random questions

i've had a lot of random, maybe silly, questions i've been wondering about since i started my wls journey. i thought i would post them on here and see what ya'll think.

1. if i have to pass gas or have a bm but have to wait for a little while (like if i'm in class, church, etc) will it hurt my new insides? i know the gas will be painful but will it like physically harm me?

2. will coffee or alcohol irritate my pouch?

3. how much of my medicines do i absorb? 1/2 of them or nearly all of them?

4. is there something we can take with our meds / vitamins to help them absorb better? maybe like apple cider vinager or something to help them break down since our pouches do not have stomach acid in them?

5. will my hair ever stop falling out???

6. what if i get sick? like a stomach bug...is that in my old stomach or my pouch? what about throwing up? if there is nothing in my pouch will i just like dry heave? even like with morning sickness when dh and i do decide to try to conceive?

7. what about when dh and i do decide to try to conceive...when i get pregnant would i have to see a high risk ob/gyn or can i just see my regular one?

8. how do you get enough nutrients in when you're pregnant? what if i'm not getting enough out of solid foods...could i incorporate protein drinks, v8, and low sugar fruit juices to get more nutrients in for me and the baby?

9. should i get a med alert bracelet? do you have one?

10. i know i have to wait to drink something after eating, like at least 30 minutes. what about drinking before eating? how long should i wait after drinking to eat?

11. i have to take iron supplements, vitamins, b12 shot (1x a month),  calcium supplements, and my regular medicines (am and pm)...i'm supp to take my iron 2x a day and i know i'm not supp to take my iron with my calcium or with food. how am i supp to take all these? would it be okay to take my iron before i eat? i mean at least i would be absorbing some and not just not taking it, right? what if i do take my iron and calcium close to each other? would that be better than just not taking it?

12. what about cold or sinus meds...do i need to stick with tablets or are geltabs or gelcaps okay to take too?

whoo! okay that's all i can think of for right now lol. do any of you have a random question you've been wondering about but have just not ever asked it?

9. Probably a good idea. I carry card from Dr. saying i have had the stomach bypass
11. Dr told me to take iron and calcium at least 4 hours apart. Do not take together.
10. 30 minues before, 30 mintues to eat, 30 minutes after before drinking again
7. I heard it was a year you should wait to conceive. Talk to your GYN Dr.

All your other questions, remember to keep your other doctors in the loop. Primary care, GYN, etc. My surgeon requires this, especially if you take medications through them.
 

Those are GREAT questions.  Of course, I can't ANSWER any of them... except #4.  Yes, your hair will stop falling out. 

I'll take a stab at the rest of the ones that I even know the smallest thing about.

Coffee doesn't irritate my pouch, but I put my coffee over ice, so it's diluted.. neither does alcohol, but I almost never drink.  On the two occasions when I have had alcohol, it hit hard and almost immediately. 

I was told to wait 30 minutes before drinking after eating, but, unlike some of the other WLS patients, I was told that I could drin****il like 5 to 10 minutes before eating. 

With the iron supplements, I can only repeat what my doctor told me... take vitamin C about 30 minutes before taking your iron because vitamin C creates an acidic environment that facilitates the absorbtion of iron.   

This is what I am taking right now because it's what is written in the Gastric Bypass folder we were given when I started this process. 

In the morning, I take my multi and two calcium/D tablets.  A bit later (around lunch time) two more Calcium/D tablets.  At some point in that timeframe, I take my sublingual B.  Dinnertime: my other multi and the last two calcium/D.  Thirty minutes before bed, I take my C.  Bedtime, I take my iron.  Iron upsets my stomach and I find that taking it right before bed helps.  

Med alert bracelet: I don't have one yet.. but, I am planning on getting one. 

The only answer that I'm sure of.. is still #4.  =]

1.  Holding in a fart will not hurt your insides.

2.  Coffee and alcohol might irritate your pouch but might not.  If you drink them, do it in moderation.

3.  You'll absorb most of your meds as long as you don't take extended release meds.  If you are on an extended release meds, ask your doc for the regular versions of them.

