B-12 SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE Only

Operations that restrict food intake without bypassing the bowel, such as gastric banding, sleeve gastrectomy and vertical banded gastroplasty, do not impair food absorption, so those patients do not require strict supplementation.

 

 

"Vitamin B12 absorption requires intrinsic factor, which is produced in the bypassed part of the stomach, as well as acid; a lack of these can lead to vitamin B12 deficiency and anemia. Appropriate supplementation can be achieved by taking an oral formulation (1000 µg daily) or monthly injections."

B12 inake is impaired - the question is, to what extent?  We have much less stomach, so we have have a reduced ability to produce intrinsic factor to intake B12.  Given the following:

---Sublingual B12 pills are crazy cheap.

---B12 is extremely water soluble, so it's nearly impossible to have too much

---B12 deficiencies can (and for some people on OH, have) caused permanent and irreparable neurological damage.  It may also be a factor contributing to Alzheimer's.  

Given the multivitamins and calcium we have to pop each day, why not add on cheap B12 just in case?  At the least, don't decide you don't need B12 pills without yearly B12 blood tests.

Proof Positive why each person is different, it requires being educated and knowing or knowledge..The point being that not everyone needs more B12 and etc.. thanks for helping others..

No, the real point is each of us doesn't know if it's safe to skip B12 supplementation without blood tests.

This article suggests that those who have had VSG, don't need to take a multivitamin, calcium, iron, etc. post-op.  Yet all of us do.  Why is that?

Blood Test, and professional evaluation is needed..not everyone does...the reference is correct..and factual!

I hate to be the party pooper about this research, but as a researcher myself I have to say...first the VSG hasn't been around that long for long term studies to be done.  Second the number of people followed in this study was not that great. There are many other areas where this research falls short such as not having identical studies that also herald the same results.  Just based on these concerns alone and the knowledge of what long-term deficiencies can cause is enough that people should take the B-12 because what you don't use you urinate.  It is always better to err on the side of caution I think.  My greatest research professor gave me a great piece of advice "Just because someone said it or wrote it doesn't make it true."  I am not saying the research is necessarily wrong, just not necessarily right.

This post was not posted to serve as medical proof or start a debate among untrained professionals  are others it was to encourage people to seek medical advice before taking any type of B-12 or over the counter medicines.  Apparently, we have various opinions on what it should be so for that we are all grateful for the academic minded.  For the common user go see a professional and not take, any post with absolute authority.  Its apparent many people are just too blind to see the trees.

While VSG hasn't been around that long as a stand-alone WLS, partial gastrectomies have been around for decades and we do know that certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies are common as a result of them. So if this study shows differently, it's an anomaly and that makes me suspicious of it.

-We know that osteoporosis from a lack of calcium is VERY common after WLS or partial gastrectomies of any kind because the smaller stomach has minimal stomach acid and many forms of calcium require stomach acid to be broken down and absorbed

-We know that iron sometimes is an issue (though that's rare)

-We know that B12 is also sometimes an issue (though again that's rare, rarer than anemia)

-Vitamin D is an issue with many in North America and similar latitudes regardless of WLS status

So those are the ones I track the heaviest.

I think it comes down to your philosophy towards supplements. Some people consider them cheap insurance and will take just about anything "just to be sure." Others consider them medicine and only want to take them if there is a definite and well-documented need.

Personally, I'm not a fan of giving myself expensive pee so I tend toward the later. I get regular lab work, even now over 4 years out, and I particularly monitor anything I've been short in before. Based on my labs, I have no need to take B12 so I'm not going to. I've never been low in it -- I'm always either in the middle of the range or at the top.

I do need to take Vitamin D and Calcium and I need at least the amount of iron in a multi-vitamin so when my multi hasn't got iron, I also do an iron supplement. (i.E., I don't need a lot of iron but I need more than what is in my food.)

If my labs showed any other deficiencies, I'd take those things too even if they weren't things that WLS patients were known to be deficient in. But I'm not taking anything else "just in case" if my labs don't show a need for it.

The way I see it,  it won't hurt you to take a sublingual B12,  but it might hurt you to not take it.   I haven't had any blood tests since surgery (my surgeon has the first one done 4 months post op),  but I still do my multi,  calcium,  B12 daily.   My multi isn't high enough in iron so I take extra iron too (since I get pretty heavy periods).