Hi fellow sleevers! I am having my surgery this wednesday!!!!! Getting myself prepared for post op! What vitamins are you taking? My BIGGEST concern is thinning hair, as I have PCOS and already started to thin on top : ( I know I will lose more, but, I would like some suggestions on what I should buy for good health after I cross over to the sleeved side!!! Thanks!

Hi fellow sleevers! I am having my surgery this wednesday!!!!! Getting myself prepared for post op! What Vitamins are you taking? My BIGGEST concern is thinning hair, as I have PCOS and already started to thin on top : ( I know I will lose more, but, I would like some suggestions on what I should buy for good health after I cross over to the sleeved side!!! Thanks!

Emmas mom ! I had my sleeve surgery on Feb. 14th,2011. For thinning hair I take Biotin and let me add I think it has helped tremendously. But I do notice when I comb my hair I do lose more strands of hair than I did before my pre-op and my post-op phases. Also this is something that you need to take for awhile before you notice any difference because it has to get into your system so to speak. I have read somewhere on this forum that your bodys hair growth responds to what your system has gone through in say the previous four months. So what you take for hair growth it may take your body four months to respond to. Also I am an older sleever 57 years old and it was brought up by one of the members of the support group that biotin helps all hair growth it cannot just target head hair growth. So if you have a issue with facial hair remember it could help that hair grow more also. I haven't had a problem with facial hair so I am pretty lucky so far I haven't noticed any growing, but I have noticed that my leg hairs are more pronounced since taking biotin. I started taking biotin in my pre-surgery days.

Here is a list of what vitamins I take.

Biotin Super Strength 7500 mcg

600mg Calcium +D - 1 tab 2xday

B-1 500 mg

D3 1000 IU - 1 tab 2xday

Fish Oil 1200 mg w/360 mg OMEGA-3 - 2 daily

sublingual High Potency B-12 2500 mcg

Senior Multi-Vitamin - 1 tab 2xday

I have an issue with constipation since pre-op dieting so I started taking a 100 mg stool softener tablet to help and if I didn't go after a day or so upped it to 2 and if I still didn't go I upped it to 3 tabs a day. I have found that the 3 tabs a day of the stool softener works the best for my system and I usually go every 3rd day and I don't need to strain myself to go either. - I know - TMI - right? But just thought you would like to be prepared is all. Hope this information helps you and good luck with your surgery!

I am taking a liquid multi-vitamin, liquid calcium (that also has multiple vitamins in it) liquid zinc, chewable vitamin C, subligual B12 and liquid fish oil twice a day. I want to add iron but my surgeon says no pills until a least 3 months out and I can't find a liquid iron.

Biotin. Yes, it does make other hair grow more but it's worth it. My daughter was watching Dr. Oz one day and he said you can lose up to 150 hairs a day and it's normal.

Anyone considering WLS should start the Biotin now. It needs to be in your system for a while to help protect you from the severe hair loss. We were actually told when attending our seminar to start taking it! It's cheap and a little pill, easy to swallow. I'm 4 months out and have been on it, thanks to that seminar, for about 18 months. From what I understand, 4 months is when the typical shed begins, so I'm hoping everyone is right about how much this helps.

And for your calcium, buy calcium citrate. It's highly recommended over calcium carbonate as your body is able to absorb and use it more. Calcium citrate is available on a lot of forms. I take 1 chew and 1 pill each day to get my total in. I love the Calcate Lemon chews but they are pricey so it's just a daily treat and then I use a pill for the rest.

I'm just taking the multi-vitamin and calcium that the surgeon normally prescribes. I don't have to take anything else yet.

I'm on Kaiser Fremont's Vitamin regime which you can view or download here:

http://www.permanente.net/homepage/kaiser/pdf/63279.pdf

Lynda

I take Centrum Chewable Multi vitamin each day

I do sublingual liquid B Complex dropper ful each day

I take a vitamin D and vitiman E suplement each day

And my favorite friend is Biotin.... I started taking it at 1 month post op.. I take 5000 mcg twice a day - I found it at Meijers stores for 10.00 a bottle of 60.. It does promote hair growth, like the others said I notice more hair underarms, leg, nose hair.. but I can control those! ... I still lose hair, but I feel Biotin has helped a great deal... it also helps your nails stay strong!