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  1. #1
    Gastric Sleeve Member Darkstarwon's Avatar
    I have not had a gastric sleeve.
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    Default How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    Contemplating having WLS, so quite a few questions still.

    Can you tell me what medicines, vitamins, etc are required to take after the surgery? Hate to admit it, but I really have trouble swallowing pills unless I can take them with food and it sounds like for weeks after surgery food is very limited. Are there many pills needed? I know most vitamins are very large and I would never be able to get them down with just water and the thought of crushing them sounds horrible.

    Thanks for any input.

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  3. #2
    Gastric Sleeve Member
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    01/11/2017
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    Dr. Forrester
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    No pills. My surgeon doesn't allow pills after surgery. they said for a month. I'll see if I get clearance to take any pills at my 1 month appointment today.

    Everything has to be chewable or liquid. I had a script for liquid tylenol for pain after surgery. I never had it filled.
    Daily I take (all chewable) multi vitamin, B-12, D, and a calcium chew.

    I take this brand vitamins. I found them to be cheapest on Jet.com if you wanted to look at them.
    https://www.celebratevitamins.com/



    Surgery Day Weight 1/11: 300
    Month 1: -34 pounds, -25 inches

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  5. #3
    sraebaer
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    Talk to your nutritionist. You will need to be on vitamins for the rest of your life. In the beginning all mine were chewable, now they are just the regular pills. (But I'm still on the bariatric ones.)

    I had liquid pain meds after surgery, but didn't need it for long, not much pain.

    Once home I had a prescription for acid reflux for one month. That was all I needed. Then I had to have a shot once a day to prevent blood clots. (I don't remember how long, maybe 10 days?) That was it for meds.

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  7. #4
    Gastric Sleeve Member
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Surgery date
    01/11/2017
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    Dr. Forrester
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    I had my 1 month today and he told me I can continue to take chewable vitamins or switch to pills (except b12, that has to be sublingual/chewable).



    Surgery Day Weight 1/11: 300
    Month 1: -34 pounds, -25 inches

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  9. #5
    Gastric Sleeve Member Christie13's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    Christie
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    Dr. Wright
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    I take a multi vitamin, vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium supplement, biotin, and a stool softener. All my supplements are either chewable or dissolvable except my stool softener.



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  12. #6
    Gastric Sleeve Member Kindle's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    12/20/2013
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    Ariel Ortiz & Arturo Martinez
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    You should not consider any type of WLS if you aren't serious about taking the appropriate supplements.....for life. 90% of gastrectomy patients develop deficiencies without them. I have a friend that had surgery 10 years ago, does not take her vitamins and has a list of nutrition-related health problems too long to list.

    That being said, it's no big deal. Initially they recommend a multivitamin, iron, calcium, D3 and B12 supplements. But since its not a one size fits all, You need to get annual bloodwork done to evaluate your levels. For example, even though its the #1 post WLS deficiency reported, my iron/ferritin levels are always high so I do not take iron supplement. My D3 and B12 are on the high side of normal so I only take them 3 times/week. Taking vitamins everyday is a small...very small...sacrifice for being thin and healthy. If you don't like taking pills everything comes in liquid, chewable, sublingual and even transdermal form.




  13. #7
    Gastric Sleeve Member Sarcastic_Bard's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    12/29/2015
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    Dr. Vierra
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    I take a chewable multivitamin and a chewable iron in the morning, and chewable calcium, another chewable multivitamin, chewable biotin and fiber chewables at night. I take B12 gummies three times a week. I don't have problems swallowing pills now, but I'm in the habit of chewies so that's what I do. I don't take NSAIDS but I have no problem with Tylenol or Midol when I need it. I will be taking vitamins for the rest of my life, I'm told. It's not a big hardship at all. I think it takes up...maybe two minutes out of my day. Probably less than that. And chews aren't bad at all (just don't treat them like candy!).

    I'm going to nod along with Kindle here too about getting bloodwork done since there is no "one vitamin regimen fits all" thing. My levels showed slightly lowered iron so I still take that supplement, protein and other levels good except for B12, which was apparently through the freakin roof so I had to stop taking B12 completely for a month and now take it 3x a week.



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  15. #8
    Gastric Sleeve Member Shirl's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    Shirl
    Surgery date
    05/17/2016
    Surgeon
    Dr. Sergey Lyass
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    Echoing the vitamins for life sentiments. Def "not one size fits all" as well.

