think there is a general consensus though of some
of the things 'we' all need:
One, if not two, multi-vitamins (I take one in the am & pm). For me,
it was important that they dissolve quickly....so I knew they even had a
chance of being absorbed.
If you are still menstrating - you should take some sort of iron supplement
(I take Carbonyl, but many others do fine with other kinds).
Vitamin C (I take 500mg) to help absorb the iron.
Sublingual B-12, 1-5 times a week depending on the dose, and how well your
body uses it.
And, of course, a good calcium supplement (citrate) usually between
1000-2000mg, daily.
From there, I would say watch your labs and tweak things as necessary.
Good luck!
— eaamc
October 27, 2003
I am still pre-surgery, but I decided that what I am going to take is
something that I can order online and is designed with bariatric surgery
patients as the focus. I have decided on the supplements for my age group
at www.bariatricsupplementsystem.com I have no idea if I would really get
enough nutrition using the various over the counter supplements and I feel
I am worth the cost of a system designed for me post-surgery. The link I
have is for the one that I decided on, but there are others available.
— Arizona_Sun
October 28, 2003
I would like to see all docs reach a consensus on this, but I don't think
that will happen. They all have differing ideas on every aspect of WLS, so
why should this be any different. I'll add my doc's regimen to the mix
here, but I don't know if we've helped you!! LOL Here are the minimums:
1000 mg calcium per day; 2 children's or 1 adult chewable multivitamin; 500
mcg B-12; 500 mg Vit C; 325 mg ferrous sulfate (iron).
— Carlita
October 28, 2003
Sabrina,
I see your vitamin delimma... and here is a suggestion:
Get a complete vitamin assay done (blood work). Anything that shows that it
is in the lower range of normal, supplement for it along with a twice daily
multi-vitamin. Keep your bloodwork up to date (check it on a tri-monthly
basis), and by monitering your vitamin levels, you will know what to
supplement with! :~)
Good Luck!!
Sharon
— Sharon m. B.
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