TUMS / VITAMINS

TUMS / VITAMINS There are so many questions out there about vitamins. My surgeon and the nutritional counselor on his team gave me a strict list of what I have to take. TUMS does not work for calcium ( ask your Dr. or Nutritionist ) because it is calcium carbonate, which can no longer be absorbed properly. You have to find chewable calcium CITRATE, and my surgeon's team recommends 1200-1500 mg. every day. I shopped around, and found this website to have the BEST price! ( or visit GNC type stores, which costs much more! ) http://www.vitacost.com/store/products/ProductSearch.cfm?SearchText=calcium+citrate&SearchBy=PN&ss=1 Next - Sublingual ( under the tongue) B-12 (1000 mcg total) once a week. Next - a chewable children's vitamin is fine, every day. I was also prescribed Prevacid ( packet that is mixed with water to give you an all-day release suspended formula ) to prevent ulcer / act as an antacid. Next - I will have labs to test my iron level at approx. 2 months post - op, and if needed, I would take IRON ( 50-66 mg per day recommended ). Several of my co-workers, who have had surgery at several different hospitals, still have a similiar list to this. By all means, please take this message to your Surgeon or Nutritionist to discuss what they think is best. But, they should, have a relatively standard list of what their patients should be taking. Hope this helps ( or at least strikes up a decent conversation between you & your Dr. / Nutritionist with your weight loss program Kym from NH