How many pills do you take on a daily basis?

How much do you spend on them per month?

Where do you buy your vitamins?

Have you had any issues with deficiency?

I am not sure how many I take on a daily basis. I take a number of nutritional supplements since I was in my mid 30s.

lets see. 2 salmon oil. 1 cod liver oil. 1 acetyl l carnitine with alpha lipoic acid. 1 turmeric. 1 cinnamon. 1 probiotic. 1 Calcium. 1 womens Multivitamin. 1 zinc and other things. 1 Vitamin C I'm probably forgetting something but not sure what.

no deficiencies to this point. the calcium and multi were added post sleeve. in the spring and in the fall I take a course of milk thistle -

I buy some things buy one get one at Kroger and some things at Whole Body. I've never broken down a monthly cost as these are 30-120 per bottle and many of them my husband takes and some of them my kidlets take - so it would be too much like Math to figure out for me the monthly cost. it's cheaper than a prescription for my ADD though, and cheaper than a dermatologist as many of these things make your skin look lovely.

I used this book to set up my personal vitamin regimen https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Guide-Vitamins-Minerals-Supplements-ebook/dp/B007WWMXZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1467941805&sr=8-1&keywords=a+quick+guide+to+vitamins

as well as following Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Daniel Amen and Dr. Perricone's writings to educate myself and make my own decisions about what I wanted to take.

probably more info than you were looking for, but there it is.

***edited because I forgot co Q 10.

I took vitamins before surgery, and I basically take the same ones post op. I spend about $40 a month on vitamins but $30 of that is a specialty hair vitamin, which I took before surgery. So I take like 7 pills a day.

Did you have to remind me???

Let me see----

I take :

Calcium

Vit B12

Vit B complex

Multivitamin for "Grannies"

Vit D

I pay for them upfront and then my insurance co. reimburses me. I wait until CVS has a "buy 1--get one free" sale.

Hope this helps, my friend.

AM:

1 Kroger senior multivitamin

2 calcium citrate

Vitamin A & vitamin E on alternating days

1 81 mg aspirin

Noon:

2 ferrous sulfate

1 Vitamin C

25 mg zinc

Evening:

1 Kroger senior multivitamin

2 calcium citrate

1 activated charcoal

I take b12 once per week, calcium citrate chews 3 times per day, a multi Vitamin with added D, Vitamin D3 and lastly B1.

The only deficiency I have had was B1 - Thiamin and so we added that about 8 months ago. My B12 was actually really high so we stopped it for 6 months and I just started it back up.

The most expensive vitamin I take is the calcium citrate chews - I buy the Bariatric Advantage brand because I like them and they are Chews. I had. Throat surgery that makes it difficult to swallow the calcium citrate petite or I would take those.

I buy my multi vitamin and Vitamin D at Walgreens in a buy one get one free. Each bottle lasts me a year and they were cheap and worked like a charm. Same thing with my B12, I bought one got one free and it is the liquid you put under your tongue.

So far I have had a full blown labs pulled 5 times now in the last 22 months. My doc wanted them pulled earlier after I had the B1 deficiency but everything is good to go.

The thing that keeps throwing me is my thyroid. My TSH simply has not settled yet so my hypothyroid is actually acting like hyperthyroid so they just changed me again.....

Sorry ladies, I posted this on the duodenal switch forum because this is the surgery I am most interested in. I should have been specific in my question also. DSers have way different needs than other surgeries so I was looking primarily for their input. But thank you for taking the time to help me.

Which brings me to @ Peggy D...

How far out from surgery are you? Who is dictating what you take? Have you had blood work yet? How much do you spend on pills monthly?

Peggy D,

I also noticed that you don't take an iron pill. I thought that this was one of the main deficiency issues for DSers. Am I mistaken about that?

I am 3 years post-op RNY gastric bypass surgery. But the hospital that I went to also does Duodenal Switch. The Vitamin requirements for this type of surgery according to their handouts are:

(Quantity 4) children's chewable complete multivitamin's daily.

1800-2400 calcium citrate daily

A total of 5000 International Units vitamin D3 daily

1000 micrograms sublingual B12 weekly or one B12 injection monthly

100 milligrams Thiamin (vitamin B1) weekly.

You cannot use gummy Vitamins because they don't absorb. I tried the injections of B12 for a year. I had my wife give me those. She hates blood. So I saw that she would turn her head away just before she put the needle in my arm. So I stopped that and switched to the sublingual tablets daily. These must be sublingual and not time release. The chemistry for this B12 must be methylcobalamin. About a year after surgery, the blood tests showed that I was Iron deficient. Therefore I had to take an iron supplement 65 milligram tablet per day. The chemistry for these had to be ferrous sulfate for best absorption.

