Hi! I'm scheduled for this upcoming TUESDAY to undergo a gastric sleeve! Today is FRIDAY! I have NOT yet purchased my Vitamins. I have the paper sitting in front of me. I've attached a picture since I'm confused about the second column (regimen). Can someone help explain what the second column means?

I take it to mean with this particular brand (in the middle column) take 2 of the chewables plus 2 calcium citrate chews (and each chew has to be 500 mg) and the B12 is already included or do I need to find a B12 vitamin?

I was wanting to do chewables so I can use them as "candy"...

I'm SUPER worried about the Hair loss aspect...I was told that the BEST vitamins on the market are the Bariatric Advantage Advanced EA Multivitamin. I was also told I could throw in a hair, nails, skin vitamin.

What vitamins do you recommend as a first time surgery patient? I know the above ones I mentioned are the most expensive, but I was told they're the best of the best...is that true?

I use the Bariatric Advantage Multi Chews and Calcium Citrate Chews. They arrive pretty quickly so if you order today they should be there when you get home from the hospital no problem. I wasn't supposed to start my vitamins until 2 weeks post op because they are strong and can upset your stomach. First day I found them kinda gross but they have "grown" on me and I tolerate them no problem.

I personally have several different ones. So since i just had surgery on Monday. I am not really wanting to do pills at this moment. So i am doing the patches. But thats only for maybe the first month. After that i have the Barimelts Multivamin (They melt in your mouth) and also the ones from this website here called Bariatric Pal Multivitamin One with 45mg iron. I will wait to take those once i am more healed

3 hours ago, Vivis said:

I've attached a picture since I'm confused about the second column (regimen). Can someone help explain what the second column means?

I couldn't choose which vitamins to take. The Dietician recommended Bariatric Fusion Complete. And if I want to try something else, she has to approve it. So this vitamin that I take, you chew two in the morning and two at night. And that's it. It's complete.

I asked her about the ProCare Chewables with Iron... she said I would take one chewable plus I would have to take calcium citrate chews 2-3 times a day beginning a few hours after the vitamin, and also the calcium has to be spaced out throughout the day. Your body can only absorb 500 mg of calcium at a time and you can't take it at the same time as you take any supplement containing iron.

So I decided to stick with the Bariatric Fusion Complete, because it's easy and I don't have to buy extra calcium. It seems like less of my life would be revolving around supplements all day long too.

So the regimen column is indicating how many vitamin chewables you take, then how many calcium chews you have to take also. B12 is included in the multivitamin.

Edited April 23, 20224 yr by BypassingMyPhatAss

I read it as you’ll need to take the multi vitamin & also take the calcium (because of the plus sign) but you don’t need additional B12 as it is included in these meds (the recommended multi).

The bad news is if you are one of those who will lose extra hair after surgery, you can’t do anything to stop it. Worrying about it will likely only make it worse - you don’t need additional stress. Remember we naturally regularly shed hair. After the stress of the surgery & the dramatic change to our diet, our natural hair loss cycle is accelerated. So the additional hair you lose was always going to be shed. Your new growth is still occurring but just at its usual rate. The hair on your head is dead & nothing can save that. All those vitamins & supplements that promise hair growth may do is help your new hair growth. Just like fertiliser won’t stop dead leaves falling off a plant but may help with new growth. Same with your nails.

Once you get to your maintenance point & you’re eating larger portions & a more balanced diet, everything settles again. Even your face, which may look more drawn for a while, settles too. Your healthier diet will bring a lot of benefits to the quality of your skin, hair & nails in time too.

Vitamins can be very expensive but it may be better to start with the higher quality recommended ones to begin while your diet is most restricted. My surgeon, dietician & pharmacist all told me that the vitamins kept behind the counter at the pharmacy are always the best quality in purity & quantity of ingredients. Apparently this applies to all over the counter meds. If they keep certain meds behind the counter buy those.

All the best with your surgery & recovery.

My surgeon required me to stop taking everything for the first two weeks. After that, everything has to be chewable for 60 days. I will be taking Flintstones Multivitamin with Iron, Bariatric Advantage chewable calcium citrate, B-12 that dissolves under the tongue and a chewable Biotin.

P.S. I took chewable Gas-X after surgery for the gas pains. It was a life saver, so ask your surgeon about taking that.

After my surgery, I took the following chewables (almost all brands have the same stuff so I just went with what would cost the least!)

Pro Care Health Bariatric Multivitamin with 45 mg Iron - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085F314T2/ - "Fruit punch" flavor, the taste is a little meh but it does that job

BariBursts - Watermelon Calcium Citrate - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SV51NM6/ - Oh yeah these are freaking delicious, it was like having a little candy treat twice a day

After my doctor's office said I didn't need the chewables anymore, I switched to these:

Bariatric Choice Once Daily Bariatric Multivitamin Capsule with 45 mg of Iron - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HZ3YQ5X/

Spring Valley Calcium Citrate Dietary Supplement - https://www.walmart.com/ip/Spring-Valley-Calcium-Citrate-Dietary-Supplement-600-mg-300-count/47431969 - I take two, twice a day, and it's ridiculously inexpensive

Just a warning, I thought the chewables were disgusting. I had to throw all of them out. I have tried two different one-a-day capsules from this website. Both great.

I also recommend the Bariatric Pal calcium chews. They are like chocolate starburst, I take two of them per day as a dessert.

I took the bariatric advantage multi vitamin and calcium chews while I was early out. At about 6 months though I switched to pro care health bariatric multivitamin with 45mg of iron. It’s truly a one a day vitamin and it’s a capsule that’s much cheaper and was approved by my team. I have to take it with something though. I take it immediately after I finish my protein shake in the morning. Some people have to take it with food. For what it’s worth I did not lose any hair. I kept up my protein and took only those two vitamins. I honestly don’t think it’s a matter of brand of vitamin but I do believe that early out it’s safer to take the best when you are getting hardly ANY real nutrition.