Vitamins preop/newly post op confession
So my hands are literally shaking as I post this since I know y'all are going to fuss at me. I consider myself a smart person, a have 2 college degrees and I'm an a avid reader and researcher. I have read everything on dsfacts and several journal articles as well as vitalady's threads/site. My Confession is this- I still don't know what vitamins to buy/take. I go to vitalady's site and start looking, get confused and then end up buying nothing. The choices seem overwhelming. <br />
<br />
My surgery is in 6 days and right now I'm taking some chewable vitamins that my surgeon required me to buy from him. They have these levels<br />
<br />
A5000iu<br />
C60mg<br />
D3-800iu<br />
E100iu<br />
K120mcg<br />
Thiamine3mg<br />
Riboflavin4mg<br />
Niacin20mg<br />
B6-4mg<br />
Folic400mcg<br />
B12-300mcg<br />
Biotin300mcg<br />
Calcium citrate1000mg<br />
Iron 18 mg<br />
Iodine 150 mcg<br />
Magnesium 400 mug<br />
Zinc 15mg<br />
Selenium 70 mug<br />
Copper 2mg<br />
Maganese 2mg<br />
Chromium <br />
<br />
I'm taking 3 a day now and I'm supposed to take 8 a day after surgery. Do I keep taking these and wait for labs before I take other things? Do I add other things now? Do I quit taking these all together and get on a different regimen?<br />
<br />
I keep telling myself that it's better to admit my stupidity now than to fail at something so important.
<br />
My surgery is in 6 days and right now I'm taking some chewable vitamins that my surgeon required me to buy from him. They have these levels<br />
<br />
A5000iu<br />
C60mg<br />
D3-800iu<br />
E100iu<br />
K120mcg<br />
Thiamine3mg<br />
Riboflavin4mg<br />
Niacin20mg<br />
B6-4mg<br />
Folic400mcg<br />
B12-300mcg<br />
Biotin300mcg<br />
Calcium citrate1000mg<br />
Iron 18 mg<br />
Iodine 150 mcg<br />
Magnesium 400 mug<br />
Zinc 15mg<br />
Selenium 70 mug<br />
Copper 2mg<br />
Maganese 2mg<br />
Chromium <br />
<br />
I'm taking 3 a day now and I'm supposed to take 8 a day after surgery. Do I keep taking these and wait for labs before I take other things? Do I add other things now? Do I quit taking these all together and get on a different regimen?<br />
<br />
I keep telling myself that it's better to admit my stupidity now than to fail at something so important.
~shannon
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~E. Roosevelt
(Ticker includes 11 pounds lost in pre-op diet.)
"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~E. Roosevelt
(Ticker includes 11 pounds lost in pre-op diet.)
ok. relax.. I know it can be daunting, but it works out if you follow your labs and adjust accordingly.
Early out, don't worry about supplements. Your body has stores to use up until you're ready and able to swallow what you need.
Concentrate on hydrating, protein and rest.
Once you get those things under your belt, Vitalady is FOR ME, the best guideline to follow.
I take A, D, E, and K seperately. The E is the biggest pill in this group. Take a pill, sip some water and wait a few minutes, then repeat until you're done. I didn't take K in the beginning, but I found my blood wasn't clotting like it use too during bloodwork, so I added K and no more problems.
Now, I get b-12 injections, but you can use the kind that dissolves under your tongue. Easy after surgery.
B - complex pills tend to be large, wait until you can handle a large pill and then add the complex.
Try liquid calcium in the beginning. Vitacost sells a few. Eventually, you will save money by taking the horse pills and buy those in bulk. It took me months before I could swallow my calcium pills. So I used liquid for a long time.
It wasn't until this year that I added a multi-vitamin. You just need a complete one like Centrum or something along those lines.
I started with Tender Iron by Vitalady and Poly-saccharide Iron. These two should work nicely too keep your levels up.
So, your shopping list should look something like....
Vitamin A - start at a low dosage and increase if needed. I take 25,000
Vitamin D3 - I started at 50,000 and have stayed there. We'll see when I see my surgeon if I need more.
Vitamin E - 400iu, Dry
Vitamin K - 100 mcg
Liquid Calcium
Tender Iron - you can chew these if necessary.
B-12 - sublingual
This is a good start. Maybe a liquid multivitamin also too keep things balance. Then adjust according to your labs. A little more this, a little less that. And so on.
I get my E, K and B complex from Puritan Pride or Vitamin Shoppee.
My A, D3. I get from Vitalady. You should get your iron here too.
The liquid vitamins you can get from Vitacost.
These are just my suggestions, YMMV. It's good you realize the importance of your supplements. I was soooo nervous when I started taking them too. But it all balances out with vigilance and repitition. It does get easier.
Dana
Early out, don't worry about supplements. Your body has stores to use up until you're ready and able to swallow what you need.
Concentrate on hydrating, protein and rest.
Once you get those things under your belt, Vitalady is FOR ME, the best guideline to follow.
I take A, D, E, and K seperately. The E is the biggest pill in this group. Take a pill, sip some water and wait a few minutes, then repeat until you're done. I didn't take K in the beginning, but I found my blood wasn't clotting like it use too during bloodwork, so I added K and no more problems.
Now, I get b-12 injections, but you can use the kind that dissolves under your tongue. Easy after surgery.
