Post Date: 5/21/09 6:00 am

3 years post op and :

one ounce Epic Ultra liquid vitamins daily, 1800mg calcium citrate, and 3 of the 5000 IU dry D3 daily, sub lingual B12 once every 10 days or so. Calcium taken in 600mg doses with one dry D3, Epic Ultra each morning. DAVE

Post Date: 5/21/09 10:31 am
Put your mouse cursor on my avatar photo and do a left click. DAVE

Post Date: 5/21/09 6:59 am
Hey Tony ---

I'd recommend adding a chewable Vitamin C at the 10am dose with the iron.  Iron requires an empty, acidic stomach for the best chance at absorption.  So the Vitamin C will provide the acid the iron needs. 



Pam

Post Date: 5/21/09 7:24 am
ADEK -- those are the fat soluble vitamins that are most likely to be malabsorbed after RNY (and DS).  Check this diagram... it shows where stuff would normally be absorbed.  Notice that the ADEK locations are both bypassed.

However, we don't need to automatically add ADEK just because there's a chance we can become deficient in them.  But what it does mean is that we need to keep a close eye on those ones in particular and adjust our vitamin intake to accomodate whatever the body is doing. 

Vitamin A -- helps to synthesize protein... so if you have low protein levels, it usually means your A is low and until you get your A up, you probably can't get your protein up.  I'm dealing with this right now, but many people don't ever have issues with their Vitamin A.  Your'e getting plenty of it in your multi-vitamins, so you probably don't need extra until your labs say you do.

Vitamin D --  we're pretty much all deficient (something like 80% of Americans).  You're getting some in your multi and your calcium.  Almost everyone needs to add extra D at some point though.  Again, labs will tell the story -- we want your labs to show a number over 50.  The body doesn't even start storing Vitamin D until that number is 50 or higher.  Anything below and we're using it up as fast as we take it in.  Studies have show that Vitamin D numbers over 80 have major health benefits like lower cancer risk, lower MS risk, etc.  Do a google search for the Vitamin D Council to learn more.  Interesting stuff.

Vitamin E -- what you get in your multi is usually plenty.  Now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever head of anyone being E deficient.....Mmm...  eat your greens, fruits and nuts and you'll get some E in those too.

Vitamin K -- your body actually creates Vitamin K on it's own so it's not typically needed in any extra doses.  You've probably got some in your Multi and that's probably plenty.


In case you need it.  Here's the list of labs you need to have drawn.  I also recommend you grab the spreadsheet I have at that link and keep track of your own labs over time.  Seeing results side by side will help you spot any downward trends that need to be fixed before they become a deficiency.

Sincerely,
Long Winded Pam

Post Date: 5/21/09 9:36 am

I am 6 months out - down 50 lbs.  Daily I take:

Multi Vitamin
B12 Sublingual
2 Calciums
Iron
Biotin (for hair loss)

I feel like my list is so short compared to you guys.

Post Date: 5/21/09 10:03 am
Hi Pam,

Thank you so much for all your previous posts and the info you share.  I've printed the Lab Recommendations After WLS list and downloaded the Excel spreadsheet to track my labs - I'm going to show them to both my surgeon and my PCP when I go for my 6-month check up this summer.

You are really on top of this stuff and you have a lot of knowledge (again, thank you for sharing it with us!) so I hope you don't mind if I ask you a question:  I'm taking 2 multi-vits (Centrum chewable) daily, but I take them both at the same time... should I be taking them at least 2 hrs apart (the way I do it with calcium)? 

I know to wait 2 hrs between the multi (which has iron) and the calcium, and then to wait 2 hrs between the calcium doses... but I have never been told (and never read anywhere) whether we should take our multis 2 hrs apart, or whether it's OK to take both at the same time.  What do you think?

Thanks in advance for your reply :)

Tamsin

Post Date: 5/21/09 11:36 am
In the morning, with food I chew a multivit, a BA  calcium, 2 calcium citrate non'chewables (chew them anyway) a chewable vit C and 2 or 3 400 IU tabs of vit D. 
Do the same at some point in the afternoon.
Am post menopausal (yippie) so am not supplementing iron. 
 3 SL B12 about 3 times per week. 
2 or 3 fish oil on the weekends.
No biotin lately, no additional B complex lately.
That's about it.