4.  I don't know of anything to take to help us absorb stuff better.  As long as you take the right form of stuff, you should absorb them fine.  The only one I do know about is that you can take vitamin C with iron.  Take 200 mg C for every 30 mg iron.

5.  Yep, your hair will stop falling out and it'll grow back.

6.  I assume a stomach bug could be in both your pouch and your old stomach but I'm not sure.  If you have to throw up, then you'll throw up.  If there is nothing in your pouch then you'll dry heave just like you used to when you had nothing in your stomach but had to throw up.

7.  I don't think you'd need a high risk OB but one that knows something about RNY would be nice.  You can also see your surgeon as well as your OB during pregnancy.

8.  To get enough nutrients when pregnancy you can use protein shakes and adjust your vitamins as needed.  I would get a full set of labs done before trying to conceive and then get labs done a couple times during pregnancy.  That will tell you if you're getting enough nutrients or not.

9.  I have a med alert bracelet.  Some people think they are important, some don't.

10.  You can drink right up 'til you start to eat.  There is no reason not to.  The reason for waiting to drink after eating is so you don't wash the food out of your pouch too fast and then geet hungry too soon.

11.  Why do you have to take your iron twice a day?  How much are you taking?  You can probably take it all at once.  You do need to take the iron and calcium at least two hours apart or you won't absorb the iron.

Try something like this:

Breakfast - multi, 500 mg calcium
Lunch - 500 mg calcium
Dinner -- multi, 500 mg calcium
Bedtime- iron

12.  Capsules are fine.  They are made of gelatin and dissolve easily in your pouch.  Those softgels that have oily stuff inside may not absorb well, though, since you malabsorb fats.

1.       if i have to pass gas or have a bm but have to wait for a little while (like if i'm in class, church, etc) will it hurt my new insides? i know the gas will be painful but will it like physically harm me? Lord I hope not! I’ve done it more than once.

2. will coffee or alcohol irritate my pouch? Coffee no although you should not partake early on per your surgeon’s guidelines. Caffeine can cause ulcers in new pouches. Not fun.

3. how much of my medicines do i absorb? 1/2 of them or nearly all of them? I have no idea. Your surgeon or a poster much smarter than me probably does though.

4. is there something we can take with our meds / vitamins to help them absorb better? maybe like apple cider vinager or something to help them break down since our pouches do not have stomach acid in them? There are chewable Bariatric vitamins, liquid ones and ones like Nutrametrix which are pre-digested. I take regular vitamins with water and my labs are fine. Remember that food doesn’t experience acid in the stomach anymore. It still gets mixed with digestive enzymes in the intestines, so all is not lost.

5. will my hair ever stop falling out??? Yes.

6. what if i get sick? like a stomach bug...is that in my old stomach or my pouch? what about throwing up? if there is nothing in my pouch will i just like dry heave? even like with morning sickness when dh and i do decide to try to conceive? That is dependent on your body. When I got a stomach bug, once my pouch was empty I did dry heave for a bit. Then I think the pouch gave up and I just felt like death but no heaving.

7. what about when dh and i do decide to try to conceive...when i get pregnant would i have to see a high risk ob/gyn or can i just see my regular one? A regular one. They will probably consult with a nutritionist to find out your needs if they’ve never worked with a post-op Bariatric patient before.

8. how do you get enough nutrients in when you're pregnant? what if i'm not getting enough out of solid foods...could i incorporate protein drinks, v8, and low sugar fruit juices to get more nutrients in for me and the baby?Thankfully, I do not know. I have not been preggers nor do I ever plan to get preggers again!

9. should i get a med alert bracelet? do you have one? I don’t have one. I should. You should too. The no NSAIDS thing is important for paramedics to know.

10. i know i have to wait to drink something after eating, like at least 30 minutes. what about drinking before eating? how long should i wait after drinking to eat?Despite what your surgical staff might say there is absolutely no scientific reason you should not drink all the way up UNTIL eating. I do sometimes. I do find I can’t eat as much when I do. That is bad in the beginning of your process, good further out.

