Supplements and Vitamins Post-Surgery
Our experience building a supplement plan that worked for us.
Recovering from gastric sleeve surgery means learning to live – and eat – in a completely new way. The smaller stomach and reduced food intake make it difficult to get all the nutrients your body needs from diet alone.
Like most patients, we started with the standard GP-recommended supplement plan:
a multivitamin, iron, calcium + vitamin D, and B12 injections.
That routine is designed to prevent nutritional deficiencies and is absolutely essential.
However, nearly a year after surgery, we hit a wall – and it changed everything.
When the basics weren’t enough
At around 11 months post-op, James’ health began to decline sharply.
He was freezing all the time, his memory started slipping, and even forming sentences became difficult. Despite GP check-ups, blood tests, and adjustments, nothing seemed to help.
Kirsten began researching vitamins and supplements that support cognitive health, energy, and recovery. It felt like a long shot – a hail Mary, really – but after introducing a wider range of nutrients, James’ health and clarity returned within a month.
Whether it was biological or placebo didn’t matter. The change was real, and it reminded us that post-surgery health isn’t just about not being deficient – it’s about functioning well.
That experience became the foundation for how we now approach supplements: a mix of medical guidance, research, and lived experience.
The baseline: what every gastric sleeve patient should start with
If you’re newly post-op, these are typically non-negotiable:
- Bariatric Multivitamin: covers most core vitamins and minerals (iron, zinc, folate, B-complex).
- Iron: to prevent anaemia (crucial if your multivitamin doesn’t contain enough).
- Calcium Citrate + Vitamin D: supports bone density and absorption.
- Vitamin B12: often by injection or high-dose oral form, since absorption drops after surgery.
Tip: Keep calcium and iron at least two hours apart – they block each other’s absorption.
These essentials form the foundation. Everything else we take builds on top of this.
Why we expanded beyond the basics
We didn’t set out to build a complex supplement stack. We expanded gradually, based on blood results, symptoms, and how we felt day-to-day.
For James, the new focus was on energy, focus, and sleep (magnesium glycinate, Lion’s Mane, CoQ10, and ginseng made the biggest difference).
For Kirsten, it was hormonal and skin balance, adding nutrients such as myo-inositol + D-chiro, sea kelp, and biotin, which are particularly supportive for women post-surgery.
We still have our bloods checked regularly through our GP to make sure we’re staying in healthy ranges. Supplements aren’t magic – they’re tools – and they only work when you stay accountable to the data.
James’ Current Supplement Routine
⏰ 09:00 – Morning Core & Mental Boost
- Multivitamin – 1
- Astaxanthin – 1
- Lion’s Mane – 1
- Omega 3 – 1
- Tribulus Terrestris – 1
- Panax Ginseng – 1
⏰ 12:00 – Anti-Inflammatory & Energy Support
- Turmeric + Black Pepper – 1
- CoQ10 – 1 of 3 daily doses
- Black Seed Oil – 1
- Ashwagandha – 1
- Probiotic – 1
⏰ 15:00 – Cognitive & Cellular Boost
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine – 1
- CoQ10 – 1 (second dose)
- Tribulus Terrestris – 1 (second dose)
- Panax Ginseng – 1 (second dose)
- Lion’s Mane – 1 (second dose)
⏰ 18:00 – Evening Recovery & Gut Support
- Turmeric + Black Pepper – 1 (second dose)
- Black Seed Oil – 1 (second dose)
- Probiotic – 1 (second dose)
- CoQ10 – 1 (final dose)
- Ashwagandha – 1 (second dose)
⏰ 21:00 – Sleep, Muscle & Hormone Repair
- Magnesium Glycinate – 2
- Vitamin D3 + K2 – 2
- Omega 3 – 1 (second dose)
- Biotin – 3
Kirsten’s Current Supplement Routine
⏰ 09:00
- Turmeric + Black Pepper – 1
- Biotin – 1
- Myo-Inositol + D-Chiro – 1
- Lion’s Mane – 1
- Omega 3 – 1
⏰ 12:00
- Turmeric + Black Pepper – 1
- Vitamin B12 – 1
- Myo-Inositol + D-Chiro – 1
- CoQ10 – 1
- Magnesium Glycinate – 1
- Vitamin D3 + K2 – 1
- Sea Kelp – 1 (iodine)
⏰ 15:00
- Lymecycline – 1
- Acetyl-L-Carnitine – 1
- Vitamin B12 – 1
- Probiotic – 1
- CoQ10 – 1
⏰ 18:00
- Biotin – 1
- Myo-Inositol + D-Chiro – 1
- Probiotic – 1
- CoQ10 – 1
- Magnesium Glycinate – 1
- Multivitamin – 1
- Iron – 1
⏰ 21:00
- Biotin – 1
- Myo-Inositol + D-Chiro – 1
- Lion’s Mane – 1
- Omega 3 – 1
- Vitamin D3 + K2 – 1
- Sea Kelp – 1
- Iron – 1 (second dose)
What changed once we expanded
Within a few weeks of adding the expanded stack:
- James’ energy, focus, and body temperature returned to normal.
- Kirsten’s skin and hair health noticeably improved.
- Both of us saw better sleep quality and mood stability.
It reinforced a simple truth – you can follow all the rules, but sometimes your body needs a more tailored approach.
Keeping things safe and sustainable
We’re careful not to take “more” just for the sake of it. Every six months, we have full blood panels through our GP to monitor iron, B12, vitamin D, calcium, and hormone levels.
If anything is outside normal range, we adjust or pause supplements. The goal is balance, not overload.
Post-surgery life isn’t just about smaller meals – it’s about rebuilding your body from the inside out.
For us, adding supplements wasn’t about chasing perfection; it was about regaining balance when things started to unravel.
Eleven months in, it felt like we were slipping backwards – now, we feel better than we did even before surgery.
Useful references
For reliable information on bariatric supplementation and aftercare, visit:
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