Bariatric Vitamins

[mdelicia 10]

A man who is pre-op in my bariatric support group told us his surgeon wants him to do 3 months of bariatric Vitamins before surgery. I thought it couldn't hurt to start on some myself, I'm about a month out from surgery now. I know the fusion chewables are popular but they're the hard chalky type, I can barely eat those now yuk. Can anyone recommend a good Gummy type?

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[ktk123 8]

I use liquid Iron, Calcium and multi Vitamin from Amazon, also D, B12 and multi Patches

[melbell2222 244]

Really talk to your doctor bc there are so many different opinions like my doctors office doesn't push Iron Vitamins bc it can slow the bm's

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[ShelterDog64 2,364]

A man who is pre-op in my bariatric support group told us his surgeon wants him to do 3 months of bariatric Vitamins before surgery. I thought it couldn't hurt to start on some myself, I'm about a month out from surgery now. I know the fusion chewables are popular but they're the hard chalky type, I can barely eat those now yuk. Can anyone recommend a good Gummy type?

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GNC makes a pretty palatable gummy Vitamin, I took them for a couple of months pre-op. I tried the chewable bariatric-specific vitamins before I bought the gummys...that chalkiness and the huge size was too much for me. I ordered BariMelts and used those for about a week before surgery and thought I had the vitamin issue under control, but about 2 weeks after surgery, they started making me vomit. Now I'm using PatchMD patches...

[mdelicia 10]

Thanks ShelterDog64! That's super helpful. My fear is buying an expensive Vitamin that won't agree with me after surgery. I'm going to look into those Patches for sure.

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[Daisee68 2,493]

Not sure any Gummy Vitamins post-op or at least early on. Many drs don't like those so be sure to check with your Dr. I use BariMelts and have since surgery 14 months ago and have always had excellent labs. Take them with food.

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[jenn2772 6]

My dr suggested vitamints from Centrum. chewable and taste like a mint. No vitamin/chalk taste at all!

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[ShelterDog64 2,364]

Thanks ShelterDog64! That's super helpful. My fear is buying an expensive Vitamin that won't agree with me after surgery. I'm going to look into those Patches for sure.

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Exactly! I was able to give mine away in my support group, thankfully, or they would have been a very expensive total loss.

The Patches aren't cheap, and I haven't had any blood work done yet, but I'm at least able to use a Vitamin of some sort. Everything else upsets my new stomach.

[sc101071 398]

Not supposed to use the gummies.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/johns_hopkins_bayview/_docs/medical_services/bariatrics/nutrition_sleeve_gastrectomy.pdf

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[smg 471]

I did a lot a research on Vitamins during pre-op. Luckily my NUT is a Vitamin and supplement "snob" (meant in a good way) and really only recommends them if she thinks they use "clean" ingredients, such as not using ingredients from China.

She recommends a few brands, but after doing my own research, I tried a few and fell in love with the Opurity Brand. I really like them, they are easy to take, formulated for Bariatric post-op use and have "clean ingredients", as well.

I chose these for a few reasons.

1. The B-12 comes from Methylcobalamin which is easier to absorb in bariatric patients. B-12 typically needs "intrinsic factor", a Protein secreted by your stomach to be absorbed (methylated) properly. However, since the sleeve, there's not as much intrinsic factor being produced to properly methylate B-12 and have it be fully absorbed, so getting B-12 from Methlycobalamin is already methylated and therefore making more available to your body for absorption. I stay away from B-12 from Cyanocobalamin as that type is not methylated and therefore not absorbed as easily.
2. It includes 250% of your daily Iron needs. This prevents having to take yet another supplement as it's included in a high enough amount in the Multi-Vitamin. Iron is another that is not easily absorbed, especially after surgery so having 250% available is nice to make sure you get what you need.
3. These include Vitamin K, Zinc, Selenium, Chromium and Molybdenum which a lot of other multi-vitamins do not, or at least not in the amounts included in this brand.
4. EDIT: Forgot to mention another reason I like these is that they do not contain any ingredients from China, which has had a questionable track record in the vitamin/supplement industry.

They're not the cheapest, but they have been the best choice for me. You'll notice that some people get along just fine with regular multi-vitamins as well, so I think Vitamins are much like anything else in that it becomes a personal choice based on what you feel works best.

Best of luck!

Edited August 7, 2016 by smg