Am I the only one?

I have never taken anything other than a multivitamin and prescription Vitamin D, before and after surgery.  It seems like a lot of posters on here take multiple types of vitamins.  My doctor has been checking my vitamin levels every 6 months or so (more right after surgery) and they have been great.  Not sure why I am blessed to not have to take the extra stuff, but just wondering if there is anyone else out there not taking a plethora of vitamins.

It might be worth asking your surgeon why they don't adhere to the ASMBS recommendations.  I don't think you're "blessed" to not be taking the other things, I think your surgeon has given you bad information.  

The most recent ASMBS guidelines are here -- http://asmbs.org/resources/clinical-practice-guidelines-for- the-perioperative-nutritional-metabolic-and-nonsurgical-supp ort-of-the-bariatric-surgery-patient

You should be taking a high quality multivitamin, 1200-1500 mg of calcium CITRATE, b12, and vitamin D.  You should probably also be taking iron, especially if you're a female who menstruates.  Blood work will not show calcium levels, as your blood will leech calcium out of your bones if your blood doesn't have enough.  

Have you actually seen the test results, and do you track them from one checkup to the next? I have seen sooooo many people who had labs "in range", but they were at the very bottom of the range. Or, their numbers on a particular test over time might be 80, 55, 35, 20 -- so it is in range, but falling steadily. Making an adjustment in the supplement early is much preferable to waiting for it to tank.

I'm not saying this is what is happening to you, but I see it happen a LOT. We need to track these ourselves, over time.

Some people do ok with a small number of supplements. Others take huge quantities, and it still isn't enough. Some do fine with very little for a few years, and then need to start taking more and more. It's an evolving process that we always need to keep an eye on.

I take a multi and D3 and calcium citrate as a base. I had to cut back on B1 because my level got dangerously high (which is not as bad as too low, but it's not good either!). My labs have been fairly steady, but my PCP and bariatric MD have me change doses and add a vitamin here and there depending on my labs. I currently take a 4mg dose of copper each day because my trace copper levels are either low normal or just below normal range, which will cause anemia. My PCP also doubled my D3 after the last labs because he likes his patients to be pushing the high range of normal and I was mid range. 

I have a program that tracks my levels so I can see the trends. It's helpful to me to see the trends so I know what to watch and ask about when I have concerns. 

Many of us do very well for the first several years and then when (or if) we become a bit less diligent with our diets overall our levels start to decline. Just something to keep in the back of your mind. 

Personally, I would include adding calcium citrate to your daily regimen of vitamins. Your calcium levels won't register low until it is too late and you have already suffered bone loss. Best to play it safe, IMO. 

My surgeon recommends the bariatric multivitamin, calcium, B12 and D - I am terrible at it - I do take the B12 in the am with my omeprazole (haven't gotten dementia yet) and when I remember the multi- but I can't say I'm good about it.  Just had my labs done and they were perfect.

A great deal of vitamin/mineral absorption occurs through the stomach wall. With a greatly reduced stomach area after surgery, you simply cannot get the micronutrient absorption you need to maintain good health. Maybe you've been lucky up to now, but I wouldn't continue to count on good luck for the long haul. 

psychoticparrot

You may be just lucky ...or he is not testing all that needs to be tested. Most of my yearly tests require 15-20 tubes for stuff that we select to test...  More of we decide to test items. 

And...my blood work during and after the first year was great... Year 2 and 3 when I saw things dropping...and since I did not know about looking how the numbers change overtime - once my iron and b12 stoped very low - I had a very hard time to get them up.  Iron - eventually I needed infusions...because my ferritin got so low that I was unable to take enough iron to bring it back up. 

What I've found is that the docs/nurses often (a) don't run a full panel, just their favorites, and (b) don't look at previous lab results to determine any negative trending.  For that reason, I always ask for copies of the results so I can analyze them myself.  I also hand my PCP (you don't need your surgeon for this) a list of the labs I need every year at my annual physical and it's squeezed in as preventative with no copay.