Vitamins???

Flintstones complete are NOT adequate. The ASMBS requires vitamins that cover 200% RDA of all vitamins and minerals, and children's vitamins most definitely DO NOT provide them.

There are several brands that do adult chewables, including Celebrate and Bariatric Advantage. You can usually find them at your local vitamin shop, or there are many places to order online.

However, there's no reason you need to take chewables; many folks (myself included) did regular pills right off the bat. You may need to split them into smaller pieces and swallow each piece separately for a while, but you can get by just fine with the regular stuff.

Citracal is great for calcium + D, and you can get all of your regular vitamins and minerals with something like Centrum. I take the Walgreen's version of Centrum (2 pills daily) and it seems to be working fine; I believe there are several others on the board here that do the same.

I've had a couple of people respond saying Flintstone Complete (Adult Dose) are not good vitamins, yet they meet all the requirements. My doctor and the Bariatric team have them listed as a great choice as long as you double the adult dose (two pills a day). I was even reading an article in LiveStrong Magazine saying many children's vitamins are great choices as they tend to be easily absorbed. I compared the Flintstones to the regular Centrum (Not silver) which was also recommended by my Bariatric team and they were identical, yet you got twice the vitamins for the same amount of money. And yes with both you have to take double the adult recommended dose.

Yes I have seen the Citracal +D and that is what I am looking for... only in a chewable form. It was the recommendation of my Bariatric team that I not take any large pills as they can get stuck in the beginning. Calcium pills are typically big ole horse pills. I can break them or get the petites, but again i'm trying to take less pills if possible. I will discuss it again with the dietitian, I am meeting with on Monday (I'll also ask her about the claims of a few on this site that Flintstones Complete are inadequate) I may consider doing what another person on this site suggested and that is to use the wafers for the month or two then switch to the regular pills. Citracal does come in a petite pill form... but that is six pills a day of just calcium.

Compare the label on Centrum Adult multi or Celebrate multi to the Flintstones. There are a long list of missing things.

Why do parents give Flintstones to their kids? To trick them into taking them. They look fun, and taste like xandy. This is the same reason surgical programs promote them. They know they lack many necessary things. But many patients are noncompliant with supplements. So they try to trick them into taking Flintstones.

Be a grownup. Take a good vitamin. This is your life. Your health. I've seen too many disaster stories from people several years after surgery who had debilitating health issues from crappy vitamins.

Yup.

As a kid, my mother dutifully gave me a chewable Flintstones vitamin every morning. I hated them, so I would promptly throw them into the dark, back corner of a bathroom cupboard.

When my parents were packing to move during my junior year of college, I got a call from my mom asking why there was a cascading, foot-high MOUNTAIN of Flintstone vitamins in the back of the bathroom cupboard. Apparently I was sneaky enough to hide them, but not smart enough to eventually destroy the evidence!

Thank you Cecily, you gave me a good chuckle and smile to start my day, love this!

I'll do you one further: I took the ASMBS guidelines (200% RDA of everything) and compared them to the nutrition info on a Flintstones bottle.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k8Ts_FX9wrfzTDMtLWga V_e4ax6n_3Sw0N6Kd3U9Fqk/edit?usp=sharing

The Flintstones are woefully inadequate.

Also entirely missing iodine, manganese, molydenum, copper, and selenium

Rather than the chewables, an inexpensive alternative for your calcium citrate and vitamin D is UpCal D 500mg. It's packets of powder that you stir into some liquid like water or Crystal Light, or mix into yogurt or SF pudding, etc. Flavorless and slightly sweet, it goes down pretty well. It would be a good alternative to get you through until you are allowed to swallow the pills.

http://www.procarenow.com/UPCAL-D-Powdered-Calcium-Citrate-P ackets-NEW-80CT-BOX_p_10054.html