Stuff to know about vitamin A

Today's public service announcement....

I’m assuming we all know we need vitamin A.  Like other vitamins, we don’t absorb it real well after RNY, especially ‘cause it’s a fat soluble vitamin and we don’t absorb fats so well anymore.  We need vitamin A to make red blood cells, for our eyesight, and for a healthy immune system.  If you get pregnant, you also need it for the baby to grow and develop properly.

Vitamin A deficiency is a problem after RNY for a couple reasons.  One, we just don’t absorb it too well.  Two, many multivitamins contain something called betacarotene for their source of vitamin A.  Betacarotene isn’t exactly vitamin A, we have to convert it to vitamin A in our bodies.  Only adults don’t covert it well for some reason.  Kids convert it better.  Also, you need lots of stomach acid to absorb betacarotene but we don’t have much stomach acid.  We do much better with retinyl palmitate or retinyl acetate in a supplement.  Many multis have a combo of betacarotene and one of the retinyls, so we might only absorb some of the vitamin A in our multi.

Symptoms of vitamin A deficiency include night vision, then other problems with eyesight, dry itchy eyes, dry cracked lips, very dry skin and getting sick easily.  Usually your level is pretty seriously low before you start having symptoms though.  That’s why we need to get our vitamin A level checked along with other labs on a regular basis.  Some docs don’t check vitamin A routinely for some reason, so you may need to ask yours to order that test when you get labs done.

For more info on  vitamin A, go read Andrea's blog.  She knows way more about it than I do.

www.wlsvitagarten.com

Thanks for that PSA--I'm getting labs done early May for my 2 year surgiversary and I'll be sure to get the A checked!

Kim

Beginning to think you're reading my mind.  I've been looking into vitamin A suppliments this week.  I've asked 2 doctors to add it to my every 3-month labs but they insist there's no reason to.  I have managed to get most of the other labs I need added though, so I'm heading in the right direction.  Considering heading over to Any Lab Test Now and just paying out of pocket to get it done to see where my levels are so I know if I need suppliments and how much.  Great PSA.

Will they do it anyway even though they think there's no need?  My surgeon will do that.  She''ll say I really don't need something and I just say well, I'd feel so much more comfortable if I had it so could she please order it anyway.  And she will.

If you have to pay yourself, you probably don't need it every three months.  Do it every six.

I will readdress it at my next appointment.  I did manage to get most of the smaller tests ordered between my surgeon and my endocrinologist but it was more of a challenge than I had expected.  The PCP who got me through the preop phase retired at the end of the year and I meet his replacement in May.  We'll see if she's a keeper at that point.  If not, there's another PCP in the same office that my daughter sees who is due in April and I'll just switch over to her when she's back from maternity leave.  I know she'll order the tests I need.

Once you get 'em ordered once, it'll probably be easier in the future 'cause you can just say here's the list of what you've been having done.

You're right.  Once they've been ordered once, docs are usually on board with just repeating as needed. 

Do you have an A supplement that you feel is better than the others?

It needs to be dry, like a capsule with powder in it, not a softgel with oil.  That's 'cause we malabsorb fats.  It's kinda hard to find dry ones.  I use the 25,000 IU tender A from vitalady, but that's no better than any brand of dry A, as long as it's not betacarotene.

Vitamin A has been my worst deficiency.  I had been on Vitalady Vit A 25,000 for 6 months and that brought it to low normal and at my 2 yr labs it only went up one point - but it is still low normal.  I'm taking 2 a day now and will have it rechecked in 6 months.

Also, the dietician gave me a list of foods high in Vit A (at my 1 yr post op appointment).  I didn't think it would make much difference due to malabsorption, but I ate yellow peppers and pureed pumpkin every day.  It didn't do anything.

I didn't have any symptoms.  Just labs that were low.