Please Take Your Suppliments

[Willow4]

Last night I went to my WLS monthly meeting, and the subject was supplements and why we need them, after Bariatric Surgery.

New guide lines from last December, states even Band patients need B12 and supplements, as well has Bypass and Sleeve.

The small amount of food are bodies take in, can not give you all the vitamins you need.
Which resulting in vitamin and mineral deficiencies can have serious medical implications.

Best vitamins are from your Doctor, but if you buy the over the counter ones like over 50 A Z etc you must take two every day, with the Doctors you only need the one tablet.

Reason why they are stressing you take these everyday.
A lady in the Leeds Bariatric: Two months ago she died, because her zinc levels were really down.
Even though her team Kemp on telling her she needed to take them everyday, she thought she was doing right not to take them everyday.
This nearly resulted in the Leeds hospital Bariatric part closing down, but they have stayed open but now make it a lot harder to get your operation.

So we must take good quality vitamins, and make sure we have our B12 every 3months.

 

[sharon2014]

That's good to know Willow! I will be asking my doctor about these...my dad gets b12 injections so I maybe a candidate anyways!!

Xx

 

[los in it]

so far nearly 9 months post gastric bypass ive not yet needed the B12 injections but I will go back to my gp and get myself re tested

 

[janet_hi]

At Bournemouth they don't give you B12 and said at meeting that under their guidelines they don't feel it's necessary for patients to get this injection also not to go Drs for it either. They just monitor your blood only if the tests at various points in year are low will they allow, I will be having a By-pass this month. It is weird how all these hospitals are so different.

 

[Jamast]

so far nearly 9 months post gastric bypass ive not yet needed the B12 injections but I will go back to my gp and get myself re tested

If I were you, then I would go to docs and insist on B12. I'm just over a year post bypass. I take my supplements as I should and originally had b12 every three months as recommended. Even though on paper my b12 levels look ok, I had to start having the injection every 8 weeks as I keep getting blood blisters in my mouth which is a sign of b12 deficiency.
Last week I was told that I have a form of anaemia caused by b12 & iron deficiency and have to have an iron transfusion and move my b12 jabs to every 4weeks.
Also severe b12 deficiency is quite dangerous and can actually cause heart problems.

 

[Debs!]

I had my sleeve on the 10th June - my GP will only prescribe Adcal D3 and Lansaprozole. He said no need for iron or B12 - unless blood test suggests otherwise. Flatly refuses to prescribe vitamin table and says I can buy them over the counter. I went 3 time and even took the GP guidance with me - but he wont budge. My GP is generally lovely - but it seems its a hit and miss affair as to what they will and will not prescribe and no one appears to mandate it

 

[Willow4]

Thank you Jamast for telling us this.

Hi Janet_H
All the best with your Bypass, and your journey.
All Bypass should have a B12, reason they cut out the part that the vitamin B12 makes, you still have a small amount of B12 and vitamins in your body but not enough to keep you healthy, also food even though will give you some vitamins.
If you dont have a B12 you can become tired and lack energy, become irritable and depressed.
Its also helps in the production of healthy red blood cells, that carry oxyen around the body.
Has Jamast low B12 can cause sore red tongue, mouth ulsers, changes or loss of some sense of touch, yellowing of the skin, tinnitus which they have found since surgery to have increased in some patients.
Feeling out of breath, faint and headachs and the list goes on.

Debs:
Get back on to your team, and tell them to send a letter to your Doctor. Lot but not all know about the WLS, or how to deal with it I should say.
Has more people are now having this operation, and the surgery's have little amount of money in the pot
they think it's up to the hospital to provide all the meds you need.

Trouble is what happens in two three years and later on down the line.
When we have all been discharged from the hospital

I know Doncaster and Sheffield are looking into this very seriously, as they dont want to loose anyone on there patch.
Even down to sending registered letters out to patients, so they know they have read them and it doesn't fall back on to the hospital.

I dont mean to scare anyone, I just want to put over how importent it is to take vitamins and have B12 injections.

 

[Tules]

I think the over the counter vitamins are perfectly fine so no need to ask the GP (my surgeon suggested 2 Centrum advance daily) however b12 is just important so may we should focus on getting that prescribed. My surgeon suggested 2 years of b12, and then regular checks. GP agreed but also said too much of it is not good either.
Good luck to you all to.get the b12.

 

[Tina.W12]

As B12 is a water soluble vitamin it is difficult to overdose IMHO it is better to have too much B12 than not enough, I take sublingual B12 daily and also have the injections, so far I haven't suffered from loss of energy. I also take omega 3, k2, magnesium citrate, Vit C as well as prescribed multi vits, calcichew, iron and lansoprazol

Sent from my iPhone using WLSurgery

 

[Llora]

At Bournemouth they don't give you B12 and said at meeting that under their guidelines they don't feel it's necessary for patients to get this injection also not to go Drs for it either. They just monitor your blood only if the tests at various points in year are low will they allow, I will be having a By-pass this month. It is weird how all these hospitals are so different.

My team is only giving b12 injections if the bloods show the need too. At least thats how i understand it. I had by pass too.

 

[Carrying excess baggage!]

I'm waiting for my 1st appointment next week, but my GP warned me I would need to have B12 for life. I wonder why they can't agree?!