Hello! I am pre-op, i am expecting my surgery date to be early September. I have seen many brands for vitamins and types of vitamins that are single dose vitamins that have all nutrients in one. And other vitamins where you have to buy mutiple types. Which is the better one? Is there a diff? Does the vitamin matter if you have VSG or Gastric Bypass? Im going with Gastric Bypass

Thanx

vitamin brands don't matter as far as sleeve vs gastric bypass go.

single dose bariatric-specific vitamins tend to be more expensive, but then you also have to figure out the cost of buying separate vitamins (and taking two multivitamins a day, too). I do the latter, but I don't buy expensive brands, so I'm probably still coming out ahead. And there's the convenience factor to consider. As long as you're meeting the requirements, either option will work - it pretty much just comes down to personal preference.

I take Procare bariatric multivitamins, because they have the iron in them and it's one capsule. They are great and pretty reasonably priced compared to most I've tried.

The bariatric advantage also has iron and is a chewable multivitamin. I take two of those a day and two of the calcium citrate chews they also make. Both taste pretty good. They have lots of flavors and are more than happy to return them if you don’t like a flavor. They also have an auto ship program where they ship them every month and you get free shipping.

Edited August 11, 20215 yr by ShoppGirl

On 7/22/2021 at 1:59 PM, STLoser said:

I take ProCare bariatric Multivitamins, because they have the Iron in them and it's one capsule. They are great and pretty reasonably priced compared to most I've tried.

Yes, based on your suggestion of these I ran it past my surgeon's office & dietician and they said it looked good and if I take this I will no longer need all the extra supplements such as Calcium, B1, B12, etc. in addition to it as it seems to have enough.

However, I suspect I MAY still need extra iron as per my usual issues and need of it throughout my life. I usually take 65mg and that is not enough at times and the highest you can get it in this vitamin is 45mg. So yeah, I expect to need more iron. Just waiting on them to arrive.

Yes, based on your suggestion of these I ran it past my surgeon's office & dietician and they said it looked good and if I take this I will no longer need all the extra supplements such as Calcium, B1, B12, etc. in addition to it as it seems to have enough.
However, I suspect I MAY still need extra Iron as per my usual issues and need of it throughout my life. I usually take 65mg and that is not enough at times and the highest you can get it in this Vitamin is 45mg. So yeah, I expect to need more iron. Just waiting on them to arrive.

They're great. My surgeon actually suggested them to me. I just had my labs done and all my levels were great!

3 minutes ago, STLoser said:

They're great. My surgeon actually suggested them to me. I just had my labs done and all my levels were great!

Do you have to take extra calcium?

9 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

Do you have to take extra Calcium?

I sent my docs the link to these and they told me I did NOT have to take extra Calcium, B1 or B12 and possibly no extra Iron (cause this one a day had enough of each) but I doubt that since I'm anemic and always need more. But for the average normal person there is plenty of that too.

Edited August 12, 20215 yr by SummerTimeGirl

9 minutes ago, SummerTimeGirl said:

I sent my docs the link to these and they told me I did NOT have to take extra Calcium, B1 or B12 and possibly no extra Iron (cause this one a day had enough of each) but I doubt that since I'm anemic and always need more. But for the average normal person there is plenty of that too.

I thought they said that iron affects calcium absorption or vice a versa and I have to take them all two hours apart so how could the calcium and iron be in the same vitamin and absorb properly? I’m not being smart I’m really asking. Lol. Because the idea of taking one pill a day instead of four things is has peaked my interest for sure

Edited August 12, 20215 yr by ShoppGirl

2 minutes ago, ShoppGirl said:

I thought they said that Iron affects Calcium absorption or vice a versa and I have to take them all two hours apart so how could the calcium and iron be in the same Vitamin and absorb properly? I’m not being smart I’m really asking. Lol. Because the idea of taking one pill a day instead of four things is has peaked my interest for sure

No, I totally get it. LOL Just telling you what I was told. I will have my blood drawn next month so I guess we'll see. My supply finally came today. STLoser said their labs always come back good too so fingers crossed just this one a day will be enough for everything we need. I too was thrilled about the one a day. LOL

Do you have to take extra calcium?

Yes, my surgeon does have me on extra calcium, but I had the Loop DS so they may because of the malabsorption that goes along with it. I'm also 50 years old, so even with no surgery they'd probably advise me to take extra calcium since I'm female.
Also, my surgeon said it takes a long time for your calcium to register as low so you can have kidney damage before it shows up. So I take it faithfully. I don't mind. I also take extra vitamin B1, zinc, and folic acid. I was on extra vitamin D and K, but my levels were high last time so I'm off those now.

I thought they said that iron affects calcium absorption or vice a versa and I have to take them all two hours apart so how could the calcium and iron be in the same vitamin and absorb properly? I’m not being smart I’m really asking. Lol. Because the idea of taking one pill a day instead of four things is has peaked my interest for sure

Yes, that is true. I take my Procare and other extra vitamins in the morning, and wait 2 hours before taking calcium.

Here is my bottle of Procare. It does not contain calcium.

Hmmmmmmm, now I'm curious as to why both the surgeon and dietician told me I didn't need to take those extras? My next blood work will be interesting.

11 minutes ago, SummerTimeGirl said:

Hmmmmmmm, now I'm curious as to why both the surgeon and dietician told me I didn't need to take those extras? My next blood work will be interesting.

I think if it were me I would ask them again specifically about calcium. Assuming What stloser said above is correct about calcium taking a long time to register as low you may not want to wait till your labs show a deficiency.

1 minute ago, ShoppGirl said:

I think if it were me I would ask them again specifically about Calcium. Assuming What stloser said above is correct about calcium taking a long time to register as low you may not want to wait till your labs show a deficiency.

Agreed. I have video meetings with both next week and will ask for sure.