Lab results- Low, and why you should take your supplements

Just got my lab results back for the 2 year mark.  Normally my labs are awesome, but this time I was low in iron, D3, and something else that now I can't remember.  I stopped taking all of my supplements 6 weeks ago due to plastic surgery and not wanting to promote bleeding.  Yep, I still need them.  Take your supplements folks- they do make a difference!  

Hi,

Just wondered how soon you did your labs and if they were with your bariatric doctor or your pcp? The reason I ask is I just had blood drawn for  regular tests, a1c, cholesterol, CBC, liver, thyroid...my pcp told me the tests to check on vitamins  would be run from my bariatric doctor.  Is there a base time that happens, like I had blood tests done before surgery, do they generally wait a year or 6 months? I am only 3 months out so it's probably too soon, my stomach is still to sensitive to be taking vitamins so it wouldn't do any good, I was just surprised he said that because I thought the pcp was the one who ran the tests for the vitamins.  Thanks for your help!

smiles:),

Lisa

I think this varies by practice.  If I recall correctly (and please know it is a little fuzzy now) I believe my bariatric program pulled labs every 3 months in year one.  In year two I was allowed to skip one because they were so good, and it switched over to 6 month increments.  I am supposed to go back in 6 months for my next set.  My PCP does run labs on my physical, and there is some overlap like the Hac1 or cholesterol check for example.  She does not do the vitamin stuff though, and it is very important that those are checked.  Even though we generall do not have malabsorption issues, we do not eat as much as most folks so you can go low for that reason alone.  Personally, I get almost no iron in my diet... MFP shows day after day I am lucky to eat 25% of the daily recommended value.  D3 will always be an issue because I have skin cancer and avoid the sun like the plague, so I will always need to supplement.  I was surprised at how quickly it dropped though- didn't think I would do that much damage in just 6 weeks.  

I'm just curious - do you mean you don't take any vitamins?? I'll be starting my whole vitamin regiment in 2 days (multi+iron, B12, calcium, Biotin) and I'll be one week post op. I thought taking vitamins was pretty much mandatory post op.

My bariatric practice recommends a multivitamin 2x daily and one that includes iron, 2000 IU D3, B12 (either shot or sublingual), and calcium citrate.  I do normally take my supplements, but had to stop prior to my surgery... since I was swelling and getting a ton of blood through the drains I elected to just stop them while I continued recovering.  I ate healthy during this time, but clearly it was not enough to get the job done.  The only one on that list that was Ok was my B12 levels.  My iron dropped like a lead weight, and that one is really tough to get up.  In my bariatric practice they look at your lab results and tweak amounts, so please take that into consideration when looking at the list I just provided- what is good for me may not be a good fit for you... although it is very typical from what I read on the boards. 

I think some vitamins are normally pretty mandatory, after surgery and even today thet are just too hard on my stomach. I am hoping as time goes on I will be able to put them back in, its kinda necessary, my stomach us just hypersensitive and still pissed at me for doing this to it! If your stomach handles it definitely take your vitamins, you'll just be hurting yourself if you don't!

Thanks for the reminder.  I have to get my 1 year labs and I haven't been getting my sups in as I have been concentrating on DH.

Your close enough I can drive them over to you if you need them, lol.  (I am in Lake Orion)

Kitekat, I will order the liquid vitamins and will only try the horsepill tablets to be at 12-18 months. Until then, I only take take those I can crush or dissolve, mix with liquids, soups, stews s or hide in food

There are 2 vitimins available in sublingual where it goes straight to the bloidstream. Vitamin E & D come in tiny soft gel capsules.

If you can't tolerate the liquids, I would suggest you call your surgeon's nutritionist this week.

Teri