Question:
LONG TERM POSTIES: Vitamin question...
I have read here that after 2 years, our bodies pretty much totally compensate for the surgery -- the pouch & stoma relax and we can eat more, the bypassed intestine grows cilia and absobtion is more normal. The hope is that we've all established solid lifestyle cahnges and can be fairly "normal". My question is if absorbtion is back to normal, why do we have to take vitamin & calcium supplements forever? (Other than it's just a good thing to do anyway.) And along the same lines, dumping should no longer be an issue, right? Can anybody supply some info on this? — jen41766 (posted on July 8, 2003)
July 8, 2003
i dont think absorption is 'back to normal' no matter how long you are a
postie. at least not in my case. i am 19 months out & if i cut back on
my anti-depressant dose, i feel it. the dose had to be doubled after my
surgery because i had been feeling like i wasnt taking any meds at all.
tylenol doesnt work as well now as it did pre-op either. my pcp regularly
checks my nutritional level (he is not wls friendly & is afraid i will
become mal-nutritioned) because i can still only eat 3 oz at a meal &
as of my last blood test, just last thursday, everything is normal &
within limits & i am perfectly healthy, as he put it. i eat exactly the
same way today as i did immediately after wls. protein first &
foremost, veggie & if i have room, carbs last. i also try to eat at
least 3 fruits a day. i take 1 sublingual b12, calcium citrate, magnesium
& a multivitamin every day.
— sheryl titone
July 8, 2003
My surgeon told me that at about a year we start absorbing more calories -
we will never absorb 100% but we do absorb a lot more. Vitamins and
nutrients are another matter. Some of the vitamins, like B12, we need the
other part of the stomach for - and it's not there. I was told before
surgery that I had to committ to taking a multivitamin twice a day and
calcium three times a day for the rest of my life. And I will have a
protein supplement daily too - or at least I will if I don't get 50g of
protein from food.
— Patty_Butler
July 8, 2003
Even though I am distal, we all (RNY) have the same portion of the stomach
& first part of the intestine byassed, meaning they are still there,
but the food no longer passes thru the stomach for digestion, nor the
duodenum or jejunum for maximum absorption. So, we (all RNY) malabsorb the
same 8 elements, just in differing degrees. While it is true that your
common channel will hypertrophy (hyper= too much, trophy= growth, sorta) to
some extent, if it returned to full function, you'd better get your money
back! The back end of the intestine will TRY, but can never take the place
of the missing digestion function AND the duodenum/jejunum. We will not
ever "digest" again, so while we can eat larger volume of food,
and the appetite returns (sometimes with a vengeance), absorption doesn't
go back to original. And so we supplement, with pills (no sugar/no
calories) that do not require digestion as a function. We're also not
FORCED to eat those foods that might put weight back on to try to obtain
nourishment. We can maintain the small portions & high protein regimen
we need to be successful.
— vitalady
July 9, 2003
I am 2-1/2 years post-op RNY open. For some dumb reason I stopped taking my
2 Flintstones Complete vitamins and I felt the difference immediately --
tired. I started taking them faithfully again and I feel great. I, too,
have wondered if we will still dump this far out;I'm too afraid to try
something sweet to find out...and that is a good thing.
— Betty Todd
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