Citracal & Biotin
My thoughtful hubby grabbed some supplements for me today since I'd been talking so much about needing to start them.
He remembered "calcium citrate," so he picked up a bottle of Citracal Calcium Citrate Caplets with Vitamin D Maximum Caplet Dose. There's 400IU vitamin D3 and 630mg calcium citrate in 2 capsules. Is this a recommended brand of calcium? How many should I start taking a day pre-op (I am post-menapausal due to TOTAL hysterectomy at 32), along with my 1 Centrum Complete multi-vitamin I am taking now? I know I need to take the calcium/D3 at least 2 hours after my multi-vitamin since there is iron in them and I need to split the doses so I'm taking only 630mg at a time.
He also grabbed me Spring Valley brand (from Wal-Mart) Biotin, 1000mcg. I'd heard recently that starting the biotin 3 months pre-op can be a big help. Hopefully I will have my surgery sooner than that, but I am wondering how much I should take each day?
I know I can probably Google all this and figure it out, but I'd love to hear a gastric bypass patient speak from their knowledge and experience about these things! Andrea, Barb, anyone? Thanks so much!
He remembered "calcium citrate," so he picked up a bottle of Citracal Calcium Citrate Caplets with Vitamin D Maximum Caplet Dose. There's 400IU vitamin D3 and 630mg calcium citrate in 2 capsules. Is this a recommended brand of calcium? How many should I start taking a day pre-op (I am post-menapausal due to TOTAL hysterectomy at 32), along with my 1 Centrum Complete multi-vitamin I am taking now? I know I need to take the calcium/D3 at least 2 hours after my multi-vitamin since there is iron in them and I need to split the doses so I'm taking only 630mg at a time.
He also grabbed me Spring Valley brand (from Wal-Mart) Biotin, 1000mcg. I'd heard recently that starting the biotin 3 months pre-op can be a big help. Hopefully I will have my surgery sooner than that, but I am wondering how much I should take each day?
I know I can probably Google all this and figure it out, but I'd love to hear a gastric bypass patient speak from their knowledge and experience about these things! Andrea, Barb, anyone? Thanks so much!
http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/amos/a,messageboard/action,replies/board_id,4856/cat_id,4456/topic_id,3751207/
Cut and paste this into your address bar. It's a post from another member here. It's probably the best run down I've seen about what you're supposed to take, and WHY.
As for how much of each thing to take.. www.celebratevitamins.com
They have a little questionaire that will show you how much of stuff you're supposed to be getting. Keep in mind, their Multi-vitamin has a B complex in it, so it already contains everything except B-12.
You should be ok with the calcium your husband picked up for you. Citrate is the big deal with that. As far as Centrum, my nutritionist about had a cow when I asked if I could take that. According to her, our bodies can't absorb enough for it to be effective. We need our doses spread out over the day. (For post-ops anyway) Not trying to preach at ya, just sharing what my nutritionist beat me over the head with :P
I don't know anything about Biotin, but it sounds like it might speed healing. Google that one just so you know what you're dealing with.
It sounds like you're really doing your homework on this and trying to do everything right. Take my info for what it is.. just info. There's a lot of it out there, lol. I do strongly suggest looking into the Celebrate Vitamins for post-op, though. They're the newest product made specifically for bariatric patients.
Good luck and I hope you get your surgery date soon!
Cut and paste this into your address bar. It's a post from another member here. It's probably the best run down I've seen about what you're supposed to take, and WHY.
As for how much of each thing to take.. www.celebratevitamins.com
They have a little questionaire that will show you how much of stuff you're supposed to be getting. Keep in mind, their Multi-vitamin has a B complex in it, so it already contains everything except B-12.
You should be ok with the calcium your husband picked up for you. Citrate is the big deal with that. As far as Centrum, my nutritionist about had a cow when I asked if I could take that. According to her, our bodies can't absorb enough for it to be effective. We need our doses spread out over the day. (For post-ops anyway) Not trying to preach at ya, just sharing what my nutritionist beat me over the head with :P
I don't know anything about Biotin, but it sounds like it might speed healing. Google that one just so you know what you're dealing with.
It sounds like you're really doing your homework on this and trying to do everything right. Take my info for what it is.. just info. There's a lot of it out there, lol. I do strongly suggest looking into the Celebrate Vitamins for post-op, though. They're the newest product made specifically for bariatric patients.
Good luck and I hope you get your surgery date soon!
Thanks for your reply. :) I love Andrea's vitamin posts too.
I did end up doing some research and decided that for now I'm going to start taking 2 of the Citracal at lunch and 2 at bedtime, since I take my multi-vitamin at breakfast (I take just 1 now, will increase to 2 post-op). I'm assuming I won't be able to take these huge calcium pills post-op so I will have to find something else for then. Hopefully my Nut will have a suggestion because I am at a loss so far!
I'm also going to start taking the 1000mcg of biotin three times a day with the my other supplements.
I'm trying so hard to figure out how to do this perfectly! I will check out the Celebrate vitamins you mentioned. Thank you! :)
I did end up doing some research and decided that for now I'm going to start taking 2 of the Citracal at lunch and 2 at bedtime, since I take my multi-vitamin at breakfast (I take just 1 now, will increase to 2 post-op). I'm assuming I won't be able to take these huge calcium pills post-op so I will have to find something else for then. Hopefully my Nut will have a suggestion because I am at a loss so far!
I'm also going to start taking the 1000mcg of biotin three times a day with the my other supplements.
I'm trying so hard to figure out how to do this perfectly! I will check out the Celebrate vitamins you mentioned. Thank you! :)
My nutritionist at Duke said that studies indicate that we need 1800 mgs of calcium citrate daily. That is a higher dosage than had been previously recommended. I break up the dosage throughout the day.
Barb
Barbara
ObesityHelp Coach and Support Group Leader
http://www.obesityhelp.com/group/bcumbo_group/
High-264, Current-148, Goal-145
I agree with Annie, chewable is the way to go for the first few months.
I have just recently started taking the calcium citrate tablets (Thanks to Andrea's experiment)
I have been taking Flintstones complete twice a day and Viactiv calcium chews with D. Plus I take extra B12. I have been thinking about switching to the Opti-Source vitamins when the Flintstones run out. The pharmacy here at the med school carries them for about $22 which seems much cheaper than what I've seen at local pharmacies.
Congrats on getting a head start with all this stuff.... I didn't do that ahead of time!
Alice
I have just recently started taking the calcium citrate tablets (Thanks to Andrea's experiment)
I have been taking Flintstones complete twice a day and Viactiv calcium chews with D. Plus I take extra B12. I have been thinking about switching to the Opti-Source vitamins when the Flintstones run out. The pharmacy here at the med school carries them for about $22 which seems much cheaper than what I've seen at local pharmacies.
Congrats on getting a head start with all this stuff.... I didn't do that ahead of time!
Alice
Alice in OneDerland
H:260 G: 135 C:145 L: 131 BMI: 26 H: 5' 2 1/2"
RNY 10/07 LBL 11/09
H:260 G: 135 C:145 L: 131 BMI: 26 H: 5' 2 1/2"
RNY 10/07 LBL 11/09
I use the Citracal Caplets in addition to my Optisource vitamins. I take 5000 units of Biotin daily. This has really helped with my hair loss and my usually crummy nails. The chewable calcium that was discontinued is being brought back shortly by BariatricEdge which bought up the rights to the chewables and will begin producing them again. I loved the lemon flavored ones
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