Need advice from DS'ers

My dd just finished her pre-op requirements and is expecting to get a date for her DS any day now.  I'm really excited for her and would like to pick up a few things to get her started.  She has mentioned needing her high AEDK vits -- would anyone recommend a specific brand?  Also, are they available in regular pill form (not chewable)?

Any other suggestions for helping her out would be appreciated too.  I have the RNY rules down, just not clear on anything she might need specific to a DS.

Thanks for your help!

Laura

Most DSers start with Vitalady's plan and adjust according to our quarterly labs:

http://www.gblcreations.com/Resources/Gina/ProgramDRNY_ERNY_BPDDS3-2010.pdf

There's no reason she'll need chewable. She just needs to start slowly & maybe cut the larger pills in half.

Protein requirements are a slow build, too. 30 grams daily by 30 days, 60 grams by 60 days, 90 grams by 90 days. You might want to pick up some samples of protein supplements for her. Don't buy too much of anything as tastes can change dramatically post-op.

A, D, E, and K are fat soluable vitamins and, since we malabsorb 80% of fat, we need the DRY formulas of these. If they do not specifically say "DRY" on the label, they are not. Her D also needs to be D3, but that's on the list.

They do sell ADEK chewables but I don't think the dosages are high enough.  Vitalady sells them individually.  Have her check out vitalady.com.  Vitalady sells a package for DSers that includes about 90 days worth of vitamins in one click so she will get everything she needs.  I believe she also has them in chewables (or mostly chewables) if that is what she needs to take.

It's too bad that the multi's with extra ADEK aren't adequate -- I was hoping to keep it simple for her.  Vitalady's schedule seems like a lot, but I'll get her started on that.

Thanks Ladies!
Laura

She'll be taking vitamins 4-5 times a day in order to get in all her calcium.

You can't go wrong with the Vitalady schedule and in three months, she can always reduce anything she's too high in. It is easier to prevent a deficiency than it is to climb your way out of one. Better safe than sorry.

Spend some time on the DS board and make your daughter reads it, too. You'll learn a lot.

Thanks, I'm going to have to read more on the DS board.  I only take vits 3x's a day and that was hard enough to get in the habit of, hope she can do it.  But then, I'm one of those nervous moms and she probably deserves more credit than I give her.

People who take the multi's with extra ADEK (I started on them too) wind up adding extra A D E or K to those ANYWAY.  You can't individually adjust a pill when it is a combo. 

Vita Lady's plan makes sense to me and I have done better on it than I did on the multi with extra ADEK.

She also needs to get plenty of calcium and watch all the calcium related labs (especially PTH and D) very closely for the REST OF HER LIFE.  I keep my calcium related labs where they need to be by taking 630 mgs of Calcium 6 times a day.

~Becky

Laura- Have you posted this on the DS Board? They will be of great help to you.

I'm 8 years out.

Personally, I don't think we need to take any supplemental A, D, E or ****IL it is shown by our labs that our levels are getting low.  Caveats:

1) Most people are too low on D even pre-op.  And by low, I don't mean the FDA guidelines, which find levels that are likely too low to be OK - I mean under 50 (whatever the clinical lab unit is).  I would consider supplementing with Vitalady's dry D from the beginning, IF she was low pre-op.

2) Rabkin doesn't even test for vitamin E, and doesn't recommend supplementing - they have not seen enough vitamin E deficiecy to warrant testing or supplementation without symptoms.  Apparently, vitamin E is pretty easy to absorb.

3) My K levels were fine for the first 7 years.  I have been supplementing 3 times/week this past year.

4) My A levels have always been fine.  I don't supplement.

That's good to hear.  Vitalady's schedule seems overwhelming.  I had low D pre-op, so I didn't wait to start dry d3, I'll ask her what her pre-op labs were.  Really appreciate your input.

Laura