Vitamins

Hey everybody!

I was sleeved on 12/10 and am down 29lbs since surgery.  I'm averaging over 60oz of fluids and 50 grams of protein per day.  I feel fine except for one thing.  My vitamins make me nauseous.  I'm currently taking a multivitamin, calcium, B12 (weekly), iron, vitamin D, and two prescriptions.  One for a low thyroid and another for acid reflux. 

I started by taking them all at once except for the iron.  Which I wait and take several hours after the first vitamins.  This was done on an empty stomach.  So then I started taking them all after breakfast.  Which is usually a protein shake.  That didn't help.  I then tried spreading them out one at a time.  That didn't help either.  So I decided not to take them today and I feel much better.

I know this cannot remain the case.  I know I need these vitamins to be healthy.  Has anyone else had problems with their vitamins?  What worked or didn't worked for you?  I have no problems getting them down or keeping them down.  On rare occasions i get nauseous enough that I vomit.  But by then, all I'm vomiting is stomach bile.  The vitamins are long gone by then.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

It will get better as time goes by. Try taking them with diluted juice rather than water, it certainly helped for me. At about 3 weeks, I went off plain water completely and drank mainly diluted cranberry juice as plain water made me feel a bit sick.

The only things I HAVE to take according to my surgeon are two Centrum multivitamins and my acid tablet. My levels of everything were fine at my 12 week bloods, without needing to take extra iron, B12 etc. I have also added Silica as my hair has just started falling out with a vengeance and that will help with re growth (and my nails now look fab too!...lol)

Were the extras actually prescribed for you, or did you decide you needed them? Maybe you could talk to them about cutting down on the number of pills by just taking two multivitamins a day rather than all the extras. They should give you enough iron, B12 etc, unless you are specifically deficient in something.

Are they chewable vitamins or regular vitamins?  I take the bariatric advantage chewables and don't feel them at all.  I take the multi vitamin, iron and sublinqual b12 (from twinlabs) together.  I was told to take the calcium a couple hours after the rest, with protein.They are a little chalky but not too bad and I really don't notice any difference in my tummy after taking them.

I hope you find something that works for you.

I take Trader Joe's chewables for my multivitamin, and luckily, they are working fine.  I have a tendency toward nausea/reflux, and have been taking 40 mg of Prilosec, then Nexium for more than 20 years.   So, if you have a Trader Joe's, they may be worth a shot.  I can even take them on an empty stomach.

Also, at Sam's, there's a powdered vitamin drink mix -- called EcoDrink, or something like that.  I bought it as well, and used it at that beginning when I was a little concerned about nausea.  It mixes with water, and sometimes I used diet green tea (citrus).  

Good luck finding one that works for you!

 

You need to take the vitamins after you eat your meal. Protein shake is not gonna prevent nausea. If they are pills swallow with just enough water to lube it down. You don't want to chug water and flush all the protein packed food out of your sleeve.

Try holding off on the iron, but see what the rest do.  And definately take with food, an empty stomach and vitamins make me nauseous every time.  The iron is a known irritant.  At least if you can get down most of them...and try to get your iron in though your diet.  Or maybe split the iron into smaller doses morning and night.  Play around and see how it goes.

 

Way to go on your loss BTW.

It may be of help to take your vitamins after a full meal, rather than just a protein shake which might be imbalanced in regards to macronutrients (e.g., the shake may lack fats which are needed to absorb some vitamins). Maybe try introducing your vitamins (each of them, if possible) at a lower dose, and slowly increase the dose (review Side Effects Of Dietary Supplements -Top 10 Tips To Avoid Them).