Interesting article about sleeve...and why to take your vitamins.

[SuperMom 33]

http://www.ncbi.nlm....les/PMC3021197/

Thought this was interesting article about sleeves and absorption of vitamins/anemias etc.

Click on link above.

[coops 1,790]

An interesting article... thank you for posting!

[wishes 125]

Interesting read!

[Sassygirl06 962]

interesting. i have only been taking a Vitamin, Calcium and b-12. i guess i need to get some more stuff! thank you for posting this.

[reallyrosy 161]

Ok but it seems to say that the pcp needs to be aware of this eventuality. How many of you who are sleeved have PCPs who know anything @ nutrition and /or sleeving???

We have to be our own advocates...big time

[mctaverne 1]

Thanks for posting the article. I've always heard about nutrient deficiencies in Bypass patients but didn't think I had much to worry about with the sleeve. Problem is, it looks like it is just as easy to get too much of some Vitamins. Sounds like it is a delicate dance. Wish there was a way to personally test your blood for nutrients. That way it would be easier to keep track of.

[Tiffykins 672]

This is why I'm such a huge advocate for taking a complete, ADULT, multi-Vitamin. Of course, trending your labs based on your food consumption, and your own personal health is essential, but supplementing with a high quality Vitamin is so important. The article doesn't even discuss free radicals, and all the preservatives that are added to foods that destroy micro and macro nutrients in our bodies.

At over 2 years out, I have never been deficient in any levels. At 18 months post-VSG, my B12 did go way too high, we cut my dose back to 1/2500mcg sublingual every couple of days, and my numbers dropped back down to normal within 2-2.5 months.

Remember, that a lot of the vital minerals and Vitamins are Water soluble, and those are the ones we find more and more VSG patients getting deficient in. The first 3-9 months most levels will stay within normal ranges especially with the fat soluble Vitamins. BUT, after that first 12-18 months is when we really have to watch our levels.

Great article ! ! !

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

Tiffykins - If you weren't expecting and just maintaining your loss, how frequently do you get your blood nutrients checked with a full set of labs? Or, do you just have specific things checked?

[Denise's New Life 43]

What Vitamins do you take?

This is why I'm such a huge advocate for taking a complete, ADULT, multi-Vitamin. Of course, trending your labs based on your food consumption, and your own personal health is essential, but supplementing with a high quality Vitamin is so important. The article doesn't even discuss free radicals, and all the preservatives that are added to foods that destroy micro and macro nutrients in our bodies.

At over 2 years out, I have never been deficient in any levels. At 18 months post-VSG, my B12 did go way too high, we cut my dose back to 1/2500mcg sublingual every couple of days, and my numbers dropped back down to normal within 2-2.5 months.

Remember, that a lot of the vital minerals and Vitamins are Water soluble, and those are the ones we find more and more VSG patients getting deficient in. The first 3-9 months most levels will stay within normal ranges especially with the fat soluble vitamins. BUT, after that first 12-18 months is when we really have to watch our levels.

Great article ! ! !

[LoserMama 37]

I wonder....are there any studies about Vitamin deficiencies in normal people as compared to those who have had the sleeve?? Sorry, I'm continuing to resurrect old threads, but very interesting stuff!

[Tiffykins 672]

Tiffykins - If you weren't expecting and just maintaining your loss, how frequently do you get your blood nutrients checked with a full set of labs? Or, do you just have specific things checked?

For our program, we are tested twice a year until the 3 year mark then it drops to annual testing. Luckily, I've never been deficient in anything so I haven't had to have any further testing.

[Tiffykins 672]

What Vitamins do you take?

I take Celebrate Vitamins.

My regimen is :

Celebrate Multi Complete (it has iron) and is a chewable - 2 chewables daily

Celebrate Calcium Citrate 500 Plus - 2 Chewable per day (In my losing stage, I struggled with Calcium because I needed 1200-1500mg per day, and it's before I found Celebrates 500mg chewable so I fell short on Calcium a lot of the time)

sublingual B12 2500mcg (in maintenance I take 1 sublingual every 2-3 days, in the pregnancy, I take 1 per day)

Before I found the Celebrate Vitamins( I actually won a Facebook giveaway of 30 day supplies of the vitamins above), I took GNC Solotron with Iron chewables, and tried various other calcium citrate products.

There is no medical reason that I have to continue chewables, I just like them. There are plenty of complete vitamins out there that are not chewable. The key to vitamins is to make sure they give you 100% of the Daily Recommended Values of ALL the major vitamins and other minerals that we simply can not consume enough of from food.

And, I read labels for a lot of OTC brands. When I see a label with a bunch of vitamins listed, it doesn't always mean it's complete. When they throw calcium carbonate in the formulation, plus Iron, those 2 counteract each other. So, reading labels, and with a lot of direction, advice, and reading on other bariatric patients who have struggled with Vitamin levels, I chose to go with a bariatric formulated Vitamin. For me the cost, outweighs the consequences of getting deficient in anything. I'd rather pay for higher quality, better formulation now then try to play catch up and have more prescriptions or buy more supplements to fight to bring my numbers up.

[Tiffykins 672]

I wonder....are there any studies about Vitamin deficiencies in normal people as compared to those who have had the sleeve?? Sorry, I'm continuing to resurrect old threads, but very interesting stuff!

Yes, there are lots of studies out on "normies" who are deficient. Vitamin D is one of the biggest deficiencies especially for those who live in the NW and NE and do not have the same hours of sunlight exposure that us Southerners have year round. Bone density is directly tied to Vit D and Calcium deficiency, and those 2 work together to make sure proper absorption is occurring in the body. Without good D levels, calcium is often lacking as well.

Pubmed and Springerlink both have abstracts and partial articles available for review of these studies. I have let my subscriptions to the paid full articles expire, but before I paid an annual subscription or a nominal fee for particular articles of interest to me back in my researching/geeking days.