Hello, 5 year DS patient here

[Jeannie84003]

My name is Jeannie and I had the DS surgery almost 5 years ago. I have lost over 250 lbs in the first year, and have never felt better in my life. I maintain my weight well now, but am struggling with a lot of different issues that you all probably can relate to. The most pressing right now is my Dr wants me to come in to discuss a revision of my surgery because my vitamin levels are and have been low. I have gone in for several infusions while waiting for my body to figure out how to absorb the food. Now it seems he is done waiting and just wants to cut me open again, and I don't want another surgery. I go through bariatric advantage for my vitamins, and do double the amount that they recommend. ALL my levels are low, every single one. I need to do something different and at one time I looked at changing my routine and decided against it, my Dr. felt that every vitamin company is the same, so he just told me to double up on everything. I'm ready to try to change things around, but I don't have much money right now. My insurance doesn't cover WLS and I'm afraid they won't cover the revision either. I am willing to disclose my levels for advice on what to do differently to try to get my levels up.

Thanks for the support!

 

[southernlady]

Welcome, @Jeannie84003
1) STOP taking the Bariatric Advantage
2) Get on the Vitalady regimen listed here ASAP based on YOUR lab work. http://bariatricfacts.org/threads/vitalady-links.11/

Make a new post in the vitamin board with your last lab work, including ranges. Exactly what vitamins you take, and how much.

Avoid surgery IF you can. Oh and iron infusions are COMMON for WLS patients...so unless he completely reverses your DS, you will still probably have this issue for life.

 

[Larra]

Hi again! I was afraid you were getting that kind of generic advice, and sure enough, you are. BA makes some good products, but our vitamin needs seem to be very individual despite having the same operation, and even that is a generalization because different surgeons make different sized sleeves, different lengths of the intestinal limbs, some use Hess method and others don't, etc.

The only BA product I use is their calcium citrate, and that's only because I have so much trouble swallowing large pills. Their chewable lozenges have really saved the day for me. But if you aren't taking the separate "dry" D, A, and K you will just never get your levels where they need to be, and you may be taking unnecessary amounts of other vitamins. And if you are using ADEKs, forget it! They sound perfect, but contain so little of each component that for us, they are useless.

If you can't find the dry vitamins you need at Vitalady, you can order them directly from the manufacturer (Bio-Tech) or on Amazon. We even have a link on this website for Amazon orders.

I'm glad you're here now, and remember, whatever the vitamins cost, it will be far, far cheaper than any surgery.

 

[Jeannie84003]

Thank you for the information and the invitation to the site, I always get overwhelmed by the numbers, I have a really hard time knowing what I should be taking or doing. my family do not understand the survey, or the complications, and food addictions I struggle with

 

[hilary1617]

Hi and welcome @Jeannie84003 ! I definitely recommend following the above sage advice offered by Larra and SouthernLady . They know their vitamins! I get iron infusions every 3-6 months as oral iron upsets my stomach. Easy peasy and they make me feel so much better!

 

[Munchkin]

BA vites are not for you! They are a nice income stream for your doc. The first thing you need to do is get on a good supplement schedule with the right products. Post your labs! There are lots of things to try before you opt for another surgery and run the risk of regain.