For newbies and those interested or researching

The vitamins are not negotiable.  You will have to take them for life.  Most surgeons and their staff do not know what vitamins we need or even how to interpret labs.  They probably won't order all the labs you need as well.  So that means you have to be able to work around that and be very creative and persistent.  Your health depends on it.

You need to start vitamins BEFORE your labs show you are deficient.  It is VERY hard to bring up deficient labs.  The right thing to do is to start VitaLady's plan, either pre-packaged or individual bottles as soon as you can and tweak when you get your labs.  I got labs every 3 months for the first year and now get them twice a year.  It is critical that you find a lab that knows what they are doing.  I've been to labs that were clueless and took 2 hours to draw my labs because they had to look up how to do most of them.  Hospital labs have been very competent in my experience.

The way you eat will change for life.  If you go back to a high carb diet you WILL gain weight.  Start now to get recipes for low carb meals.  Some foods may cause you severe bloating/gas and other problems.  Don't be surprised.  Don't try new things away from home!!

You probably can't eat too much protein.  If you don't eat enough fat you may get constipated.  There are lots of ideas about how to manage constipation because unmanaged it can lead to anal fissures which hurt like HELL and are VERY hard to heal.  Too much diahreah may cause them too.

A gallon of water a day.  This will help with constipation too.  And it is so easy to get dehydrated with the DS.  And that can make you feel like crap.  I am constantly drinking water ALL day long.  I have a bottle of water with me every waking moment.  I sneak it in to movies, church, etc...

Bone density.  If you don't get enough Calcium, Magnesium Citrate, and Vitamin D you will loose calcium from your bones.  Your body will not let you become calcium deficient even if it means making your bones so brittle that you can break them very easily.  Get a pre-op bone density scan (it is like a simple exray) and then at least yearly after that.  A lot of us take Calcium every couple of hours throughout the day to prevent Osteoporosis.  You don't want things to get to the point that you have to take a drug like Fosomax.  Be diligent about all your vitamins, water, protein and you will do great.  If you think your surgeons plan is sufficient your labs will tank and your bone density among other health problems will happen sooner rather than later.

On this forum Major Mom (Gina) is excellent at providing advice if you post or email to her your lab results and your supplement regimine.  VitaLady herself can also advise you.

So those are some of the down side to having the DS.  It is not all puppies and rainbows.  But if you want to loose the weight AND keep it off it is the best surgery available today.

Getting rid of co-morbids (high blood pressure, high cholsesterol, diabetes, etc...) is certainly worth taking a few handfuls of vitamins every day.  And living life THIN is the most amazing thing I've ever experienced.

I love my DS and my only regret is the decades I lived obese. 

Hope this is helpful

~Becky

Very true... now if we could convince our docs of this information we'd be getting somewhere!

 I have just started this journey and greatly appreciate this info.

Vitalady supplies pre packaged regimens right? I was considering that to start. 

Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and experience!

I worry that I might end up being thin, but sick. Do you feel healthy? I mean do most ds people feel normal healthy? I hope this makes sense.

I feel AMAZING, as long as I keep up on my vitamins and activity.  I have more energy, less pain, am happier in general and am just far more involved in every aspect of my life since my DS.  BEST DECISION I EVER MADE.

Hi!

Thank you very much for the information. I really like that your posts are so thorough and informative and that you stress so much how deficient you can become if your not faithful with your vitamin regimen. The thing I am most worried about is the cost, I have seen so many different posts on prices. I am disabled and have a set amount of money coming in each month. I know the price of food will go up and I am factoring that in but it still would be a nice to have some kind of price point. I also wonder depending on insurance if I should do it in two steps. Do you take less vitamins with just the sleeve? I know the intestinal part will keep the weight off, just trying to figure things out. My doc appt is may 1st. And the dr has already told me due to my IBS that rerouting my intestines may not be a good thing. I will not have the RNY though, It just doesn't sound like a good option.

Thanks again and look forward to any more information you can provide.

Lisa