Vitamin B12

wendydettmer
on 9/5/12 3:37 pm - Rochester, NY
 quick question for ya.  I take 2500mcg sublingual 5 days a week, and my levels have continued to drop.  i know you do b12 shots, do you think they might be in my future?  to be honest, the idea of those scare me for some reason.  

Follow my vegan transition at www.bariatricvegan.com
HW:288    CW:146.4   GW: 140    RNY: 12/22/11  

      

Citizen Kim
on 9/5/12 4:07 pm, edited 9/4/12 9:10 pm - Castle Rock, CO
I think if you are unable to sustain a level over 1000 then you may well benefit from B12 shots, maybe in addition to the sublingual.

If you are taking the sublinguals correctly - allowing them to dissolve completely under your tomgue, then shots may be necessary. (You'd be surprised how many people don't do sublingual correctly!) Silly question, but if your levels are dropping why are you not taking them 7 days a week or a couple of times per day on certain days? I have no idea how expensive these are, so maybe that's a reason?

The shots are not difficult as you can give them to yourself subcut with a tiny needle (not as good as intramuscular but a lot easier!) If you do decide to go this route, please make sure that you are taught how to do them correctly - the practice nurse should be willing to spend 5 minutes with you. Getting instructions on here is NOT the same!!!!

I honestly doubt it's necessary for the vast majority of RNY'ers to have shots, but ...

I have a blood disorder, as well as pernicious anaemia not related to RNY that makes it necessary for me to do shots - I am currently on 4mls per week (most RNY'ers do 1ml per month) to keep my levels between 800 and 1000.

ETA: your vegetarianism will also help make you deficient - it is one of the main supplementations required for those who have not had WLS!

Proud Feminist, Atheist, LGBT friend, and Democratic Socialist

wendydettmer
on 9/5/12 5:40 pm - Rochester, NY
 Thank you for your resposne!  You are right about the vegetarianism!  I found out a few months before surgery that my levels were low (377), so I started to supplement and did get it up to 1409 at surgery.  But it's been dropping ever since.  As of middle of june it was down to 876 (6 months out).  I have no idea if that's fast or not, but I have been supplementing at the same level since surgery and it's dropping, so it has me worried.  My iron is doing the same thing which is also having me concerned - but that's another topic lol.

I do let it dissolve all the way under my tounge.  I take them 5 days a week for a silly reason - I have the bottles at work and keep forgetting to bring a bottle home, so I take it at work and not the weekend lol.  I didn't even think about taking it more then once a day, I can try that.  

I'm going to a new PCP tomorrow and am going to request my b12 and a few other tests.  it's part of the same network of my old one and surgeon so they will have all my tests to see my downward trends.  Given that I still get very light headed whenever I stand or move, I want to figure out whats' going on.


Follow my vegan transition at www.bariatricvegan.com
HW:288    CW:146.4   GW: 140    RNY: 12/22/11  

      

(deactivated member)
on 9/5/12 7:36 pm
My nutritionist said that we RNY post ops shoud take the highest dose available OTC of sublingual B12 since it's not possible to overdose on this nutrient or to have levels that are too high, unlike other vitamins which we can have too much of. So that's good news. 
poet_kelly
on 9/6/12 4:38 am - OH
Even if you can't overdose on it, why take more than you need?  I think the highest dose available is either 2500 mcg or 5000 mcg.  Most people could take that once or twice a week and get enough.  Yeah, you could take it every day and not cause any harm, but think how much money you'd save if you only took as much as you needed and no more. 

View more of my photos at ObesityHelp.com          Kelly

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR.  If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor.  Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me.  If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her.    Check out my blog.

 

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