Viactiv Calcium?

Hi,

My surgeon requires 1500mg via three 500mg doses per day.  I'm thinking about getting Viactiv for this requirement.  Does anyone have any experience with this post op?  Will I be able to chew it enough to swallow right after surgery?  Other suggestions?

Thanks!!

Hi Suzyq, I know my surgeon requires the calcium to be citrate. Viactive is not citrate. I know I can take Citrical petites and cut them in half if needed.

Melissa

I bought one round of the bariatric chewable wafer stuff. Terrible, but worked immediately post-op. Eventually I changed over to the kirkland brand, as I found I would fairly consitently get them in. 

I believe the Kirkland brand is calcium carbonate like Viactiv, which is not the best kind for WLS patients.   If they are calcium citrate please let me know because I would buy them.

They do have a calcium citrate as well; the problem with them that our doc doesn't like is that they also come with a fairly high dose of B6 (500% RDA per 500mg calcium dose) which is a bunch when tripled to get the requisite calcium, and is in the neighborhood of the toxicity levels that have been found in recent years, so pay attention to that in your labs if you use that product.

Actually, the Kirkland brand that I have is calcium phosphate, so I have been taking the wrong calcium since my surgery, eight weeks ago.  Tomorrow, I will switch back to the Bariatric Advantage chews that I was originally taking.  Thank you for setting me straight.

The have a calcium citrate pill. Not sure about the chewable option for citrate. 

Viactiv is calcium carbonate -- you need to look for calcium citrate. For the first 4 weeks after surgery, I used liquid calcium. I used the Wellesse brand, which is mostly citrate but also some calcium phosphate. My dietitian approved it. I think I took two doses per day instead of the single dose that the label said to take, but that was again on the instructions of my dietitian. I don't know that it was 1500 mg per day but it was close enough. I figured a few hundred milligrams short over the course of 4 weeks wasn't going to single-handedly give me osteoporosis or rickets.

Those Viactiv caramel chews are mighty delicious, but the calcium carbonate in them is not nearly as well absorbed by the body as calcium citrate is. Citracal is not yummy, but you can make up for that by getting your other supplements, like vitamins, in the form of delicious gummies.

psychoticparrot

My surgeon and NUT are fine with me taking calcium carbonate. So I have been taking the CVS brand( buy1, get one free) 500mg 3x/day. I had no problem chewing them right after surgery. I had my first bloodwork since surgery and my calcium level are fine.