Question:
I am 9 days post op from RNY - doing well and am confused about vitamins - My surgeon
told me I could just take my vitamins - not crush them and to start right when I got home, the dietician told me to crush for the first couple of months - i guess there are 2 schools of thought - any suggestions? Second - my surgeon really wants me on calcium citrate not the other types of calcium - I am finding it hard to find citrate unless i take 4 horse pills a day and that makes me nervous on my new pouch - any suggestions? — machre (posted on December 28, 2007)
December 27, 2007
I buy chewable vitamins and calcium. I take 3 Flintstone Completes daily
and use Bariatric Advantage calcium citrate--4 of them daily.
I have found that if I take pills whole the sometimes get stuck and I hurt
for quite-a-while.
You can find the calcium citrate at www.bariatricadvantage.com
Good luck
— Nee P
December 27, 2007
Congratulations on your RNY! Your life will never be the same -- you are
on a journey to health and happiness. I'm almost 5 months out and have
lost 90 lbs. You can too. RE: Calcium Citrate: You can order online
Nature's Oasis (some people have found it at Wal-Mart) "Liquid Calcium
Magnesium" supplement. It comes in a large plastic container. The
instructions say to take 1 Tablespoon. The calcium citrate content per
serving is 1200 mg. It's orange flavoured and has fructose (low
percentage) so you might not find it suitable but it beats the
"horse" pills. It contains vit D as well which is important to
calcium absorption and has only 10 c and only 2 carbs per serving. I do not
sell this product. Am only a consumer. Good luck!
— cherub13
December 27, 2007
Congratulations on your RNY! Your life will never be the same -- you are
on a journey to health and happiness. I'm almost 5 months out and have
lost 90 lbs. You can too. RE: Calcium Citrate: You can order online
Nature's Oasis (some people have found it at Wal-Mart) "Liquid Calcium
Magnesium" supplement. It comes in a large plastic container. The
instructions say to take 1 Tablespoon. The calcium citrate content per
serving is 1200 mg. It's orange flavoured and has fructose (low
percentage) so you might not find it suitable but it beats the
"horse" pills. It contains vit D as well which is important to
calcium absorption and has only 10 c and only 2 carbs per serving. I do not
sell this product. Am only a consumer. Good luck!
— cherub13
December 27, 2007
Hi Joanna, When I had my surgery and even up to now I was told the best
thing for RNY patients is either liquid or chewable vitamins. It absorbs
better in our bodies. I'm 2 1/2 years post op and still use liquid and
chewables. Some things I take regular pills such as iron and sublinguil
b12. But just recently I had a baby and since I've been pregnant I take
chewable prenatal vitamins. You can buy liquid calcium citrate at
www.bariatriceating.com. They sell tropical oasis liquid calcium citrate.
Also you can buy citracal calcium citrate soft chews. Which are like
viactiv but are calcium citrate. The reason we need to take calcium
citrate is because it absorbs better in our bodies then other calciums
because it doesn't need stomach acid to absorb like most other calciums do.
After RNY the part of our stomach that has the acid is stapled off,
therefore we need to take calcium citrate. There are many liquid and
chewable multi vitamins out there. You can use chewable centrum or on that
website I gave you they also have chewable and liquid multi vitamins and
many protein powders you can try. I hope I've helped you take care and
goodluck. If you have any other questions let me know, i'll try to help
the best I can. Jeannie
— jjeanniespets1
December 27, 2007
Congrats, I was confused on this matter also I spoke with my nut. she said
flinstone chewable 2 a day fine also I take viativ calcuim she said fine as
long as I eat after taking so I have one right b-4 lunch and one right b4
dinner I did purchase the citrate bite at walgreens but where not tasty to
me so Im sticking with what Im doing and everything is going good.
— tinluv27
December 27, 2007
I like Citrical Chewable. They are chocolate and like a little treat! They
are Calcium Citrate. Flintstones or wal-mart childrens chewables are good.
