TUMS

Well i am 6 weeks out and have lost only 31 pounds. I am stuck and cant move the scale since 2 fridays ago. This stinks. I try to eat everything but there is only so much i can eat. I get nausea everytime i eat. I havent had that till recently. it sucks because i am afraid to eat. okay enough of that the real reason i posted was: I HATE TUMS!!! I am suppose to eat 4 a day and they are so nasty to me. What do you guys take for calcium. please help me i cant eat them anymore they make me want to

EEEW tums.... I have a lovely little piece of gooey chocolate twice a day...it's called Viactiv. Not only does it give you the calcium you need, it also contains vitamins D and K. My doc reccommended it as did the bariatric coordinator BSN at the hospital. If chocolate is not your thing, they have orange, strawberry, caramel, and choc. mint. Have fun with them.... PS. It is cheaper to buy the 90 count box than the 60 count.

I have used viactin as well. But i also use this calcium gum. When you first chew it it has a very weird texture but then it turns to normal gum. They say if you chew it for at least 5 minutes you are good to go. It is not bad once you get past the weird texture stage at the begining. It is minty. I find that if i sort of trade off and on every couple of days it dose not get so monotonous with the pills. Paula

I dislike the tums but i am takeing them. I had asked my surgeon last appointment about them and he said i need to use TUMS for the first 3 months before trying the VIACTIV chocolate calcuim supplements. HE said early on i need the anti acid in the TUMS too besides the calcuim. I would talk to your doctor expressing your dislike for the tums and see what he advises you. that was my advise. SORRY if it didnt help. LISA

Thank you everyone for your responses. I just spoke with my Drs. office and they told me to stop taking them till my next visit which is in 2 weeks. I am so relieved I hated them. I will ask him about the vita stuff and also this lady I work with is 3 years out and she takes prevcid and no tums. I will try to drink more milk so I get the calcium in other ways... Anyone else stuck at there weight?

Hi! I've heard that about 4 weeks out some people have a bit of a stall. I did this week! But around week #8 we will drop more lbs. quickly! I have been losing about 5lbs. per week and this week I only lost 2. But it is 2 lbs that will never come back! I wanted to take Viactiv also. But my nutritionist said NO! We have to make sure our calcium is calcium citrate! Viactiv is not cal. citrate. So I bought some calcium citrate from Bariatric Advantage.com and they are pretty good! I bought chocolate and cinnamon. I like cinnamon the best! I wish I could take the Viactiv but they said there is a much lower absortion if your calcium is not calcium citrate! It seems as if every Dr. has WAY different opinions! It can be confusing! Good luck! 275/240/170 ~Alisha

Hey, Thanks for the suggestion I will definatley try that. It is truly annoying how every DR is different. We all had the same surgery but yet we all do things so different. I read 2 weeks ago this guy had the surgery 7/1 and was eating at red lobster the next week. I could not imagine that. With all the different advice atleast we are still all LOSERS and I guess thats all that counts. I wish the scale would move already. I eat between 4-800 calories a day depending how sick I feel. Oddly enough the only thing that does not get me sick is pizza. For some reason that goes down so great and no naseau after. I dont want to get into the habit of eating it to often. You have any good meal ideas? Stacey

Hi Stacey, I am surprised that pizza isn't too greasy for you! I would be too afraid to try it! Sounds good tho!! I am stuck on beans! My meals usually consist of smashed beans and I love string cheese! Cottage cheese and fruit is also another meal I have. Peanut butter spread on crackers is another. Now that I am six weeks out, I have tried meat! Chicken and beef so far! Both went down fine! I was really scared at first but like they say....chew....chew...chew! What works for naseau is sour candy! Find some sugar free sour candy and that will do the trick! I use s/f lifesavers! It takes the naseau right away! Good luck!

You really need to be taking Calcium Citrate. It is the form of calcium that we absorb best. Tums and Viactiv are calcuim carbonate and we dont absorb much of that at all! If you can find Kirkland's Calcium Citrate with Vitamin D, get it. It is one of the best. Unfortunately, you will have to swallow about 8 of them a day to get the calcium we need. The Vitamin Shoppe also has some rather nice chewable Calcium Citrate wafers. They kinda taste like sweetarts. Look for them online as I don't think they sell them in the stores. You can also do UpCalD. This is a powder that you put into just about anything. Works very well, but there is a little bit of a gritty feeling to whatever you put it in. Good luck! Kee

My surgeon has told me that the only form of calcium that is acceptable/absorbable to a gastric bypass patient is Calcium Citrate. I tried taking Citracal, but they kept getting stuck in my throat! I now take the Calcium Citrate and Magnesium combo that Vitalady.com sells... in fact, 2 of them per day. This kills 2 birds with one stone as I was supposed to also be taking the magnesium and now don't have to take an additional supplement. By the way, my nutritionist says that calcium and iron compete with one another, so be sure to not take them at the same time, if iron is one of the supplements you have to take (like me!). I hope this helps.... Karen