    I started taking the chewable Bariatric multivitamins preop through my 8 month. Now I take food base multivitamin pill, easy to swallow. I still do calcium chewables and Vit D3 liquid several times a week. I started taking a smal iron pill a week before and during my period only. My last three labs have come back excellent, except my B6 and B12 were too high so I only take BComplex supplement once a week. I also take probiotics and enzymes with my daily multivitamin.

    As others mentioned not a big deal to make it a daily habit.

    I have read that your first years post sleeve your labs may not reflect deficiencies, but its the long term affect that we should be taking vitamin supplements to prevent deficiency and complications.
    HW: 245lbs (11/15); SW: 226lbs (5/17/16) - Height: 5'6"

    Post-Op Weight:
    M1: 211.3 (-14.7)
    M2: 203 (-8.3)
    M3: 196.5 (-6.5)
    M4: 191.5 (-5)
    M5: 186.3 (-5.2)
    M6: (?)
    M7: (?)
    M8: 179.4 (-6.9)
    M9: 177.1 (-2.3)
    M10: 174 (-3.1)
    M11: 171.5 (-2.5)
    M12: 171 (-.5)
    Y1.1: 170 (-1)

    "Today is another day to get it right!"






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  17. #9
    Gastric Sleeve Member Kindle's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    12/20/2013
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    Ariel Ortiz & Arturo Martinez
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    Quote Originally Posted by Shirl View Post
    I have read that your first years post sleeve your labs may not reflect deficiencies, but its the long term affect that we should be taking vitamin supplements to prevent deficiency and complications.
    This is exactly right. So many people are good about following the guidelines the first year or two and then fall back into bad habits including not taking supplements or getting annual bloodwork done. But It can be 10+ years before certain deficiencies manifest. And unfortunately some can cause irreversible damage if not detected soon enough.



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  19. #10
    Gastric Sleeve Member Shirl's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
    Name
    Shirl
    Surgery date
    05/17/2016
    Surgeon
    Dr. Sergey Lyass
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    SoCal and Central Texas
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kindle View Post
    This is exactly right. So many people are good about following the guidelines the first year or two and then fall back into bad habits including not taking supplements or getting annual bloodwork done. But It can be 10+ years before certain deficiencies manifest. And unfortunately some can cause irreversible damage if not detected soon enough.
    So after reading this article on Rx absorption
    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4026560/
    I'm considering going back to chewable vitamins or finding fast release formulas in case they exist.
    HW: 245lbs (11/15); SW: 226lbs (5/17/16) - Height: 5'6"

    Post-Op Weight:
    M1: 211.3 (-14.7)
    M2: 203 (-8.3)
    M3: 196.5 (-6.5)
    M4: 191.5 (-5)
    M5: 186.3 (-5.2)
    M6: (?)
    M7: (?)
    M8: 179.4 (-6.9)
    M9: 177.1 (-2.3)
    M10: 174 (-3.1)
    M11: 171.5 (-2.5)
    M12: 171 (-.5)
    Y1.1: 170 (-1)

    "Today is another day to get it right!"






  20. #11
    Gastric Sleeve Member azladyrider's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    Sue Ashe
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    06/28/2012
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    Dr Almanza
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    I take either liquid or regular B12 and have even prior to the surgery - just depends on what I find on sale. But I take Nature Made Vitamelts for my MultiVitamin. Hair and nail supplement and biotin helped me not to lose any hair - if I did lose any it was very very little



  21. #12
    Gastric Sleeve Member VeryLargeBob's Avatar
    I have had a gastric sleeve.
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    Bob
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    06/19/2012
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    Alamanza
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    One of the few revelations I've had 5 years post-sleeve is that chewable B12 and B12 in pill form (standalone or in a multivitamin) simply do not work.

    You have to get B12 shots or use the sublingual (under the tongue) tablets. Every other form of B12 requires a level of stomach acid your reduced sleeve is unable to produce in order to be absorbed into your bloodstream.

    I made a thread about it HERE
    Height: 6'4""
    Highest Weight: 346
    Pre-Op: 330
    Day of Surgery: 318


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  23. #13
    Gastric Sleeve Member alexchoppa12's Avatar
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    Default Re: How much medicine is required to take after WLS?

    After surgery, you can't take pills for a while

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