— lesleigh07
December 27, 2007
I TAKE CITRACAL PETITES, WHICH ARE NOT PETITE BUT I BOUGHT A $4 PILL
CRUSHER AT WALMART AND I CRUSH THEM IN IT AND IT WORKS GREAT!! SOMEONE ELSE
ON HERE SUGGESTED VIACTIV..BUT IT IS NOT CALCIUM CITRATE IT IS CALCIUM
CARBONATE AND ANYONE THAT'S HAD RNY NEEDS THE CITRATE, I'M SURPRISED HER
NUT WOULD TELL HER IT'S OK TO TAKE IT. I ALSO WENT TO WWW.VITALADY.COM AND
BOUGHT SOME PACKETS OF UPCAL-D, WHICH IS POWDERED CALCIUM CITRATE IN
PACKETS THAT YOU CAN CARRY WITH YOU BUT IT HAS A SWEET TASTE THAT I DON'T
CARE FOR. I HOPE YOU FIND SOMETHING THAT WORKS FOR YOU. GOD BLESS, DEBI
— DEBI R.
December 27, 2007
You can alsom get the liquid Oasis calcium citrate at GNC. It tastes pretty
decent and doesn't bother my pouch. I also did the Flinstone chewables for
the 1st 4 weeks. They made me belch and had a horrible aftertaste, but it
was only for 4 weeks.
— juliebelle0402
December 28, 2007
I am one of the lucky few that can take just 1 regular Centrum pill each
day, 2 calcium chews (spring valley brand which are not citrate) and one
b-12 pill (also spring valley). All my blood tests come back just fine. I
would try both and have blood tests after taking them for a week and see
what your blood work says. Good luck, God bless and welcome to the losing
side!
— crystalsno
December 28, 2007
Hey Joanna,
Chewable Calcium citrates can be purchased at your local Vitamin Shoppe.
As far as multi-vitamins -- I took the Centrum and you can also do as
others have and take the Flinstones chewable -- they all work. If you call
the health stores and tell them what kind of calcium you are looking for
they'll be more than willing to help you or even order it. My first few
months of taking the chewables, I'd take them as I walked around in the
morning getting dressed or while doing something else. I think we equate
taking vitamins with taking medicine and they have to be taken at a certain
time of the day. I stopped taking them all at once and all in the morning.
Now I take some in the morning and some at night. I take my Vitamin D at
night as well as the additional multi-vitamin my doctor recommended I take.
I take 2 multi-vitamins and calcium in the morning -- this gets me started
drinking my water in the morning. A friend of mine (health nut) suggested
taking some of the vitamins at night so they can work when my body is at
rest and that is when I take the Vitamin D and I do see a difference. So
that is some of what I do. Hope that helps.
— the7thdean
December 28, 2007
It is confusing with the vitamins as you said, many have different schools
of thought. I'll just share my experience....I take Flintstone chewables
for the daily vitamin, I hate them, but tolerate them. It's a
taste/texture thing and they taste like metal to me. Calcium citrate is
better absorbed, as I'm to understand by both my surgeon and my
nutritionist, but it's tough to find in a store, have to go online to find
chewables. I read someone else's posting about Citracal chewables, well I
just found out from my pharmacist that they no longer make them. I tried
the petites and crushing them. I couldn't stand to crush them and take
them in applesauce or water as they tasted like egg shells. I was told a
long time ago by my ob/gyn that citracal was the best for absorbtion, so I
do think calcium citrate would be best for me. I know many others do other
versions and have good blood work. So it's a crap shoot I guess. It's
something that everyone has their methods that work for them. I think it's
best to go by what you're told to do by your surgeon. Best of luck.
Hugs...Cheryl
— Cheryl K.
December 28, 2007
I crush mine and mix them with applesauce.. they taste better.. lol.. and
do not get stuck in my teeth. yuckky!!! I was told I could too do either..
I also mix them with yogurt. Good luck.
