becoming compliant . .

 I do have to admit something here about noncompliance- I come here regularly and if I didnt keep reading about these horrible consequences from not taking supplements I am SURE I would eventually go down as a casualty of noncompliance.

It 's not that I am stupid or undisciplined or carefree but I just have such trouble getting down all the pills. I felt such adversion to what seemed like an unreasonable amount of pills I couldnt even make myself try to deal with it until the past month and then it was on a very irregular basis. They would get stuck in the back on my throat. I invented a tube to drop them down into the back of my throat even but then that wasn't helping much either it seemed. I saw my doctor about it and my surgeon too and got a shorter list of what to take (for now) & was told I could do iron infusions. 

I found a good multi in GUMMYs and even some in chewables that werent gross. I found I could dissolve the calciums in water and they were tasteless. I had to set alarms on my cell phone to remind myself 4 times a day to take them. I did buy the VL starter kit but was so overwhelemed I literally hyperventilated when they arrived.

I have mentioned it here a few times on the forum and keep reading about noncompliance everyday until it bothers me so much that I am tormented at the thought of dying a slow painful death. Everyday I seem to do a little better downing more of them. I can finally say I feel I can do this. It's just a matter of pushing myself until it becomes habit.

I knew I had an adversion to taking them before the DS but I knew I had to do it and deal with it. I feared I would be one of those going to the ER for dehydration or a TPN everntually. It irritated me to keep reading about noncompliance but now I feel thankful I kept coming here as I see I am making progress. I know I have to keep doing it forever and I think that will always be something I work on a day at a time . . Thnnk you all for keeping the topic active!!!!!

 Thank you so much for writing this post, because I fear that I will have an issue with noncompliance. I am 1 week out & haven't started taking vitamins yet, however I trying to mentally prepare myself for that lifelong journey. 

Fortunately, I didn't have any medical conditions that required me to take daily medications---well, anemia (I used to try to take the iron supplements but they made me ill, now I get iron infusions), but I know I have a problem with any kind of regimented "thing" for lack of a better word. I have 2 jobs--one that is very stable and one that is a rollercoaster--no day is the same. I've always found it hard to have a time schedule for anything at work. Even eating and going to the bathroom came second LOL. So, I winged it and did the best that I could. But now I know that that isn't going to be acceptable. There is no winging it. I HAVE to do this right. I'm praying that I will make it happen.

I've made the decision to get switched, fully knowledgeable of all my responsibilities, and I want to succeed, whatever it takes. I am actually considering switch jobs to something more stable...IDK. I have to pray about it. But what I DO know is that I don't want to kill myself. I want to be a statistic of success rather than of failure or death. 

Thank you very much for giving me the encouragement to give 110...no 1010% in this  =)

Andie

I know I don' speak for everyone that's had the DS and this is not necessarily what I would advise for everyone....

But it took me months to be able to get my vites all down.  Seriously, probably 3 months to get to a point where I was taking them all consistently every single day. 

You are a week out, give yourself some time, and continue working on getting them all in.  But don't cause yourself excessive anxiety about it.  Your body does have stores of vites and things in it so that you aren't going to go totally deficient in 3 months.  However - I AM NOT ADVOCATING that anyone stop taking vites, fail to start taking vites, or even stop trying to get them all in.  Just that at first doing your best and continuing to work on it - as a baby post-op, is OK.  As long as you get up to speed with them ASAP and keep working on it until you are up to the full schedule.  And then adjust based on your own full list of labs (that you have in your hot little hands).

 Thank you so much for your post. I will try and make every effort to be compliant when the time is right. Believe me, I'm not rushing. I'm still trying to get 48 oz of fluid in a day now...working my way up to 64 oz. My surgeon told me that the order is fluids, protein then vitamins, so I know I have some time.

Thanks again,
Andie

I'm right there with you on the compliance!  If it weren't for Gina, I'd probably still be gagging on my vites.  At six months out, I was finally able to swallow my vites, as I had an ultra sensitive gag reflex after surgery.  Now, though, I swallow whole batches at once, as long as I've got something strong tasting to drink!  I'd rethink those gummy vites if I were you.  I've read somewhere that they are not absorbed very well by us "surgically altered freaks".  I'm no vitamin guru like the rest, but just thought I'd pass on what I read.  Centrum makes a chewable multi that isn't too bad, though!  It's orange flavored.

How did you get over gag reflex? I am having that problem now!

I just discovered a drinkable vitamin at Costco.  I don't know how great they are but I thought I'd mention it in case this was something that you would be interested in.  It's called Eco something Eco Vitamin?  I don't remember exactly.  They come in the form of powder packets that you empty into 16 ounces of water, like flavored drink packets.  They are $20 for 30 packets.  Maybe a little more expensive than a regular multi but maybe worth it for you?  Just a suggestion. ;)

 Gag reflex is something that can be trained away. I think if you have a problem with pills you should really do some research into alleviating gag reflex. You ARE risking your life here.

Vitalady has a list of all chewable/liquid/sublinguals for her plan if you need to go that route.  You certainly NEED to get them in somehow.

I've found that getting regular labs done keeps me vigilent because I do NOT want to see anything low (or too high) and I don't want to see downward trends.  Seeing that means that my body is struggling and makes the risk of losing my teeth, breaking bones, developing neurological disorders, etc. more real.

Speaking of labs, get a hard copy of the results for yourself and track them in a spreadsheet so you know what's trending in which direction.  (Your doctor is likely to just tell you they're "fine" as long as they're within range....even if they're barely within range.)

I will admit...it was months before I became vitamin compliant. I threw them up constantly and then I was really bad about it because I was so sick of being nauseous all the time. I would take them one at a time with a bunch of water and still they would come back up.  It took probably 6 months or so before I got myself to really get routine on taking my pills. And, I can finally take more than one at a time. I still suck and forget soemtimes but it's not as much of a struggle as it was in the beginning. 

I know that not taking supplements is highly dangerous, and I totally appreciate all the people who continue to say that. I need the warnings and reminders too.