What happens if you don't take your vitamins?

 Oh that's a good idea..... Thank you! 

Vitamins are a critical of your daily post op life style.  Failure to take your vitamins will cause you many issues. I take a liquid vitamin called Epic Ultra and many members of my post op support groups love it too.  We all get good lab results up to at least 6 months, when some minor tweaking of vitamins may be needed for any post op.  What happens when you don't take them?  My support group leader made a trip with our surgeon to meet someone when she was 2 years post op. He was in a medical care facility full time.  He had many neurological issues, etc. His reason for being there?  Not taking his daily vitamins long term.  In a support group about 1 year ago, one woman who just had RNY was speaking on the importance of vitamins. Her husband had surgery 3 years before. He took his vitamins routinely for about 9 months, said he felt ok, and felt no need to take vitamins any more. So he quit. About a year later, he began having seizures.  He was in the hosptial for several months. He's back out of the hospital now, but has to take 2 anti seizure medications for the rest of his life. His wife had him call me and he came over to discuss vitamins with me.  He's back to work now, but he regrets not taking his vitamins, due to his chances of siezures in the future. DAVE

 Wow.... what an eye opener.  Thanks for sharing this with me! 

We started vitamins at 7 days. We cut the big ones for 30 days, but then swallowed them all. I've never done chewables. At all.

as for what is your order of organ failure? I can't list it exactly, but it would include:
fractures
teeth crumbing or breaking
loss of night vision
RLS
fatigue
hair loss that doesn't end
memory and other brain failure
neurological damage
muscle wasting

Shall I continue?

looks like you're new to the forum. A few months ago, a relative of someone who'd had WLS wrote in and said this person had never taken any of the vitamins/supplements she was supposed to and she DIED.  Not really any symptoms ahead of time-it was her heart. Her husband was so distraught he wanted everyone on the site to know how she died and had this person write the post.
Is it a hoax?? I don't know and I don't want to.  I'm taking mine!  Time for some tough love here...
LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTORS AND TAKE YOUR VITAMINS.  THEY DO IT FOR A REASON.

I do not take Chewables at all and have not  ever ! I take all pills i swallow them just fine, the only one i dont swallow really is the Sublingual b12 whioch sits under your tongue but its not a bad taste!  I set an alarm on my phone everyday  to remind me to take my vits!

I totally get why you were asking what happens if you don't, because if you are like me, knowing the tangible, real facts makes me more compliant, not less. When I am tempted to skip a vitamin, I think, "hmmm, do I want to risk nerve damage, bone loss, anemia?" and the temptation to skip is over.

I was not a fan of the chewables, but found Celebrate Grape Iron to be really good. I just did Centrum chewables for a long while, but they were getting to me and I found myself resistant to taking them. I did some research and found that folks had equally good results when they swallowed their multi instead of chewables. Only having to swallow my pills (and sublingual b12 which is really like a treat--cherry flavor--I've tried two brands and both were excellent) has really made it much easier for me to stay on track with the vitamins.

Definitely check out Pam T.'s profile. It takes a bit to find a schedule that works so calcium isn't interfering with iron, etc., but it is doable.

As far as how I actually remember, this is my favorite ever item:

http://www.amazon.com/Timex-Medication-Manager-Batteries-Ala rms/dp/B0016CYQBU

I fill a huge weekly pillbox, but use the talking timer to remind me. It tells me 4 times a day, but if I recall correctly, you can do up to 6 timers. Also shows you if you missed a dose.

Good luck.

Denise

Vitamins are essential organic compounds that your body needs to grow and to function at its best. Vitamins also transfer the energy in your food to the cells of your body. We consume vitamins through food because our bodies are unable to produce all of them to meet our nutritional needs. For more details please visit - www.herculesvitamins.com

I'm sure you've gotten more than enough of the appropriate response so I'll only offer this: where WLS is concerned if you are asking "what if" you are usually asking the wrong question. Nine times out of ten what you NEED to be asking is "how can I..."?

So instead of

"What happens if I don't take my vitamins?"

That would be "How can I remember to take my vitamins?"

Where the core rules of this surgery are concerned there are no "what if's." You are allowed to be working on it but there is no what if I don't.

 If there's a vitamin that you don't like and you find yourself not wanting to take them as a result then start getting samples and try different ones.  There's only a few vitamins I'm taking now that are the same as what I took immediately post-op.  My tastes changed or I got sick of a certain flavor, whatever.  I switch them up so that I don't mind them.  I'm currenty taking Celebrate chewable multi's right now, a swallowable iron, some bariatric advantage chewables for probiotic and B12 (sublingual), my D, biotin and B complex are all swallow pills.

Find a system that works for you.  Personally I have a pill organizer for the week and that gets filled up once a week and then I keep it in my bedroom (I work from home).  Maybe come up with some rewards for going a full week without skipping a dose, and so on...