Vitamins...How much and when to take them?

These are excellent vitamins, and the supplemental facts and nutrional amounts were reviewed by my surgeon. I bring the NHR vitamins to the 3 support meetings I attend monthly. The office manager of my surgeon often refers people to me that are having issues with taking their daily vitamins. Touchy pouches, fear of pills getting stuck, scheduling all of the pills throughout the day, forgetting to take their vitamins, etc.--all are reasons I get PM's or phone calls from patients of my surgeon. At my last support group, there were two women who stated to the group that I'd help them through their "vitamin crisis". I have several of my post op friends who use the NHR vitamins, and they have received excellent 3 and 6 month lab results. You are more than welcome to PM me or read more on my blogs or profile story on my profile page. Dave

I did read your website. The chronicling is excellent! Thanks for having the info out there!

I do ealmost exactly what you do!  And it is a PAIN in the arse! I will not take pills for fear they will not fully dissolve in my pouch or sit in my pouch and cause me trouble later! ...I would take capsules with powder inside ...but never a hard pill. I've already had malnutrition and anemia and I was chewing adult chewables and I still didn't absorb them!  Of course I didn't know I was also not taking the right FORMS of the oil soluble vits for RNYers...so that that changed my Centrums to the Bariatric Advantage as well!  I feel much safer taking those!  But I LOVE the Trader Joe's High Potency Adult chewables as well and they are comparable to BA (a little less on the B vits) and there is no Vit K in the formula...but otherwise it's quite a good vitamin for RNYers!  And it had  carboyl iron in it as well...No good calcium, but we have to take that seperate anyway!  So it's a great buy at half the price of the BA! 

In addition to 2 BA multis I take my B-12 spray or sublingual and Omega 3 Krill oil and CoQ-10 (mid morning just before lunch) Any deficiencies I take the exta supp with my multi...I am low selenium as of now and take that....as well...
I take 2-3 (different times a day) calcium citrate wafers with magnesium and D3
8 Tender Iron with vit C as ascorbic acid (as far away from calcium and coffee as possible, usually at night) with 2 mg copper caps...
Then on sundays I take a B complex with my multis....

Some days...I just cringe at the thought of taking them all over again...day in day out!  5 years of this and I got a lifetime to go!  UGH!  But I want to prevent malnutrition...and anemia...That was NOT fun!  I want to be healthy...I'm done losing weight and now I just want to be healthy and live a long full life....So I do what I gotta do!  And LABS I get every 6 months to a year,.....No more waiting and putting it off! I keep copies of labs and compare my levels and watch them so I know which vitamins I might need to supplement a little more or less!  Or just keep an eye on with frequent labs! 

It's forever...might as well get used to it!  But I'm with ya...It's such a chore!

Thank you so much! I've compared vitamins between BA and another kind. I noticed the lack of vitamin K also, plus a few others. I think Pam has a full comparison on her blog somewhere.

I don't take copper, Omega 3 or CoQ10, what are the importance of those?

But what about an antibiotic? Those are pills. Do you take those? I have asked for liquid antibiotics, but they taste gross.

I can address the copper b/c I take it.  A lot of it.

It's an essential mineral.  However, it isn't something you begin supplementing unless there's a reason.  For me it was b/c I take so much zinc.  I take a ton of zinc b/c I had symptoms indicating low zinc levels and, indeed, my zinc levels were extremely low a few years ago.   However, one of the things that often happens when you take a ton of zinc is it interferes with copper absorption.  So....I had to start taking copper.

The copper helps iron absorb and iron was an issue for me...Like the other poster though I also had low zinc from taking so much calcium because I was low on Vit D! LOL.  We need to take calcium but it tends to inhibit zinc absorption...SO I had to take zinc to bring those levels....Taking a lot of zinc then inhibits copper absorption! LOL  AHHHHH...Never ending battles with vitamins!  So I began taking copper as well.  I was more worried about my iron than my low Vit D!  This is another reason to get labs AT LEAST yearly  (or more) because you can over do them as well as become deficient and that can be just as bad!  Some vitamins are NOT friendly in high doses or cause an inbalance that can actually cause deficiencies!!  Now I only take a zinc lozenge occassionally (once a week or when I feel a cold coming on)  And I still take my 2 mg copper...whenever I take my iron....I never want to be anemic again and I have very heavy monthy cycles that dump my iron stores (ferritin) and I am forever trying to replace/rebuild those storage levels so I do not become anemic again. 

