Vitalady opinions

I feel really challenged when it comes to taking my vitamins.  I just can't seem to get it right, as if I have a mental block or resistance to them.  I go to an excellent nutritionist and mentioned that I might go the route of using prepackaged vitamins from the vita lady as many on my forum do.  My nut did some research and said, that the amount of iron, vitamin A, and D are all way too high and could cause some problems.  Then she did some research on the vitalady and apparently, she has no credentials, and wouldn't disclose the manufacturer of the vitamins.  This is all hearsay from someone that I trust, but I am wondering if others have had this experience or if my nutritionist just got it all wrong!

I've used products from Vitalady with no issue. Vitalady is a long term post op. She doesn't represent herself as a healthcare professional.

Since we have lifelong vitamin malabsorbtion, we must take more than 100% of the RDA of vitamins.

Wherevwr you get them, you can bundle your own vitamins without paying extra for someone else doing it for you.

Thank you!

You are welcome. Take care

Michelle (vitalady) is not a health care professional, no.  Neither are the owners of many other vitamin companies.  What brand of vitamins does your nutritionist recommend?  What are the credentials of the owner of that company?

I think the amount of iron, A, and D we take should be based on our labs.  Most RNY post ops need at least 10,000 IU D3 daily.  I'm not sure how much Michelle recommends in her prepackaged kit.

I don't know what doses of various vitamins are in the prepackaged set for RNYers since I do not use them, but remember that some RNY patients need very high doses of certain vitamins because of the malabsorption (and that how much someone needs is very individual).  Most people, for example, don't need any additional Vitamin K beyond what is in their multivitamin, but  I take an extra 2000 mg a week to keep my levels normal (I take blood thinner and experienced two episodes of spontaneous bruising and bleeding because my Vit K levels were so low).  Many of us need 50,000 units or more of Vit D per week (and just hearing that dosage can be enough to cause even doctors who understand post-RNY malabsorption to raise their eyebrows or get freaked out).  I think your nutritionist is being overly cautious, because as you can see below (or can find for yourself with an internet search of the NIH webpages, I am sure) you have to take HUGE amounts of Vit D, Vit A, and iron to reach toxic levels (and toxic does not mean death).

Even for people with a normal stomach and NO malabsorption, the information that I have from the National Institute of Health (NIH) indicates that Vitamin D toxicity level can be reached with 5,000-10,000 IU/day (but most RNYers seriously malabsorb Vit D) and the Vitamin A toxicity level is 100,000 units/day!!!  It would be extremely difficult to get to a toxic level of Vitamin A even without any malabsorption!

For iron, it is more complicated because the toxicity levels are based on elemental iron (which varies form one type of iron to another) and is based on body weight (and, of course, weight is always given in kilograms rather than pounds!), but doses from 30-60mg per kilogram of weight can cause iron levels to become toxic (sometimes referred to as iron "poisoning").  For a 150 pound woman (68 kg) that would be a dose of 2040mg (68kg times the lower 30mg/kg toxicity level) per day!!

As someone else mentioned, it is much cheaper to get the vitamins that you need individually, and you need to base your doses of many of them on your own individual labwork, so getting a prepackaged vitamin regimen might be ok (other than the cost!) for the first few months, but then what happens when you have to adjust your dosages based on lab values that are too high or too low? Then you are right back in the same boat with having to get the right doses of everything (and now you have the prepackaged vitamins that you have to do it with, and may very well need to stop taking some of them and buy different dosage pills anyway.

Perhaps you just need to write down a vitamin schedule and set an alarm or create a phone or computer reminder to take each dose?  There are many people here who are willing to help you figure out what you can take when.  Have you had lab work done recently?

If you want to pursue the prepackaged vitamins, though, I would recommend that your do some research yourself on toxicity levels and then sit down with your NUT to discuss why she thinks the dosages in the Vitalady vitamins are too high for someone with the malabsorption of a gastric bypass.

Lora

With regard to vitamin D, the Vitamin D Council says toxicity doesn't occur until your vitamin D level is 200 or above, and I cannot imagine how much D3 an RNY patient would have to take to reach that level.  I take 50,000 IU D3 three times a week just to maintain a level around 100.

Great information to digest. I think I need to do more research on recommendations specific to us and what  amount become toxic. I will repost after I have done my homework!  Thank you!

I haven't had my labs done and won't for 4 more weeks at 12 weeks. I am very curious about how I am doing. What if I am low in something but taking more of it is considered toxic. My nutritionist talked of lots of scary consequences of under dosing and overdosing, and I want to make sure that I am doing it correctly.  My nutritionist carries the brands of vitamins that are tried and true for her in her practice. One of them is the PURE brand.  The only problem is that her vitamins are SO expensive!

If you are low in something, then taking more of it will not be toxic.  To be toxic, you must take enough that your level (as measured by your blood tests) gets too high.

I'm wondering now, based on what you've shared, if your nutritionist is discouraging you from using vitalady brand vitamins because she just wants you to buy vitamins from her.  The brand of vitamins you use is not important.  The ingredients are important.