Vitamins for Lap-Band Surgery

Lap-Band surgery helps morbidly obese patients lose weight by reducing the size of the stomach. Although Lap-Band surgery doesn’t prevent nutrients from being absorbed, patients may still suffer nutrient deficiencies as a result of inadequate food intake. Because of this, your weight loss surgeon may recommend vitamin supplements following surgery.

• Multivitamins - Most Lap-Band surgery patients should take a multivitamin that contains 100 percent of their daily value for at least 66 percent of the nutrients in it. You’ll start with a liquid or chewable multivitamin the day after the surgery, and will progress to a tablet or capsule. The multivitamin should contain iron, folic acid, selenium, and zinc. You should take the multivitamin with food, but allow two hours from taking a calcium supplement to avoid impeding iron absorption.
• B Vitamins – Your weight loss surgeon will likely recommend a daily vitamin B complex supplement following your weight loss surgery. A vitamin B1 deficiency can lead to beriberi, which is a condition that affects the nervous system, heart, and gastrointestinal system. Although beriberi is rare in the general population, bariatric surgery patients are more susceptible to developing the disorder. Further, folate is necessary to prevent pernicious anemia, which is a condition that causes shortness of breath, rapid pulse, dizziness, ringing in the ears, fatigue, sore tongue, and confusion.
• Vitamin D – While you lose weight after Lap-Band surgery, take vitamin D to help with calcium absorption to prevent bone loss. Your Tampa Bay weight loss surgeon recommends taking a calcium citrate vitamin D combination supplement in chewable or liquid form for the first month after your surgery. Be sure to purchase high-quality vitamins from a drug store, vitamin supplement store, health food store, or from your bariatric weight loss center. Some supplemental brands offer kits specifically designed for Lap-Band weight loss surgery patients.