Cynthia
— babesintoyland
December 28, 2007
WOW! You got a big response to your question! I take chewables that are
made for bariatric patients. I am one year out RNY and have been using
Building Blocks line of vitamins... (multi, iron, calcium) I like the
taste of these. I have also used Bariatric advantage and bariatric
lifestyle. I do get my b-12s from wal-mart (sub lingual kind). There are
many sources for vitamins. I am lucky to have a local store that caters to
WLS! www.c2linfo.com has a HUGE selection!
GOOD LUCK TO YOU!
— robinmarra
December 28, 2007
Thank you all for all your great suggestions. I took my vitamins whole
over about an hour in the morning, and an hour in the evening and they went
down fine. I went to a couple of the websites everyone recommended and now
i know why we have to take CA citrate - it is the only Calcium that doesn't
absorb in the stomach - I am a why person - don't just tell me to do it,
tell me the reasonning behind it.
Thank again - what a great support resource
Happy New Year
Joanna
— machre
December 29, 2007
Hi Joanna, thanks for writing. I would go with the chewable vitamins,
especially the first few months. If they are good enough for our children,
we can use them, just use 2 or three a day, and spread them out, don't take
all at once. Regarding calcium, if your surgeon requires something, they
should have a source for it. If it is only horse pills, then you need
another option. Make your surgeon qualify why he wants that and where you
can get what you need. This should not be a hard thing for you, they
should help. You also might want to check with your support group, maybe
they have suggestions as well that might help you. Take care. Patricia P.
— Patricia P
December 29, 2007
my surgeon saidto take one source prenatal vit over the counter at walmart.
about the calcium get a pill splitter I 1/4 them and take them through out
the day so that it is not so much at one time. It helps me. Good luck and
congrats.
— JohnK334
December 29, 2007
Hi my Dr gave me sample of Building Block chewable vitamins which are made
for Gastric needs. They come in different flavors and are really good
tasting. Also discouraged from using childrens vitamins. Went to Better
Health and got apple cinnamon flavored vitamins that are chewable.
Linda G
— Linda G.
December 29, 2007
The clinic gave me a list of acceptable vitamins. Some of them are geared
towards bariatric patients - which means that might have more B12 or zinc,
etc. The top picks were vitaband chewables from bariatricadvantage and
optisource chewables from WalGreens. Building Blocks, Centrum and Solutron
were also on the list. They also gave a list of calcium choices. The top
picks were Citrical, Caltrate Plus and calcium citrate chews from
bariatricadvantage and building blocks. The combinations for the day vary
based on the choices - a minimum of 4 chews to 6 chews. I personally take
2 Centrum Chewables and 2-3 Viactiv. Viactiv chews are calcium carbonate,
but the nutritionist still recommends them. She said that the major
concern (in her opinion) about carbonate is kidney stones (if you are prone
to them). Otherwise, viactiv is fine.
Good luck finding a combination you can tolerate. If you want more
information on the list, PM me.
— gonnadoit
December 29, 2007
I bought the chewable children's vitamin's and I also got Fiber Choice with
Clacium.
— 2409w.poplar_rodriguez
December 30, 2007
I was told to crush my pills. Some of them taste awful but even more so
when crushed. So, I just decided to take everything whole and had NO
PROBLEMS AT ALL doing that. I tale a *LOT* of pills and capsules each day,
including three 'Calcium 500 mg +D' tablets. Don't concern yourself about
stretching your pouch with your 'horse pills', unless you are loading up
with a lot of other stuff at the same time that you probably shouldn't be
eating anyway. Be sure, though, to take all of your prescriptions and OTCs
on schedule. I parcel out my daily ration into three separate containers at
the beginning of each day, seven days a week. This helps me to not forget
later in the day if I've taken a dose. Doing this sort of thing by rote
routine will help you to keep on track.
— [Deactivated Member]
December 30, 2007
I'd follow whatever guidelines your surgeon gives you. He's the one who
altered your anatomy... not the dietician.
Best wishes.
— mrsidknee
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