Vitamin Patches - Can we trust them?

[BajanSleeve 244]

I bought 3 months supply of vitamin patches before I had surgery and 2 months in and I am starting to use them. But I have been on Google looking up Vitamin Patches and what I am reading is starting to cause me to think they are not a reliable source of vitamin intake. So now I am quite concerned that I am not getting the Vitamins I THINK I am.

Have any of you been using vitamin patches for a long time? when you have gone for your check ups have you been deficient ? im thinking of going to get a vitamin B12 shot since reading all of this cautionary reports

On another note the vitamin industry is not regulated and some of the reports I have read are that many of the tests revel that they don't have the level of vitamins they claim to have in any event. Do you know of any vitamin brands that are certified and independently tested? Maybe some of you have already searched this in depth and can share the info. Thanks.

[Matt Z 4,139]

@BajanSleeve This is going to open up a huge can of worms. I've been using them for 4-5 months, I started before my surgery. My surgeon, nutritionist, head nurse and pharmacist all got together and agreed to let me try them out. They also have heard all the negatives etc. And Yes, there is some concern surrounding the reported amounts vs the weight of the patch... etc etc etc etc etc. I've been banded since 2011, never really took any Vitamins with any consistency at all until these. My 3 month check up labs were good. My surgeon is happy with my labs and is allowing me to continue using the Patches.< br />
You are going to hear a lot of "don't use them" coming up... The choice is up to you (and it's a good idea to make sure your surgeon and surgical team are aware of your choice). I for one like not having to take a ton of vitamins by mouth. I still take Biotin every day, on my own, not by doctors orders. And I still take 1 Vitamin D pill a week. I also take a different Vitamin D every day, on my own, because I live in New England and... there are long stretches of time where it's not possible to create any D from the sun.

My daily vitamin routine, I put on 3 patches (multi, Calcium with D, b12) I chew 1 biotin tab and chew 1 dose of chewable Fiber. Monday's I take my prescribed vitamin D, and every day I take 1 vitamin D tab. And that's pretty much it.

[BajanSleeve 244]

@Matt Z thanks for much for your reply. What I note is that YOU have been using them for a while and your labs are good. So that is a controlled experiment as far as I can tell. I really wanted to hear from people like you who have actually been using them for a long time. Thank you for taking the time to reply

1 hour ago, Matt Z said:

The choice is up to you (and it's a good idea to make sure your surgeon and surgical team are aware of your choice).

I had my surgery in Mexico and I live in Barbados so I do not have access to a medical support team. My GP is really not au fait on bariatric surgery so I have to rely on doing my own research and asking questions like this in a forum.

[GreenTealael 25,359]

Give them a try but the moment you see signs of a deficiency

use standard Vitamins and check in with your GP to run labs.

a lot of Vitamin deficiency are dangerous, can't stress this enough.

I've been told NOT to use them by my team but i am super curious about the efficacy,

other patch delivery mechanisms seem to work, i.e. nicotine , why not this?

if the vitamins are in them at all i guess is the issue...

Edited July 27, 2018 by Tealael

[sillykitty 10,775]

I think I am the can of worms

I posted this a couple of weeks ago on the topic of Vitamin patches:

I looked into the Patches and was seriously considering using them, because most supplements cause me nausea. I spoke in depth to my surgeon's PA (she has a much better bedside manner!) about them. She has the same issue w nausea, and had looked into them herself. She was skeptical and ultimately decided against them. She told me I should use the patches only as a last resort, as they might be better than nothing. Thankfully she suggested the Multivitamin she takes, and it's easy on my stomach, so that problem solved.

When I was considering the patches I also talked to a good friend of mine who's a GI. He very much doubted that most Vitamins and minerals could be absorbed transdermally. I asked him about labs tests to verify, and he said that labs can be very misleading and it can take many months, years, or even decades for deficiencies to show up. He said for instance Calcium will almost never show deficient, our bodies will just take from our bones. And that labs don't even test for all the vitamins and minerals we need.

So taking those two opinions, plus my own doubts from this article, stating that the weight of the patch was significantly less than the combined weight of the claimed vitamins and minerals on the patch. https://www.unjury.com/blog/important-information-if-you-are-recommending-a-patch-vitamin/ . It just puts patches into the too good to be true category, and I'm staying away.

And then there was this thread very recently. I'm linking from @Matt Z post, and then read down for my and @KimTriesRNY responses

[sillykitty 10,775]

5 hours ago, Matt Z said:

My surgeon, nutritionist, head nurse and pharmacist all got together and agreed to let me try them out.

I dated a physician for quite a long time. One thing I learned is they are not all knowing, ESPECIALLY outside of their specialty. They will disagree vehemently within their own department. One thing he told me is to trust my own intelligence, knowledge, education and experience. If something doesn't make sense to me, then don't hesitate to question, respectfully of course. If a physician doesn't react well then find another because a good physician would welcome the learning experience and be grateful their patient is empowered about their own health.

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

I of course agree not enough research exists out there LONG TERM to back up the use of the vitamin patches. A four month post-bypass lab draw is not enough time to say they are working.

I had read about a clinical trial on these Patches I think in 2016 or the very beginning of 2017 and there is no published data from that I have been able to find. So that can tell you how long testing needs to be done for.

It is much easier to prevent a deficiency than correct one, so keep that in mind.

We all wish there was an easier way but why is there no long term vet than can speak to the efficacy of these patches? Likely because they don’t use them and right now, there is a reason for that.

[sillykitty 10,775]

2 hours ago, Tealael said:

other patch delivery mechanisms seem to work, i.e. nicotine , why not this?

I had a long conversation with my Dr. ex about this. He explained that transdermal medications take a lot of research and manipulation to allow the medication to pass through the skin's barriers. Prescription drug companies must invest in this because they are regulated by the FDA, but supplements and these Patches are not. So it is safe to assume that Patch MD has probably not put the investment into research and molecular manipulation to sell patches at less than $1 each.

Also we spoke about how one of the main functions of the skin is to keep just about everything out. If it didn't, we could never go into the ocean, or else we would die of a sodium overdose, we couldn't use lotion, not to mention bug repellents like deet.

[Matt Z 4,139]

On 7/27/2018 at 2:44 PM, BajanSleeve said:

I bought 3 months supply of vitamin patches before I had surgery and 2 months in and I am starting to use them. But I have been on Google looking up Vitamin Patches and what I am reading is starting to cause me to think they are not a reliable source of Vitamin intake. So now I am quite concerned that I am not getting the Vitamins I THINK I am.

Have any of you been using vitamin patches for a long time? when you have gone for your check ups have you been deficient ? im thinking of going to get a vitamin B12 shot since reading all of this cautionary reports

On another note the vitamin industry is not regulated and some of the reports I have read are that many of the tests revel that they don't have the level of Vitamins they claim to have in any event. Do you know of any vitamin brands that are certified and independently tested? Maybe some of you have already searched this in depth and can share the info. Thanks.

Just had my 6 month labs drawn and everything is still in the "normal" range. My D is back up thanks to additional supplementation, a few other minimal changes, but nothing more than a few points up or down. Interpret that as you wish.

[Snapple 42]

My husband is a physician...a Pulmonologist and an Internal Medicine specialist and he does not believe in these.