I was told vitamin patches haven’t been tested well enough to be approved by my program (kaiser). Can anyone tell me about their experience, and lab results after taking them? Vitamins are making me nauseous and I know how important it is to get them in, but at 5 weeks post op, my body really doesn’t want them!
Thanks!

My bariatric program says not to do them. Every patient that they've had that did them ended up with deficiencies. It can take months for deficiencies to show up.

@baribetty
I've been on PatchMD patches for 3-4 months now.

I just had my labs drawn and from my own personal review of the results compared to my previous pre-surgical labs, I'm only deficient in vitamin D, which I was deficient in before the surgery, every other result has been in the normal range. I'm over 2 months out from surgery, so, I would see the deficiencies already if the patches didn't work.

Now, everyone is different, placing the patches in a different spot on your body will effect absorption, some areas are just thinner than others. For me, I place them on my shoulders. Seems to be working just fine for me. I have only taken B1 and a once a week D vitamin, *all* other required vitamins were not given to me in pill form as I tested out these patches with my surgical team, head nurse, nutritionist and head pharmacist at my hospital.

If you are interested, discuss it with your surgical team. But understand that it is possible they won't work for you. I can only tell you that so far, from my lab results, they work ok enough for me to continue using them.

Edited June 8, 20188 yr by Matt Z

Thank you for the replies so far! I may try them, as they are such a convenient option!