Omega 3 are SOOO good for the heart and help prevent cardiovascular diseases....I started taking them, again, when I had anemia and had high blood platlets which are "sticky blood"....and omegas help prevent blood clogs!  (I always was big on flax seeds for omega 3's but found they are not as potent as fish oil and I hated fish for so long!)  So that was extremely important to me. Plus Omega 3's  "stick" better to cells and mine were deformed from low iron...I needed as much help as I could get!   I use Mega Red Krill Oil which is 3 X the potency of those giant fish oil capsules in a tiny little red capsule...and the Krill oil comes from Antarctica! As far south as one can get where waters are more pristine (lower fish contaminants like mercury)! Plus the mega Reds are carefully tested for contaminants!   With the endless benefits I never stopped taking them....They fight depression, lower triglycerides, lower blood pressure, help with varicose veins by stimulating circulation...a natural sun block...helps with sore muscles and joint pain....I cannot find a good reason to NOT take it! LOL I needed to heal my deformed blood cells when I had anemia...I believe this was one thing that actually helped me to heal without iron infusions!

Co Q10 supposedly works similary to Omega 3's as far as the heart goes.....and is good for your skin and aging...So...I take it, but not as religiously as my vitamins or the Mega Red! Getting older makes me want to take as many precautions to aid in prevention of disease and keep a long healthy life starting with my heart...

I don't take antibiotics...The last time I remember taking antibiotics I had a severe allergic reaction and was hospitalized and lost my baby because of a super high fever, blistering red rash and toxic shock...It was a nightmare!  It took a long time to get over that both mentally and physically!...I never took any antibiotics again that I remember...That was 19-20 years ago...I am fit as a fiddle!  LOL  Never needed them ever again anyway! I chew all pills...that I have to take.  Including my thyroid meds which taste like sugar to me.  I mostly was talking about vitamins as pills though...I wouldn't take a hard pressed vitamin in tablet form....I do not believe they dissovle fast enough to be fully absorbed in my pouch...And I have a difficult time swallowing large pills of anykind...Big chunk**** the back of my throat and come right back up!  Habit!  I cannot swallow anything that I haven't chewed to death ...not very easily anyway....I swallow the giant B complex capsules weekly...It takes me 2-3 times to get them down...the alternative is to open the cap and swallow the powder...but you never tasted anything quite as disgusting as B vitamins!  YUCKY!  I even chew and dissovle tylenol in my mouth or they are useless to me...I malabsob them or something....I have to take 4 tylenol just to get rid of a headache...and again...When I feel I need meds, you KNOW I am not feeling well because I'd rather not take any meds if I don't have to! But that's me!  LOL

Thank you!!!!!! So much info! It's great.

where do you get the correct hewable calcium? or the wafer you talked about?

Correct chewable?  I just make sure it is calcium citrate...with Vit D 3....I've been using Twin Labs Calcium Citrate Wafer for 5 years...They are HUGE...and the flavor at one point used to just make me cringe at the thought of taking it...So over the last few years I have two or three different calcium citrate chewables or powder to choose from....I use the Bariatric Advantage in Cherry which I LOVE...But it has little magnesium in it and I personally need extra magnessium...so they are not my favorite....And I love Packets of Up Cal D for a nice mild flavor...but again...they do not have magnesium either...When I get charlie horses inmy legs...I chew up one or two Twinlabs complete with magnesium and my cramps are instantly gone....NOTHING works as fast and keep the cramps from returning...So Twinlabs Calcium Citrate is the one for me!

I get them at Wegmans Grocery Store (an upscale market) or Vitamin Shoppe as well or you can order them....But just make certain that for RNY you take calcium citrate with Vit D!  And that it says on the label that the calcium is "FROM" or  "AS"  citrate!  That's all! We only absorb 400-500 mg at a time (every two hours) so you have to take them several times a day...Pain in the butt!

Example :  400 mg calcium "as" calcium citrate

 

 

Thanks for all of this great info!!!

It sure helps me to read all of this. Thanks guys!!