With this many vitamins the time spacing is important. Iron and calcium do not mix. So you need a 2 hour time spacing between the iron (in the Flintstone multivitamin) and the calciums. Also to meet the calcium requirements it will take several tablets. These need to be taken spaced around 2 hours apart. I take additional supplements other than those required by bariatric surgery. So the approach that I use is to fill up 2 weekly pill containers, one for the morning and one for the evening vitamin/supplements. I take my iron at the end of the day just before bedtime. I put my calciums (Citrical) in a small bowl. Throughout the day, I pop these. If I am up and about, I put them in a zip lock sandwich bag and carry them with me. Otherwise I will lose track.

I generally buy my vitamins in bulk size. Most of them I pick up at Sam's club. At 3 years post-op, I am far enough along that I am transitioning away from the Flintstones to a multivitamin tablet (GNC Ultra Mega Gold). GNC will periodically have online offers of Buy One, Get One Free. Overall I do not find the cost of the vitamins/supplements to be excessive. I was on four types of pills for my high blood pressure and diabetes prior to surgery and the cost of these supplements is around the cost of the pills I no longer need because those medical conditions are in remission.

Sorry ladies, I posted this on the duodenal switch forum because this is the surgery I am most interested in. I should have been specific in my question also. DSers have way different needs than other surgeries so I was looking primarily for their input. But thank you for taking the time to help me.

Which brings me to @ Peggy D...

How far out from surgery are you? Who is dictating what you take? Have you had blood work yet? How much do you spend on pills monthly?

whoops! sorry!

Peggy D,

I also noticed that you don't take an Iron pill. I thought that this was one of the main deficiency issues for DSers. Am I mistaken about that?

I am six months out from my single-anastomosis duodenal switch. The surgeon following me recommends the amount of Vitamins based on lab tests done every three months.

I do take iron. That is what ferrous sulfate is.

I have no idea how much I spend a month. The Kroger vitamins were buy-one-get-one-free. The ferrous sulfate I get at WalMart.

Edited July 8, 201610 yr by Peggy D

I am 11 years+ out from the full DS.

I take 40+ vits/minerals a day. I buy Calcium at costco, order some vits. from Vitalady & others from Vitamin Shoppe.

The costs changes as you tweak your Vitamins. For instance, I recently stopped taking something and something else just became more costly.

It isn't inexpensive, but it doesn't break the bank. Plus, I know it's for life.

I've never missed a day of vits. and still my bloods can show deficiencies. That's why my surgeons prefer bloods done every 6 mos. so we can catch it quickly (others prefer yearly). We then adjust my intake and look at the next bloods in 6 mos. Some people have Iron issues and take iron infusions instead of oral iron. I don't.

YMMV. We all have different issues but most of us are able to correct them with correct supplementation. However, for instance, I go to a bone specialist as I have osteo. issues. They can become more prevalent due to the DS (and as you get older) so I take tons of calcium and additional osteo. treatments. Others have their own thing.

Edited July 8, 201610 yr by Postop

@@Postop - glad I was able to get away with VSG. Though I respect you were really a pioneer 11 years ago (they take all the arrows).

I am 11 years+ out from the full DS.

I take 40+ vits/minerals a day. I buy calcium at costco, order some vits. from Vitalady & others from Vitamin Shoppe.

The costs changes as you tweak your Vitamins. For instance, I recently stopped taking something and something else just became more costly.

It isn't inexpensive, but it doesn't break the bank. Plus, I know it's for life.

I've never missed a day of vits. and still my bloods can show deficiencies. That's why my surgeons prefer bloods done every 6 mos. so we can catch it quickly (others prefer yearly). We then adjust my intake and look at the next bloods in 6 mos. Some people have Iron issues and take iron infusions instead of oral iron. I don't.

YMMV. We all have different issues but most of us are able to correct them with correct supplementation. However, for instance, I go to a bone specialist as I have osteo. issues. They can become more prevalent due to the DS (and as you get older) so I take tons of calcium and additional osteo. treatments. Others have their own thing.

@@Postop,

The full DS is the one I am looking at. I don't think my surgeon does the sadi/sips.

Thank you for responding. It sure is hard to find full DSers on this site so forgive me for having so many questions.

I would definately want every six months blood work. Yearly does not seem wise.

Do you get your bloodwork done by your pcp?

Does health insurance pay part?

Did you have osteoporosis before DS or is this totally due to malabsorbtion?

If you could do it over would you have taken even more calcium in the early stages after your surgery?

Thank you James Marusek. Very good information.

Thanks Peggy D. I guess I will have to learn all the terms so I know what I'm talking about Lol.

So you get labs every three months huh? That must get expensive.