Vitamins and the DS

[diamond girl 2]

I am going crazy with all different people on other support boards telling me what i have to take and yet all theirs are different. I was so stressed out i turned my phone off for two nights. I was just asking where most people get theirs from any SUGGESTIONS I would love to hear. Thank you

[Ladybandito 516]

Celebrate.com. Bariatric Vitamins that taste good. There, and a very good local health food store.

[Taterweight 12]

I ordered the $3 sample pack from Celebrate (celebratevitamins.com) and have been taking them pre-op to make sure my levels are up before surgery. While I like them for flavour and the fact that they are mostly chewable and not horse pills, I will be ordering the DS pre-packaged Vitamins post-op from Vitalady.com.

Celebrate is fine for other surgery types, but from what I've researched, DS patients need much higher levels because of malabsorption and must have "dry" Vitamins. Vitalady had surgery specific packages, understanding the differences in people's needs. I'm only going to buy two months worth, since post op I know I won't be able to take much at first, and then after I start getting labs I may need to adjust.

Hope that helps, Diamond Girl! Good luck to you!

[DSwitcher 35]

I went through all kinds of gyrations in the beginning, trying to put together a GNC, costco, Walgreens value-pak, and who needs that stress?. I have met with the nutritionist, not the surgeon, so I am taking Celebrate at post op level and Vit D3, dry, which was low, to get things up in general. In Jan, I will meet the surgeon. I will start The Vitalady Packages to build up before surgery. I have decided to pay the extra for going with the three month plan, as my "guilty pleasure." After my next labs, 14 vials worth, I will reassess. It's the cost of doing business iin DS Land!

[Arts137 1,811]

Do what your surgeon and program says. Don't make it up. I use Unjury's bariatric Vitamins.

[carly0426 8]

My dr said don't waste your money. Get regular Flintstones Vitamins (chew 2 a day) a b-12 and viactive

[Sheanie 29]

It's very important to understand that there is malabsorption of the fat soluble Vitamins with the Duodenal Switch. Because of that very important INTENDED result, DSers will have to supplement heavily for the rest of their lives. We would die if we only took Flintstones with B12 and viactive. Flintstones are for children, not adults. Viactive, I believe, is Calcium carbonate, which we do not absorb for our Calcium. We need calcium citrate to keep our bones healthy.

Celebrate DS Essentials contain no Vitamin A. A product marketed to Duodenal Switch patients as "essentials" really should have A in it. Besides, any DSer afew years out can tell you that they cannot take an all-in-one Vitamin and keep all their labs at optimum levels. Primarily because we need more D and A than E and K. So in order to get all the D we need, we'd literally overdose on the others. Some of us need to take 100K a day of D to keep our levels up. You cannot possibly get that with a Flintstones chewable.

[skinnynow 1]

Your Vitamin and supplements that you take will be dictated by your labs. You need to be able to read and understand your lab reports and adjust accordingly. You should also have a full set of labs drawn pre-op to see if you are starting out deficient in anything and get it up before surgery. There is no "one-size-fits-all" with the DS as we will all absorb and malabsorb differently. I track my labs on an Excel spreadsheet so that I am aware of anything trending down or up too high. As a DSer, you want to be high-normal on most things. (not PTH or B6). Read your labs and react as needed.

[Sheanie 29]

My dr said don't waste your money. Get regular Flintstones Vitamins (chew 2 a day) a b-12 and viactive

Carly: Your doctor is an idiot. You will certainly die taking Flintstones, B12 and viactive. What are your labs showing for deficiencies? How far out are you? With NO additional Vitamin D in your supplements, your parathyroid hormone is probably through the roof.

[carly0426 8]

Funny you should ask.

I started having dizzy spells and asked my regular doctor to run my labs and takeover my care.

She said the Multivitamin was fine but added Vitamin D and Iron to the Calcium and B12

[Sheanie 29]

She said children's Flintstones was FINE? What were the rest of your labs? Do you think a children's Vitamin makes sense for an adults needs? What does your common sense tell you? Good for you that you went to your regular doctor. Are you tracking your own lab values on a spreadsheet? What was your D level? Your ferritin?

Funny you should ask.

I started having dizzy spells and asked my regular doctor to run my labs and takeover my care.

She said the Multivitamin was fine but added Vitamin D and Iron to the Calcium and B12

[carly0426 8]

I am an idiot. I'm in the wrong thread. I had RNY :-/ but I am going to make a labs spreadsheet and look into a better Multivitamin. Thanks for all your help.

[Arts137 1,811]

Sheanie, play nice. There are LOT'S of idiots in this world. And LOT'S of smart people. Here, there are impassioned, learning, caring folks. You know a LOT of important stuff. Don't let your words block your important message!

[Sheanie 29]

I did not call Carly an idiot. I called her doctor an idiot for telling her to take Flintstones childrens Vitamins. That was an important message: that her doctor is giving her dangerous information concerning Vitamins. We go to our surgeons for cutting. They know next to nothing about vitamins.

There is a glitch in this forum. My profile does not show my surgery type even after I updated it twice. I was replying to someone whose surgery type was not shown, but since this is a DS thread, I replied as such. Regardless, her Vitamin regimen is dangerously deficient for RNY or gastric bypass as well.

Carly is very smart for questioning her surgeon's idiotic Flintstone advice.

Arts137: If you wish to keep "vets" on this site, stop nannying. It's annoying when you don't follow the details.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Sheanie

[Arts137 1,811]

I did not call Carly an idiot. I called her doctor an idiot for telling her to take Flintstones childrens Vitamins. That was an important message: that her doctor is giving her dangerous information concerning Vitamins. We go to our surgeons for cutting. They know next to nothing about vitamins.

There is a glitch in this forum. My profile does not show my surgery type even after I updated it twice. I was replying to someone whose surgery type was not shown, but since this is a DS thread, I replied as such. Regardless, her Vitamin regimen is dangerously deficient for RNY or gastric bypass as well.

Carly is very smart for questioning her surgeon's idiotic Flintstone advice.

Arts137: If you wish to keep "vets" on this site, stop nannying. It's annoying when you don't follow the details.

I followed everything. I read everything. You have opinions that IMHO were weakened by the way you expressed yourself. Sad.

But oh well. If we have issues or questions for the medical team, by all means Ask Them. If you wish me to accept you as an expert, please post your credentials for us to review.

Happy Christmas!

Edited December 23, 2013 by Arts137