Question about vitamins after GBS
 

I got a letter today in the mail from the clinic with the results of my blood work on Wednesday. That was pretty fast--I was sure I would have to wait until Monday to hear. Here are the results:

1. My blood sugar was low, but not a lot. The normal is 70-110, and mine was 67. My mom will be asking on Monday if there is something we should be doing for that, or if it will straighten itself out.

2. My B12 was on the low side of normal. While it's still in the range for normal (normal is apparently 239-931 and mine was 285), when you have neuropathy, normal isn't good enough. Through my research and this forum, I've found out that many doctors have told people with neuropathy that they should not go by the normal standards, but should be on the high end of normal for each vitamin. So mine is barely normal, and not good enough for someone with neuropathy. It has gone down from two months ago, so obviously the monthly B12 shot is not enough--I will need to start back on taking it in another form as well. The problem is that I don't handle pills well. I will need to either buy the gummy form or something else.

3. My Vitamin D level was also on the lower side of normal. Normal is 30-100, and I've heard that with neuropathy, you need to stay at or above 60. In June, my level was up to 66, and it has dropped to 42. That is not good! That makes me nervous because Vitamin D is the only vitamin I've been on (besides my B12 shot and multivitamin). I'm taking 5,000 IUs a day, and it is gelcap form, so there is no reason why I shouldn't be absorbing it. If it continues at this rate, I will be deficient in a month--NOT GOOD! Going to find out what to do about that as well.

4. Barb (the lady who is doing the biofeedback for me) said that my iron was low or I was anemic, so I just recently started taking iron pills. I haven't taken enough to really affect the results of the blood work, though, and my doctor said that my hemoglobin was fine and I am not anemic. I think I will go off of the iron, then, because I hate taking pills if they are not needed. That's good to hear--I have been anemic for a large majority of my life (at least teen years and up), so I'm glad that level is normal.

5. Thankfully, my kidney function is normal! That is good--that's what I was most anxious to hear. I have been worried about that since going on the oxycodone and fentanyl patch. I only have one functioning kidney (well, the other functions around 15%) and so I am always worried that these medicines will affect my kidney. It hasn't, though, and I am good to go!

Now, I realize that most of you got neuropathy from something other than Gastric Bypass surgery. Most of you can take pills (vitamins and prescriptions) and have no problem. However, my body isn't absorbing the majority of the pills I am taking. That's why I've had to move to the pain patch and a gummy multivitamin. My question is this--I need to get back on B12 and get my Vitamin D level up somehow... but pills are not the answer. Obviously, I have a small stomach, so food isn't really an option either--I can only handle 2 small meals a day.

If I were to take 5000 IUs of these gummy vitamins, I would have to eat 10 of them a day (of just the Vitamin D) plus the 2 multivitamin, and that doesn't include the B12. I am going to get a hold of the doctor on Monday--but in the meantime, I am just curious if anyone has any ideas for me. How I can get my vitamin levels up without eating 20 gummies a day--and without taking hard pills, because my body won't absorb them that way.

Thanks!

Hi Sarah Mae,

I get Vit Methyl B12 from I Herb, Jarrow 5,000 mg, they are chewable so are easy to take. I have been taking them for about 6 months now and my B12 levels are right up now.

Hope this is of some help.

yup, B12 is a very small tablet....and not coated...chew'em up.....but make sure that you take them apart from meal time. The Vit D....SUNLIGHT! about 20 minutes a day of full sun....good luck

With the sublingual form of megadose B12--
 

--the ones that are 1000mcg and up--the idea is that one is taking a sufficiently large dose that one can get one's requirements through the 1-2% that will be passively absorbed throught the mucous membranes.

We've had some people who've had gastric surgery who daily took 3000-5000mcg of B12 so that they could count on absorbing 30mcg or each day and help rebuild stores and have enough for some repair processes (the "normal" daily requirement is somewhere around 2-8mcg).

Yes, with gastric bypass surgery you will defintiely be prone to malabsortion of many nutrients--I wouldn't be surprised if you have mineral deficiencies as well (have you been tested fo them?).

I know sunlight is good for Vitamin D, but that isn't an option for me right now. I'm bedridden, and can't sit outside. Plus, it is way too hot right now for me--I get very sick in the heat. That's why I have to rely on other ways of getting it. I'm already taking 5000 IUs a day--but it obviously isn't doing enough since my levels have gone down so much.

I used to take the under the tongue B12--but they were cherry flavor and made me feel so sick. I had to drink a ton of barium when I was little for a test I had, and they mixed cherry koolaid in the barium to make it taste better. All it did is make me sick every time I eat something cherry--so I need to try to find another type of B12 that doesn't involve cherry. I don't think I was on that high of a dose, though. I believe they were only 500 and I was taking two a day. I could be wrong, though.

I don't know if I have been tested for mineral deficiencies--is that also done through blood work? I had 19 viles of blood taken when I was at Mayo Clinic... they tested for everything under the sun... but that would be the only time I was tested--if I was at all.