I have read a bazillion posts looking for a vitamin supplement that will be a once a day sort of thing. I want to have the right vitamins to nourish my body but not something that I have to carry around and try to remember to take at intervals throughout the day. Does something like this even exist? I understand that I may need more than one vitamin, I just was hoping that once a day and done was possible. My surgery is scheduled for the 30th of this month in Mexico

My dietician recommended BioCeuticals Women’s essentials. You can get these in America now. They included all the vitamins I needed & that is even as a menopausal woman. Lol! Two easy to take capsules once a day. I took one in the morning & one at night to reduce the nausea they caused me (all vitamins give me nausea ☹️.) Initially I also took a vitamin D capsule but my levels were very good & I was able to stop taking it. I think they told me to take the vitamin D at first because I avoid the sun as I’m very fair. My blood work came back fine every time so I didn’t need additional iron, calcium, etc. as some do.

Good luck with your surgery.

No, there unfortunately there is no single one a day vitamin that fits all our needs. Depending upon what procedure you are getting, you will need to do more or less of the vitamin game. The VSG is the most benign with the fewest requirements, with the RNY being fussier, and the DS fussier still.

The main driver for most of this is that Calcium and Iron compete for the same sites to be absorbed in the intestine, so they need to be spaced out, typically at least two hours apart. Further, Calcium is limited to absorbing only around 600mg at a time, so if you need to supplement with 1500mg, that's three different doses spaced out. Plus iron at a different time (though that can be taken with your multivitamin if that doesn't contain calcium, or you can take a calcium dose with the multi if it does.

At thee beginning, we all need to be taking vitamins at different times through the day as we aren't getting much nutrition from food - protein is the emphasis for a while as there is no pill for that. Over time, as we can eat more, we usually can simplify the supplement regimen as we get more nutrition from our food, assuming one is eating nutritionally.

For my VSG, I take pills twice a day, mostly drugs. i take a multivitamin, mostly to fill in any gaps in obscure vitamins that I may be a bit short on in diet - I have cut that back to every other day with out ill effect on my labs, but the labs don't cover everything, so I just go with one a day for convenience as other pills are already being taken. I target 2000mg a day for calcium, for which I only need one supplement dose per day to attain. Iron is a twice a week thing, and maybe less (see how levels are this month and maybe drop it entirely.)

An RNY malabsorbs minerals as part of its character, so they usually need to do more with the iron and calcium supplement, and some also take two multivitamins a day; B12 is usually needed as they don't absorb that well, either, In either case, the RNY or VSG, longer term it comes down to what your labs tell you that you need, and people will vary on that - even without WLS, people vary on their needs (my wife is chronically low on potassium, which has nothing to do with her WLS, it's just her.) The DS has a similar level of supplement fussiness, though it is somewhat different in what is needed.

In short, get used to it, at least for a while. And if complying with these needs is going to be a problem for you (you know your personality best,) consider that in which procedure you choose. I know one gal in our support group who had to have her DS revised back to a VSG because she was just incapable of keeping up with its' nutritional demands and was suffering as a result.

Good luck,

I do not take iron and my labs have been great, so I take ALL of my vitamins in the morning. It is a bit trial and error to see what your tummy and labs dictate you do vitamin-wise. I take one Bariatric Advantage chewable, one dissolving B12 and one biotin, one extra D, as I was deficient prior to surgery, and one calcium chew. Like I said, my labs are good, so that is my entire vitamin regimen.

Follow your plan and adjust to maintain your levels with lab results.

Good luck!

It will largely depend on your labs and personal vitamin needs, but the office I'm going with recommends bariatric fusion. Post-surgery as a multi-vitamin you're suppose to take 4 per day (they're chewable). My office has found this has covered the vitamin needs for most their patients (there are always exceptions). I have not gotten surgery yet, but the vitamins themselves don't have directions for morning/versus nighttime use, just to take 4 a day for sleeve/bypass patients. Could be worth looking into if you're looking for a singular vitamin to take.

I just take my vitamins in the evening- bariatric multivitamin capsule with iron, b vitamin comped, vitamin d. I throw back the handful of 3 pills and I’m good. My labs have been awesome so far and my doctor is happy with this. I have the sleeve however, and I get a ton of milk products plus I eat fruit and vegetables daily so your mileage may vary.

No matter what, you must take your vitamins daily and for the rest of your life. Whether its a daily patch, pill, chewable...You are putting your health at great risk by skipping out. Organs will stop functioning properly or even cease functioning period. Permanent irreversible damage even Death can occur. It's important to have all of your levels checked regularly. And to take bariatric approved vitamins and not Flintstones or childrens gummies or lower dosage than recommended. I use Celebrate brand bariatric Vitamins. They are excellent and they even have an assistance program that's income based for those that need it....and will send them their vitamins every 3 months at no charge.

My team requires their RNY patients to take 2 Multivitamins, 2 calcium citrate, D3, iron, folate, B12, B1 (thiamine) and Biotin. I take everything except Biotin they took me off of it. My labs have all been great with the exception of recently when I ran out of B1 and picked up a bottle of B complex for women. While in the hospital for ongoing abdominal pain my thiamine level came back low. Even though I was taking something that seemed to be adequate, it was not. I was given i.v. thiamine and when i was discharged I ordered my B1 and went back to my regular brand.

So please take everything recommended by your team unless they tell you differently. You owe it to yourself to be the best possible and healthiest version of you.

Get one of those XL pill weekly dividers. They have them for vitamins. And you can dose out your vitamins weekly. If you work outside the home, get a single use one to carry in your bag for your midday vitamin time. You have to take certain vitamins apart from one another and hours apart. Set up the Baritastic app reminders to remind you when to take your supplements or even the alarm on your phone.

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Please take a calcium supplement separately to prevent interference with absorption of iron. You can view a large selection of bariatric friendly Calcium supplements at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/calcium.

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