Help with Vitamins

Hello!  I am 4 years out, but forget to take my vitamins.  I know it is bad of me!  Would like to get back on track, was wondering if someone could tell me what to take and so forth!

Thanks!

The first thing you need to do is get some lab work done, because the dosages you need will be based on your own vitamin profile rather than some arbitrary dosage.  Depending on how long you have been not taking the vitamins, your doses may need to be much higher than what someone else is taking just to maintain their existing vitamin levels.

In general, though, you should be taking two adult multivitamins, 1500-2000 mg of calcium citrate (not calcium carbonate) in three or four 500mg doses (we can only absorb 500 at a time), a sublingual/nasal/injected B12 supplement (dose based on labs), and -- if you are still having menstrual periods -- some iron daily (again, how much depends on your labs).  Most people also need a significant amount of Vit D (many people take 50,000 units (yes, you read that right) anywhere from once to 3 times per week.  Some people also take extra zinc, Vit A, and A Vit B complex (but those would be based on low labs for those vitamins).

 

Lora

Hi , what brand and kind of vitamin D do you suggest? Because I was low pre op 21 that is thanks... ohh and I take everything from BA right now.

Any brand of dry D3 (not in a soft gel with oil) is fine.  I like the vitalady 50,000 IU D3 capsules.  I have to take three a week to maintain a good vitamin D level and if I bought something at the store, the highest dose I'd find might be 5000 IU, and I'd end up taking 30 of those a week!  Ugh.

Here's what the ASMBS says you should start with:

A multi with 100% of the RDA of most nutrients.  Take two a day.  Stay away from kids' vitamins and gummy vitamins, because those will not have what you need.  Even though Flintstones says “complete” on the bottle, they really are not complete but are missing a number of important things.  The ASMBS  recommends a multi with iron.  If you take a multi with no iron, you’ll need additional iron at a separate time.  They say to start your multi as soon as you get home from the hospital.

1500-2000 mg calcium citrate.  Make sure it's citrate, not carbonate.  That means no Caltrate and no Viactiv.  They say you can wait up to one month to start your calcium – not that you should wait, just that you can.

54-63 mg iron for menstruating women (18-27 mg PLUS 18 mg twice a day in your multi, if you use a multi with iron).  36 mg a day for people that do not menstruate.  We absorb carbonyl iron better than ferrous sulfate.  Ferrous sulfate will also make you constipated.  They say to start your iron as soon as you get home from the hospital.

B12.  You can use a sublingual, 350-500 mcg per day, nasal spray once a week, or shots once a month.  Unless your labs show you need more.  They say you can wait up to three months to start your B12 – not that you should wait, just that you can.

They say a B complex is optional.
 

When is the last time you had labs done?  If you haven't been taking vitamins, you are almost certainly deficient in vitamin D, B12 and probably iron.  Also possibly B1, B6, vitamin A and zinc.  Maybe other things, too.

If you haven't had a bone density scan done in the last year or so, you probably want to get that done, as well.  If you haven't been taking D3 and calcium, you may well be developing osteoporosis.

Thanks Kelly your so very helpful. I am one month out , have not had labs done in awhile, so I'll call my pcp and request it. Because I asked the surgeons office and they said I would have to go to my pcp. Ggrrr... thanks once I have the report I'll post. Thanks again. ...

If your D level was 21 post op, then I'm sure it's still very low unless you've been taking massive amounts of D3.  According to the Linus Pauling Institute, we need our D level to be at least 80, so 21 is super low.