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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I use liquid Iron, Calcium and multi Vitamin from amazon, also D, B12 and multi patches

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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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...

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

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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.

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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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, 201610 yr by smg