njburke’s Posts
Hello All and Happy New Year!
At this point I'm about nine years out. I had to primary care switch doctors due to insurance reasons, I'm sure you understand that... LOL.
Our bariatric vitamins have a lot of excess stuff because of our malabsorption due to the RNY. I have explained this to my new primary care doctor, but I got a call today for my latest bloodwork, and they told me to stop taking my B12 supplement. Now, I can't take it "out" of my bariatric vitamins... ?....and I think my numbers have been very high for many years, but this doctor is not listening or remembering me.
Does anyone else have issues with your general physician telling them to stop vitamins? Now that I've been "graduated" from the bariatric practice, I feel like I have no real guidance. I'm trying to do what I've been doing all along, but then these physicians who are not experts in our surgery, have their own opinion...
Curious what your experience has been?
Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry to hear you have osteopenia. I hope it doesn't progress to osteoporosis. My guess is that even without an antacid our bodies have problems absorbing the calcium.
After a little over 2 months I have made it off the omeprazole but still take one OTC strength Pepcid at night or I get nauseous. Hoping to slowly wean off of the Pepcid, but at least it doesn't linger in my body all day. I am praying that my body is absorbing some amount more than it was. Time will tell. I will have my bone density scan this fall....
Thanks for all your replies.
I didn't care so much if I saw the surgeon, because I never saw my initial surgeon after surgery. And I thought that was weird.... I only saw the nurses or the nutritionist, but I knew they were tracking everything. Early on I developed reactive hypoglycemia that no primary care would have diagnosed, but the nutritionist helped me deal with it.... I consider that visiting the bariatric doctor, even if I'm not seeing him or her.
And yes, I agree that I am my own best advocate, I do look at my own labs, I know the anomalies that have not changed over the years and would see anew issue if it cropped up.
I'm realizing though, that I would love to go to support groups once in a while, and maybe that's why I'm feeling the need to be associated with the bariatric team. So that's on me, I have to call because my current bariatric practice requires that you make a reservation for the support group.
Again, thanks for the feedback.
Just wanted to throw this out there. I always thought I would see my Bariatric doc once a year, or his PA.
I moved out of state and transferred my records to a new bariatric doc, saw the doctor for 3 years, and now she has told me I don't need to see her anymore. I am out 9 years and she said I can have my primary care doc do the bloodwork. I guess I make an appt if there is a problem.
I was surprised, but maybe that's how it goes....
What is your experience?
Thanks for your input in advance.
NJ
Libby,
I'm sorry to hear of your ulcers and having to make a tough decision. I think your situation is why the recommendations for lifelong PPIs was the way it was. I hope I don't have to also return to full dose ppi.
As I am slowly weaning off, some nights I have such bad nausea I take a famotidine (Pepcid) on top of the low dose Omeprazole. One night I even woke up with acid in my throat. So I am working my way through this a day at a time.
Right now I am determined to get off the Omeprazole even if it means taking Pepcid as needed. Little by little I am hopeful. I have been eating less acidic foods to try to help. I do worry about ulcers, because I take low dose aspirin, but if I get an ulcer then I will deal with it then.
Nj
Appreciate your reply. Confirms again the things have changed. I just hope I'm not too late to turn around my bone density.
Im sorry to hear you have osteoporosis. Have they been able to treat it?
Thanks. I thought that might be the case....and the fact that you are doing well gives me hope...I have been weaning off Omeprazole for 2 months and have periodic nausea as I decrease the dose but I am confident I can get off the meds altogether and rebuild my bones.
It was a standard procedure in 2011, not just my surgeon's, but they all prescribed it, and once you're on these drugs longterm, it is hard to get off because your body rebounds and ups the acid. I am following my Primary Care Doctor's advice for slowly lowering the dose. Eventually I will be off of it.
Thanks for your reply. I have been taking 1500 mg Calcium, but I recently upped my Vitamin D to 5000 units.
I never had GERD. I was told to take the PPI to prevent ulcers. That's why it was "forever", but now things have changed. That's what I meant about constantly learning. I am wondering what they are telling folks now that many bypass folks have osteoporosis, I read this online, and so I am part of a group of people with this problem.
I had roux en y bypass in 2011. At the time my doctor put me on high strength omeprazole and never took me off. Several years later I just decided to lower the strength, and it worked fine. But I've been on it for 9 years.
Recently I was tested for Bone density and I am nearing osteoporosis, I am heavily into osteopenia territory. I had switched bariatric doctors when I moved out of state. The new doctors have never ever asked me how my bone density is and I'm over 60. I just happened to be going to a new primary care doctor and she is working with me to try to rectify the situation after my gynecologist had me tested ....
This is scary, considering I had super good bone density before my bypass. I am now struggling to get off of the omeprazole and taking even more calcium and vitamin D than I ever have before. My hope is to gain some of my bone density back.
I am curious. What are they Prescribing nowadays? I know it's been a learning curve, are you new patients being told that you will take this forever?
If you are someone who is considering bypass surgery, please do not do this to yourself. It's enough that you will be malabsorptive, but it's not good to take PPIs long-term. This is something to use in the beginning, and as necessary.