B - complex pills tend to be large, wait until you can handle a large pill and then add the complex.
Try liquid calcium in the beginning. Vitacost sells a few. Eventually, you will save money by taking the horse pills and buy those in bulk. It took me months before I could swallow my calcium pills. So I used liquid for a long time.
It wasn't until this year that I added a multi-vitamin. You just need a complete one like Centrum or something along those lines.
I started with Tender Iron by Vitalady and Poly-saccharide Iron. These two should work nicely too keep your levels up.
So, your shopping list should look something like....
Vitamin A - start at a low dosage and increase if needed. I take 25,000
Vitamin D3 - I started at 50,000 and have stayed there. We'll see when I see my surgeon if I need more.
Vitamin E - 400iu, Dry
Vitamin K - 100 mcg
Liquid Calcium
Tender Iron - you can chew these if necessary.
B-12 - sublingual
This is a good start. Maybe a liquid multivitamin also too keep things balance. Then adjust according to your labs. A little more this, a little less that. And so on.
I get my E, K and B complex from Puritan Pride or Vitamin Shoppee.
My A, D3. I get from Vitalady. You should get your iron here too.
The liquid vitamins you can get from Vitacost.
These are just my suggestions, YMMV. It's good you realize the importance of your supplements. I was soooo nervous when I started taking them too. But it all balances out with vigilance and repitition. It does get easier.
Dana
It is overwhelming but Vitalady has a list of her recommended batches (I am sure someone will post, I don't have the link at work). I plan to just get her regimine and see how that goes. My surgeon's office had recommendations as to what I was lacking and what I should supplement before surgery but just to verify it, I sent my bloodwork to Vitalady and am waiting for advice from her as well. (She has been out of town).
Good luck! Kj
Good luck! Kj
is Betty (
Shann,
I agree, it is overwhelming. But, the longer you mess with it, the easier it gets.
I'm guessing you'll have to supplement that with, at a minimum, A, D, E, & calcium citrate. And I personally would add A LOT more C and biotin (I take 1 or 2 grams of C and 20,000 mcg of biotin per day)
And, MUCH better to get input now, than be deficient later. How soon are your first labs?
I agree, it is overwhelming. But, the longer you mess with it, the easier it gets.
I'm guessing you'll have to supplement that with, at a minimum, A, D, E, & calcium citrate. And I personally would add A LOT more C and biotin (I take 1 or 2 grams of C and 20,000 mcg of biotin per day)
And, MUCH better to get input now, than be deficient later. How soon are your first labs?
Shannon,
If you've read this board much at all, you should know that surgeons are notorious for not having a clue what we need for supplements. They mean well, but really have no clue about this, because it's not anything they can read up on in JAMA or learn a procedure to follow to make it work; there is no "protocol" for our supplementation needs.
Vitalady's schedule is a good place to start; but it is not the all covering end all for our supplements, what we need evolves as we eat more and our bodies adjust to the new plumbing. This is why we must get labs done every 6 months for the first 2 years and then every year after that for life. We have to do this so we know what's going on and can tell what we need to do to supplement correctly. There is no protocol for this, there is no set answer for this, the closest thing I know of is VItalady's schedule.
Bookmark this post: www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/3815623/Trying-to-Paste-VitaLa dys-DS-Schedule/
I could tell you what I take, but it would be useless for you because you are going to need different supplements than I need.
What ever your surgeon suggests; nod your head and say yes, then go follow the VItalady schedule until you get your first labs and then adjust as necessary.
Kerry
If you've read this board much at all, you should know that surgeons are notorious for not having a clue what we need for supplements. They mean well, but really have no clue about this, because it's not anything they can read up on in JAMA or learn a procedure to follow to make it work; there is no "protocol" for our supplementation needs.
Vitalady's schedule is a good place to start; but it is not the all covering end all for our supplements, what we need evolves as we eat more and our bodies adjust to the new plumbing. This is why we must get labs done every 6 months for the first 2 years and then every year after that for life. We have to do this so we know what's going on and can tell what we need to do to supplement correctly. There is no protocol for this, there is no set answer for this, the closest thing I know of is VItalady's schedule.
Bookmark this post: www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/3815623/Trying-to-Paste-VitaLa dys-DS-Schedule/
I could tell you what I take, but it would be useless for you because you are going to need different supplements than I need.
What ever your surgeon suggests; nod your head and say yes, then go follow the VItalady schedule until you get your first labs and then adjust as necessary.
Kerry
Here's a thread I had bookmarked www.obesityhelp.com/forums/DS/4103619/VitaLadys-Jan-2010-DS- Plan-amp-Shopping-List-OH-Formatting/ . It has a shopping list for Vita lady with the Alternates in blue. It helped me make ryme and reason out of ordering (even though I haven't yet) It kind of spells it out for you. Good luck I am still a bit confused myself.
Ms. Cal Culator
on 6/30/10 5:18 am - Tuvalu
on 6/30/10 5:18 am - Tuvalu
You won't REALLY knnow what YOU need until you see your first labs...and my surgeon doesn't do the first set of labs until the three month point because--if I remember this correctly--he pretty much figures it's ALL going to be screwed up for a couple of months anyway.
That said, you are for sure going to need calcium and multis.
Can you get a copy of your pre-op labs so that you know where you are right now? If you are already at the low of of anything, it would probably be a safe bet to supplement that nutrient.
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