Vitamins....

When I was at my dr today, she said she thinks it would be a good idea to change my vitamins here and there. She says I'm doing really well. She asked me if I was still losing and I told her no and that I am maintaining now and she breathed a sigh of relief. She checked my weight and I am down 2lbs since the last time I weighed in at her office, she didn't say anything about  it.  She did a spirometry tes, a breathing test, and my lungs are working as tho I am less then 20yrs old, I am 34. I used to have asthma so she wanted to see for herself how my breathing is going. They took lots of blood from me today to check my levels and when she gets the results may want to tweek my vitamins. She said maybe decrease my B12 or completely change to sublingual strips, I told her that I am happy with coming into her office and she said she thought I would start getting annoyed with having to do that every month. She thinks I might be taking too much multi-vitamins, so she is also checking that.

A day in the life of my vitmains goes as folows:

first thing in the morning- Jamieson regular vita-vim multi vitamin  and vitamin D3 (1000IU)
2hrs later- another Jamieson multi vitamin
2hrs later- calcium citrate, 315mg
2hrs later- calcium citrate, 315mg
at night- magnesium bi-carbonate, 150mg

In the summer, I lowered my calcium citrate and added the magnesium; I ended up in the ER due to severe constipation but by doing what I did, it has relieved all that a great deal!

What do you guys think? 

that looks good to me.

I take both of my multivitamins at once. Is there a reason not to? i notice you take yours separately.

since everyone's needs are completely different just stick with what your doctor recommends...these types of things are really conducive to what other people take and unless the person responding is a chemist ....then you are best to stay safe.

I learned early on that because of the surgery we have had that sometimes even pharmacists can't direct us properly for supplements/vitamins..I am lucky to have a local pharmacy that employs a chemist and is very familiar with bariatric patients.


I take 2 Bariatric Multi Vitamins (one in the a.m. and one after supper)

I take Bio-D-Emulsion 100o iu -  4 drops daily (due to low vitamin d)

I also take 3 Ferrotin Iron capsules (1 - a.m. ( 2 with supper

and calcium citrate (2 capsules during the day)

for the record..my iron levels have NEVER been where they should the highest I have ever achieved has been 8.5 (my doctor says "normal" is 12 I believe)..I have changed Iron Supplements this is my 3rd brand/type..so I just go with the flow.

I had the sleeve not the RNY, but I take 2 multivitamins together,
then about 3 hours later take a vitamin C  and an iron pill
then about 3 hours after that I take a Vitamin D and 600 mg of Calcium citrate + vitamin D
then about 3 hours after that I take another Vitamin D and 600 mg of Calcium citrate +vitamin D
at night I take my B12 everyother day

I did have a low iron and a low Vitamin D and low calcium issue...

I think it looks like your taking the minimum, nothing excessive for sure - maybe you just absorb really well? I wouldn't go by the doctors recommendation, I'd have a look at your lab reports and see where your levels are first. A lot of docs are satisfied by having their patient just above the minimum, say for D3 where the healthy range is 30-125. The doc would be happy with anything over 30, but there are health benefits to getting it up over 80, like better calcium absorption and cutting your risk of certain cancers. So I'd make a decision based on what the numbers actually are, not what the doc says. Always request a copy of your lab report.

I am definitely waiting to hear what my lab results say before I change anything. She is very good and wouldn't want to risk anything bad happening, she has done quite a bit of research for the RNY and is "in the know" about many things ;) I am a lucky person to have her as a doctor.

thank goodness.....communication is key between doctor and patient.


when I first started thinking about WLS and went to the doctor that referred me to a surgeon and for the surgery.....I asked him how many people had died as a result of this (that he had cared for) he said ONLY 1.

that person apparently didn't follow-up after surgery and had developed an infection and subsequently died from complicaitons...complications that could have possibly been avoided, had she had followed up with her doctor.

wow

I would never suggest that someone not go with what their doctor says and base it on your own decision...YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sure discussion with yout doctor and asking questions,, but that is why these people go to school for years and years...

not to rock the boat...but while you haven't stated that you are a professional in any sort, I would have to ascertain that you get your informaiton just like the rest of us..from the WWW.

ALWAYS ALWAYS discuss these things with your doctor..I mean....

no disrespect meant in responding to your suggesiton I just don;t believe you are qualified to give someone direction about their health if you are NOT a CERTIFIED health professional.....

and my apologies if you are a health care professional..but I would still keep my doctor FULLY informed.

You don't believe people should make thier own educated healthcare decisions?

I'm not a healthcare professional myself, I'm a Prosecutor with an undergrad degree in bio-psychology, with research experience and more biology background than is required of an RN. I have two friends who are doctors and two who are pharmacists and I read medical journals extensively, so I have above average access to health information. I've also spent the past six months pouring through hundreds of studies related to bariatric surgery in my bid to convince OHIP to give me a DS, so I know that the #2 deficiency that plagues RNY post-ops is low vitamin D.

A lot of docs know very little about vitamin levels other than 'within range' or 'out side range'. I believe in advocating for ones own healthcare. I would never take a doctor's word that my vitamin D is 'fine' without first knowing what my level is. Doctor's are in the business of fixing problems, rather than optimizing. They usually aren't going to care that your levels aren't optimal as long as they are 'normal'. I would never be satisfied with scraping by with anything over the minimum, as there are still heath risks at those low levels. The healthy range for vitamin D is 30-125, so a doc is going to tell you anything above 30 is fine. In reality, you don't optimally absorb calcium with levels below 80, so I would set 80 as my minimum. I'd have no problem telling my doc that and I would expect him to support me in achieving that goal.

People should never substitute their own decision makin skills for their doctor's, it should be well educated and collaborative. What I'm saying here, is be your own advocate and educate yourself. If a doctor tell you your vitamin levels are 'fine', ask for a copy of your lab report and keep track of them yourself, watch for trends and aim for optimization. If you disagree with your doc, tell them and discuss concerns and alternatives. If they aren't open to that, you've got a d-bag for a doctor and should find a new one. You'e your own best advocate.

The one great thing about my doctor, is that she is very in tune with what is going on with me. She has done alot of research with different procedures. I am her 3rd WLS pt and I am the most successful. I followed the rules, was able to come here for advice, had my WLS team for guidence and was able to discuss many things with her as well; not to mention, that I wanted this more then anything to gain control of my health. And, it worked ;)

Everytime I get blood taken, she explains everything in detail, tells me what the ranges should be (and they are on the reports) and informs me of what needs to be tweeked.

The one thing that I did not know was about magnesium. I never seen it in my research and no one talked about it. My dr is the one that mentioned this when I was having my "issues" in the summer. I am soooo happy that she did, because I haven't had any issues since and I'm "regular" now.

She gave me a sheet yesterday with a calcium goal, 1200mg per day. She wants me to try and eat more foods with calcium (there's a list on this sheet) instead of taking suppliments. Some things are really high in calories BUT are loaded with calcium. At this point in my journey, I should be eating 1500-1700 calories per day, these are numbers from my nutritionist. I never get even close to those numbers, ever! I have been afraid to, TBH. I eat lots of protein and keep my carbs low, lower then what my nutritionist told me. Carbs had always been my addiction.

It's time for me to find another balance, IMO. Follow what my dr says and find that even measure. I trust my dr and my WL team.
I am going to see what my results say, and go from there. :) One day at a time.