11. i have to take iron supplements, vitamins, b12 shot (1x a month),  calcium supplements, and my regular medicines (am and pm)...i'm supp to take my iron 2x a day and i know i'm not supp to take my iron with my calcium or with food. how am i supp to take all these? would it be okay to take my iron before i eat? i mean at least i would be absorbing some and not just not taking it, right? what if i do take my iron and calcium close to each other? would that be better than just not taking it?This is something you have to work out for yourself on a schedule. Personally I take my iron either right when I wake up or right before I go to bed (in cycles. You should try to take it the same time every day). Those are the times in MY day where I’m least likely to have contact with caffeine/milk based products for two horus. Everything else is less problematic.

12. what about cold or sinus meds...do i need to stick with tablets or are geltabs or gelcaps okay to take too?I like Tylenol Cold liquid. Made with Splenda. Nighttime gives me a good buzz…er, nap. J

1. if i have to pass gas or have a bm but have to wait for a little while (like if i'm in class, church, etc) will it hurt my new insides? i know the gas will be painful but will it like physically harm me?

No it' won't hurt you physically, yes it may be uncomfortable.

2. will coffee or alcohol irritate my pouch?

YMMV (your miles may very) I drink LOTS of coffee without any irration.  I do not drink alcohol often, discomfort for me BUT it hits me HARD and I don't like to feel that way.

3. how much of my medicines do i absorb? 1/2 of them or nearly all of them?

To my knowledge there is no way to determine how much you absorb.  If you are concerned that a med is not working properly discuss it with your PCP/surgeon.

4. is there something we can take with our meds / vitamins to help them absorb better? maybe like apple cider vinager or something to help them break down since our pouches do not have stomach acid in them?

I don't think so, each of us are different as it how much we absorb.  You can tell that by post-ops experiencing different deficiencies and how we have to tweak our vitamins.

5. will my hair ever stop falling out???

Yes it will stop and start growing back.  Be sure you are taking in enough protein.

6. what if i get sick? like a stomach bug...is that in my old stomach or my pouch? what about throwing up? if there is nothing in my pouch will i just like dry heave? even like with morning sickness when dh and i do decide to try to conceive?

Your pouch, the remnant stomach is just there not truely functioning as it did before surgery.  The one concern about the remnant stomach that still concerns me is not being able to see it should you (general) get an ulcer or cancer, etc.  To see the remnant it would require opening you up, unless there is a new medical procedure I'm unaware of.

7. what about when dh and i do decide to try to conceive...when i get pregnant would i have to see a high risk ob/gyn or can i just see my regular one?

This could depend on when you get pregnant.  You will definitely want a OB/GYN that has some knowledge in WLS and vitamin malabsorption.

8. how do you get enough nutrients in when you're pregnant? what if i'm not getting enough out of solid foods...could i incorporate protein drinks, v8, and low sugar fruit juices to get more nutrients in for me and the baby?

Your baby would use the nutrients you consume before you would "use" them.  One of the reasons surgeons recommend waiting at least 18 months is because of the little foods you can eat.  I do know of post-ops that got pregnant early out and had healthy babies.

9. should i get a med alert bracelet? do you have one?

I've never gotten one, I do think it's a good idea though. 

10. i know i have to wait to drink something after eating, like at least 30 minutes. what about drinking before eating? how long should i wait after drinking to eat?

As an early post-op most will recommend no drinking 30 minutes before meals only because it fills you up and will make eating more difficult.  Further out as you can consume more the drinking before eating should not interfer much if at all in how much you can consume.

11. i have to take iron supplements, vitamins, b12 shot (1x a month),  calcium supplements, and my regular medicines (am and pm)...i'm supp to take my iron 2x a day and i know i'm not supp to take my iron with my calcium or with food. how am i supp to take all these? would it be okay to take my iron before i eat? i mean at least i would be absorbing some and not just not taking it, right? what if i do take my iron and calcium close to each other? would that be better than just not taking it?

You can take iron with food you just want to stay away from calcium, dairy, grains and caffiene for better absorption.  I say yes on better to absorb some then none.

12. what about cold or sinus meds...do i need to stick with tablets or are geltabs or gelcaps okay to take too?


I take Tylenol cold meds when I have a cold or sinus problems.  The gelcaps/tabs/tablets shouldn't matter too much.