VSG Vitamin question...

So I'm curious... my doctor has VSG patients taking the same 3 multi vitamins a day as the bypass patients. Since we do not have a problem with malabsorbption, why is this necessary? Does anyone know if it is?

Thanks

You're going to be consuming A LOT LESS food, therefore a lot less vitamins and minerals. After you get out of the gummy/chewable stage, these vitamins are cheap and cost me less than 50 cents per day. Plus my nails, hair, and skin are the healthiest/strongest ever.

Tom

What vitamins are cheap? The bariactric vit they told me to take are not cheap. I was told to take 3 a day. For this blood work time period I cut back to 2 a day to see what happens. I am 9 months out and will get tested in a few weeks. This is the only way I can tell if I am getting enough vit.

My doctors office gave us a list and on that list were the expensive bariatric vitamins and then their generic (over the counter) equivalents.  I just take over the counter centrum,chewables once a day.  I am almost nine months out and will be running labs again next month.  My labs thus far have been fine and I have been over the counter the entire time.

While I always recommend sticking to your team/surgeon's program, my program after week six is:

2 centrum per day (generic)
4-6 citrical per day (generic)
1 B complex per day (generic)
1 B12 500microgram sub lingual per day (generic)

Not even close to 50 cents per day and all 3 labs during this time have excellent.

Since you're 9 months post op you may want to discuss this topic with your program's nutritionist.

You're going to see a lot of variety on here about what people are told to take.  I was told for the first 6 weeks post-op to take 2 chewable multi-vitamins (Flintstones, Centrum Kids, etc.).  After that I could go to 1; however, I switched to a higher quality bariatric vitamin and that requires me to take 2 per day. 

Until I get into maintenance, I'll continue to take the double-dose of daily multi-vitamin.  During the weight-loss phase, I'm not really getting adequate amounts of veggies, fruits or grains.  So I see the extra dose of vitamins as insurance. 

The OP has a valid concern, and is right that such overkill is not needed - it's mostly for the convenience of the surgeon and his staff as it's easier to give all patients the same instructions without having to ascertain which procedure they had; it is also useful in minimizing regret on the part of their bypass patients during support group meetings (why do we need to take more of those than they do, why can they take Aleve and we can't...etc.

Some multivitamins are less dense than others, so they may require 2 or 3 pills to get one labelled dose, so if the doc is specifying brand, that may bring in the need for more pills per dose. Doubling up on the dosage isn't unreasonable as most don't have 100% of everything in them and our post op diets are often very deficient of everything except protein and doubling is easier than targeting specific deficiencies with multiple single vitamin tablets, and has little downside other than cost; tripling up is a bit of overkill that really is more appropriate for the bypass guys. Bariatric specific products aren't really needed with the sleeve as our specific absorption problems aren't very broad (primarly B12) like they are in the RNY and DS.

6+ years out with the sleeve and I was told to do flintstone chewables twice a day.  I was horrible and never took vitamins.  6 years later...  I became severely deficient.  A large portion of the stomach is removed and there are several vitamins and minerals that are absorbed through the lining of the stomach.  Once that surface area has been diminished, so is the body's ability to absorb those nutrients.

Take a good multi twice daily - I use TwinLab One Caps (take 2)

B Complex

B12

Calcium

D3

Iron

Biotin

This is just a basic recommendation.  You really need to go to your surgeon or primary care doctor and have a FULL lab panel pulled including vitamin levels.  Once you've done that, based on your levels, tweak your vitamin regimen to fit your individual needs.  I had a massive regain with my sleeve and didn't realize I was deficient until I went to add the Duodenal Switch.  Now I am playing catch-up and have to pull double duty because I'm working against a major malabsorptive WLS. 

Take my word for it...  You need more than a multivitamin!!  We can have vitamin deficiencies just like any other form of WLS!

Thank you all. I don't see anyone lee taking 3 multivitamins a day. I am supposed to take 3 mulit 1 b-12 and 2 calcium chews, but once in a while I miss my 3rd multi. I won't feel so guilty anymore.

S