Taking a multi-vitamin is quite important to fill any gaps you might have in your diet. An extremely diverse diet (lots of plants and whole foods) can minimize the need for vitamin supplementation, but given the malabsorption of RNY and DS, and the restricted intake of all WLS, we really do need to enhance our vitamin intake and focus on foods that feed our microbiome. Sleeve patients do not have the same malabsorption issues as RNY and DS, but we also generally don't eat the volume necessary to get enough micronutrients to satisfy our needs.
The bariatric branded vitamins (like Bariatric Fusion, Bariatric Advantage, etc.) are most likely to have a vitamin, either chewable or not that fit the bill. If you are looking at non-bariatric vitamins, they often don't have vitamins at a reasonable level to be effective enough on a regular dose, and you end up needing more than the regular dose. However, many people do get what they need from a "regular" multi-vitamin. Everyone's needs are slightly different depending on their diet, microbiome and physiology.
Getting blood tests for key vitamins and nutrients such as B-12, D, Iron, Folate, and Thiamine are especially important during rapid weight loss. Your doctor may want to test for other things too, but be sure to work with your doctor and dietician to get on the right path of good vitamin levels.
The best thing you can do is eat diverse foods (especially plants) and take a multi-vitamin that fills in the gaps.
Work with your doctor and dietician to determine where you may be deficient and go from there. Don't go at it alone or just try to do what other people are doing.
