Normal Lab Values for Gastric Bypass Patients

Gastric bypass patients need to get regular blood tests to check for nutritional deficiencies because they do not absorb vitamins and minerals as well as "normal" people.

It's always a good idea to get a copy of the lab report when you have labs done. Doctors will sometimes tell you your labs are good when they really aren't, plus if you see the numbers yourself you can track trends. Like if you get your iron tested today and it's still in the normal range but it's dropped a lot since you had labs done three months ago, you'd want to start taking more iron. Docs usually will not tell you if it's dropped, just that it's normal now.

I have a spreadsheet I use to track my results. It's easy to set up your own spreadsheet and it makes it really easy to track your results.

Look at your lab report carefully. They are really easy to read and you don't need any special medical knowledge to read them. Your lab report will list the normal ranges and on mine, if something is high or low, they have it in bold type and put a big H or L next to it so it's easy to spot.

The normal values they list will all be accurate except two. You want to pay close attention to those two.

It will say something like 211-911 for B12 and you really want your B12 to be about 900-1000, but it's OK up to 2000. Below 550, people get symptoms like depression and fatigue. Below 400, people get permanent nerve damage in their hands and feet. I have no clue why they list it normal below that.

It will say something like 30-80 for vitamin D but you really want your D about 80-100. Below 80, you are at increased risk for things like osteoporosis, heart disease and some types of cancer.

Most other things, like iron and ferritin and protein, etc, you want near the top of the normal range.

Your PTH, you'd rather have near the bottom of the normal range. An elevated PTH suggests you are leaching calcium out of your bones due to not absorbing enough calcium, which of course is a bad things.

This is all true for all people, not just those that had gastric bypass surgery

Sources:

The Natural Medicine Letter. http://www.johndommissemd.com/b12.html. Notes on B12 Deficiency.

Linus Pauling Institute. http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminD/. Vitamin D.

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