One last Vitamin question

Ok, I don't really know how to ask this so I will just put out what I got.  I have know thoughout the yrs like going to the GNC store they want to sell you everything and tell you that you need it all and if you followed their advice you would empty your bank account on everything they say.

So with that being said and me having DS surgery on Sept 16th and reading and listening to all the info here from everyone this is my question.

Grand Health Partners whos doing the surgery on their website has vitamin schedules for all the different surgeries  www.grandhealthpartners.com/default/our-process/forms

You go to Vitaladys site  vitalady.com/vitanews/starter-packages/ and scroll down to the daily vitamin schedule on the bottom.

When you compare the two they are night and day.   So kind of like going to get 3 opinions from 3 different doctors who's right and who's over kill.

So when I look at the two I see way less pills the Bariatric Center says you need verses Vitaladys site.

Has anyone followed the GHP's program and what were your results with labs?  I know everyone is different but some how I feel like one site is over selling and the other one is realistic.

Am I missing something?

there are several problems with the GHP.  I looked at the RNY, not DS since that is what I am familiar with.
First of all Flintstones is never a good option.  Then they only have you doing B12 if you do Flintstones, not the other option.  We can't absorb B-12 except sublingually so you need it one way or the other.
It may be that a good multi, that has 100% of everything, taken 2x a day so you have 200% is a good start.  Then you need to add your calcuim, citrate, not carbonate.  It needs to be taken in multiple doses throughout the day.  then add your B12.  That may be all you need.  Your labs will show if you need other stuff.  Most of us need D3, some need A, K, etc.  But in the beginning, a multi, B12 and calcuim are a good place to start, unless your labs show you need something else.

Please keep in mind that doctors get zero training in over the counter vitamins.

I answered you on the DS board about doing it your way. Fewer vitamins and hope your doc is testing everything so you can increase when you drop like a rock, or doing it Vitalady's way and being pretty darn confident you're covered and adjusting a little here and there when your labs come in. It's up to you and docs will just try to manage you because that's what they do.

--gina

I haven't had the DS but I do follow the GHP program with a view variations..I don't do the flinstone vitamins first of all, I take a costco multi vitamin and I take another multivitamin (chewable also at costco that doesn't have iron) at night time before bed..I take one B12 a day and started a B complex vitamin because my doctor not GHP said that my B was low...and of course I do all the calcium like I should 3 times a day, also from costco...and I take biotin thanks to hair loss...so I guess I kind of listen to them and do it my own way and I always tell them and they always look at me like why are you taking extra vitamins but I feel ALOT better than I did doing it there way soo..

 Tony,

Like Gina, I answered your question in the DS forum.  To summarize, if you follow the Vitalady 90 Day DS plan, it will only cost you roughly $2.00 a day.

Is your health worth $2.00 a day?

Its not about cost or I wouldn't be doing this if I couldn't afford it. Gina answered it best. As it was about the quantity from one verses the other

Please don't follow your hospital program.  It looks like the instructions I was given 9 years ago.  It is seriously lacking.  The ADEKs they mention don't have nearly the amount you need.  I guarantee you are asking for problems if you follow that plan.
Vitalady is the way to go.  She even has the order list ready so it couldn't be easier.  You can always adjust your supplements up or down as needed after your labs but don't start out at a deficit before you even get your labs done.  Better to take too many and adjust down then to not take enough and worry about catching up.

I trust vitalady personally. she has lived the life long enough to know what works. Very few surgeons have lived the life and they get virtually no schooling on vitamin supplementation. Even bariatric surgeons who should *know* the needs/limitations of the surgeries they perform continue to recommend children's !!!!! vitamins for adults who malasorb,when said vitamins are barely healthy for children! They also routinely prescribe supplements suspended  in oil for patients who malasorb fats(DUH!! how is that going to help???)and have no intrinsic factor in their stomachs to absorb it? It is like throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Vitalady has pulled more posters out of a serious ditch when their surgeons have told them aver the course of years!!!!! that their labs were "perfect" and said surgeons were not tracking each draw looking for downward trends when their were glaring deficiencies in these peoples labs and they were having serious often irreversable side effects. 

They come crying to Vitalady then in a panic and she has always most graciously started them on the right track without as much as an i told you so.

My advice,since you asked,is to go with vitalady. her products are comparable and in some cases better quality than those recommended by your surgeon. I also noticed they want you to buy vitamins from them. Reckon how much they are bumping up the cost to you? Selling vitamins to patients is just gravy to them.

To start with, you can probably be somewhere in the middle. I had RNY and I can tell you that your programs list of supplements for us is severely lacking.  Vitalady's list is extremelty thorough but you dont' always need it all right from the beginning.  Try to get some preop labs to get an idea of where you are starting.  This really helps when it comes to starting vitamin supplementation both preop and postop.

You defininitey need a good multi with no iron - 2times per day.  Centrum silver makes a good one but they have several types, so read the label and make sure it has selenium in it.  You also need atleast 2000-2400mg of calcium citrate in 4 daily dose.  B12 sublingual or injections.  Most start with 1000mcg of the sublingual and go from there based on labs but others are deficient from that and start with injections.  You also need large doses of dry D3 and vitamin A- that I would get from vitalady and you also will eventually need E and K - not sure if you have to start with it or not.  Iron is also a big issue post op= so make sure you get tested now to see how much you will need.  There are 2 types of iron recommended - tender irons from vitalady.com are the cheapest and usually work great - they are carbonyl iron and already have the vitamin C in them (don't take within 2 hours of your calcium or thyroid medication)  the other option is heme (Proferrin - works great but very expensive, so most start on the tenders and go from there)  You can actually take a combination of the 2 if necessary.

Zinc and copper are very often needed as well for DS but you should go by labs as you dont' want too much of these.

Many take magnesium citrate (the tablets) with there calcium to help the calcium be absorbed better.

Again thank you for all the advice and it totally makes sense to me now.

Now if i buy vitaladys starter package and can only swallow 1 to 2 pills per hr per the doc for i thought he said the first month how do you get hem all in?

Rhamsy you should be able to help me with this question. What id you do that first month?

Thank you