I know pills are essential after surgery.. But I am taking 13 a day... Is that normal? Is everyone doing this? Is there something different and less pills ?

I totally hear you on this one, most of the pill I take now a supplements on the good side I only take 3 prescriptions so, yes it's something we have to deal with...best of luck to you

Theses are ALL supplements.. No medication... Its insane!

I have 6 pills, one shot and one sublingual. Waiting on my vitamin d chocolate chew to come in

I take daily

6 Calcitrate with Vitamin D3

2 Multivitamins

1 B12

2 D3

1 B1

and a droplet of Ferrous Sulfate

That sounds crazy unless your blood tests showed you were very deficient. Why take calcium with D3 & a separate D3??? And take multi vitamins as well which already include D & B vitamins. Do they have shares in the supplement company?

Speak with your medical team & ask them to explain why so many & so much doubling up.

I took two multi vitamins that’s all & stopped taking them at 8 months. But we do have different needs.

This is actually from a printed sheet I my hospitals weightloss surgery book.. Not due to any of my personal health..

This is the recommended vitamins for all in my program...

I thought it sounded crazy!!

It is probably overkill, and it does sound like more of an RNY regimen than one for a VSG, but many programs combine the two out of convenience (their convenience, not yours!), and then tailor things more as your labs come in over the next few months. Also, it's usually easier to start at high levels and cut them back than trying to play catch up later on.

With a VSG, you really aren't malabsorbing anything like one is with an RNY, so you can usually cut way back on a lot of those as your diet improves over time. For instance, though I target 2000mg of calcium per day (which is above normal RDAs but appropriate for my needs,) I only need to take one dose (2 pills) to achieve that along with my normal diet, and I don't need any iron or B12 (which is more of an RNY thing) and B1 comes naturally from whole grains; it is arguable whether I need any multivitamin at all (but isn't bad insurance, just in case.)

It's all a big YMMV thing that settles out over time, but likely you won't need nearly that much over time, but in the short term, with a protein intense and little else diet for a while, a bit too much is better than not enough.

4 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

I take daily

6 Calcitrate with Vitamin D3

2 Multivitamins

1 B12

2 D3

1 B1

and a droplet of Ferrous Sulfate

Why ?

Seems like overkill.. I take 1 multivitamin a day (Bariatric pal capsule) I was specially told not to take extra B12 since the multivitamin has it in it. and i take 2 calcium chews a day 500mg each also from bariatricpal website. Thats it for the supplements. I was only told to take a multivitamin twice a day if it was a non bariatric type. As for actual medication I only take 2 a day for gall stones for a year.

7 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

I take daily

6 Calcitrate with Vitamin D3

2 Multivitamins

1 B12

2 D3

1 B1

and a droplet of Ferrous Sulfate

that's standard for bypass for sure. My clinic has the sleevers on the exact same vitamin regimen as the bypassers (so, this one, in other words), but some clinics don't have the sleevers taking quite as many. In the future as you get labs done, they may change some of this based on whatever your blood levels are.

8 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

This is actually from a printed sheet I my hospitals weightloss surgery book.. Not due to any of my personal health..

This is the recommended Vitamins for all in my program...

I thought it sounded crazy!!

Have you try the patches? It a lot better then taking a so many at once’s.

4 hours ago, SleeverSk said:

Why ?

See above - many programs put all their patients on the same regimen, either out of their convenience, or because they haven't yet figured out what a VSG needs vs. an RNY, or they haven't bothered to update their guidelines yet.

2 hours ago, Jimmary said:

Have you try the Patches? It a lot better then taking a so many at once’s.

most surgeons do not recommend the patches as there really isnt much scientific evidence yet that they work. i only did the patches for the first week or two until i could do pills. I highly suggest getting bloodwork done to make sure the patches are working if the person goes that route.

11 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

This is actually from a printed sheet I my hospitals weightloss surgery book.. Not due to any of my personal health..

This is the recommended Vitamins for all in my program...

I thought it sounded crazy!!

I understand those are the guidelines are you. But does it mention exact doses of supplements you may need? If that's the case you can check out Bariatric multivitamins, and these more or less includes most that you may need. I take "1 bariatric multivitamin and Vit D3". B12 and all not needed since bariatric special takes care of it. Bariatric special also has the kind with extra "iron" if that's a requirement for you (Check out Bariatricpal once a day multivitamin, I consume Naturelo brand once a day kind). Even with calcium, if you try to consume more dairy, you may be able to cut down on the calcium supplements. I don't take any extra calcium since I consume a lot of yogurt, cheese and milk (Vegetarian diet). My nut stated as long as I am getting more than 1200mg a day of calcium, I don't have to take any extra supplements. The day I am lacking, I can take calcium citrate as needed. I know calcium supplements are about half of the pills for you. If you can't cut down on those, may be try the chewables ones, so it feels like you're having chocolate or something instead of swallowing gigantic pills.

13 hours ago, Veritas34 said:

I take daily

6 Calcitrate with Vitamin D3

2 Multivitamins

1 B12

2 D3

1 B1

and a droplet of Ferrous Sulfate

That's pretty similar to what I take. I had gastric bypass, but my program has the same guidelines for bypass and sleeve. I use an app called Medisafe for tracking and reminders, but at almost 2 years post-op, I have a pretty good routine and don't really need reminders. The app is really good for keeping track of how many of each I have left, though.

A few tips to make it easier:

• If you're not taking a bariatric multivitamin, you might be able to switch to one that will just be one pill per day instead of two (I use BariatriPal Multivitamin One with an annual subscription because it's the best price I've found for bariatric multivitamins).
• D3 comes in various dosages, so try finding one that has the same amount in one pill. I take a chewable one that's strawberry flavored, so it's almost like candy.
• Try calcium chews (I LOVE BariatricPal Belgian chocolate caramel and French vanilla caramel -- they are so delicious that I actually look forward to taking them).