Hey BPs,

The topic at this month's pre-surgery diet class was vitamins supplements in the first 3 months, e.g. chewables or powders. Someone in the elevator on the way down had sampled a chewable and we were both gagging (and giggling) at how awful it was. Recommendations?? Our practice offered 2 chewable options and 1 powder option, but we can bring other options in for approval.

I'm curious about this as well. We really didn't get recommendations, just take multivitamin, calcium and B12. But what we take, they recommend chewable, sublingual or gummies but that's the extent of it.

27 minutes ago, StartingFreshNana said:

I got a Tespo Machine. It's like a Keurig for Vitamins. No pills here. I also ordered powdered calcium citrate from Amazon to mix into my drinks! So far so good

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Huh, I'm going to google this! :-)

I ordered the softchews from Celebrate VItamins. I got both the multivitamin and the calcium in easy to chew but not dry and gritty forms. The B12 is a melt away one.

9 hours ago, BunnyJean said:

I'm curious about this as well. We really didn't get recommendations, just take Multivitamin, Calcium and B12. But what we take, they recommend chewable, sublingual or gummies but that's the extent of it.

Hey Bunny, thought I'd share my orders as another point of reference for you, since you didn't get much guidance. This is for the first 3 months, as stomach heals.

2 hours ago, Apple203 said:

Hey Bunny, thought I'd share my orders as another point of reference for you, since you didn't get much guidance. This is for the first 3 months, as stomach heals.

wow thanks...they actually gave you BRANDS I like that! Thanks again!!

1 hour ago, StartingFreshNana said:

If you have Facebook look for the Tespo page they're always 30-50% off vs buying the machine elsewhere. It's great!

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I read a review that another bariatric surgery person did on the Tespo. She really liked it, Felt it made her more compliant but she still had to take extra vitamins outside of this because Tespo's vitamin packs did not have enough like calcium B-12 etc. Do you need to take additional vitamins in addition to? That person gave a thorough review but it wasn't dated. She was in correspondence with Tespo and Tespo expressed great desire to work with the bariatric community. I can actually see more bariatric people using this than non. Since that review could have been a year or two ago, I didn't know if they have "upped" their vitamin packs or made bariatric specific ones. Sounds like a good idea. It's more expensive than vitamins, so I think I will wait and see how compliant I am with the chewing and swallowing pills. If not, I will do this as I want to keep my hair, bones and teeth long term!!! To me...put it next to the Keurig. Shot of vitamins, shot of coffee! win win!

I don't really get the Tespo concept -- why do you need the Keureg-like machine to dispense the liquid?

1 hour ago, BunnyJean said:

wow thanks...they actually gave you BRANDS I like that! Thanks again!!

Bunny these are the only brands that meet their specs. Note that the liquid form on the right requires the additional B-12 supplement.

2 hours ago, Apple203 said:

I don't really get the Tespo concept -- why do you need the Keureg-like machine to dispense the liquid?

The vitamins come in a powdered disc like thing. So each day or 3x a day, from what I read, you turn it on and and GO or whatever and it dispenses water to mix with the powder vitamin from the disk as a 2 oz liquid. So you put your little cup under it, and drink it down and have your liquid vitamins for the am. So yes you fill with water. I don't own one, only the research I've done. They have a FB page.

3 hours ago, StartingFreshNana said:

I also take B12 and calcium citrate separately. I found the calcium citrate in powdered formula on Amazon (2lbs for 14.99) and the B12 sublingual on a vitamin site dirt cheap. piping rock.com (search their site for bariatric)
I am pre-op and take 1 dose of the Tespo vs the 2 you'd need post-op.
I ordered the Woman's bariatric complete. When I mentioned it to my NUT and at my Nursing Class they were fine with it. Tespo lists the nutritional info. I also take vitamin D 2000 units in Gummy form but I was deficient so I've got to.
The Bariatric Complete includes a womans multivitamin disc as well so it pretty much covers everything.

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I'm going to def look into this. Thanks for all the tips and info!!

My doctors office suggested Celebrate brand vitamins. They gave me samples and I started off with those. But once I started to take them, they made me vomit. So I tried Bariatric Advantage vitamins. I was able to get a sample from a friend and that really helped. I use their black cherry or strawberry watermelon multis and the lemon calcium (it tastes like a starburst, really, unlike the Celebrate ones that my doctor told me were like starburst, it was like a starburst flavored piece of chalk). I *think* that some of the vitamin companies will sell you a sample packet of their options so you can try them out. My doctor said that regular gummies should not be used because of the sugar content. But they did say that if you could not manage the bariatric vitamins, you could use Flinstone kids chewables or Alive Women's gummies (these are a different type of gummy and I think that is why they are allowed). I tried both but they still that had vitamin smell and my tiny tummy could not handle it post op. It took a lot of hard work (and a lot of money!) to find my perfect combination but I am happy now and always manage to take my vitamins.

The nutritionist said (without actually saying) that BA's chews were what she tends to grab in her office.