Calcium help

So, I'm a year out and have a question concerning calcium.

I've been using UpCal D and the chewable CitraCals. My doctor's nurse said now I could take it in pill form if I wanted. She pointed me to the Bariatric Advantage lozenges and stuff, but YUCK! They're like licking a chalkboard.

Anyone use a calcium product that they really stand behind? I need something easilly portable, Calcium Citrate, and easy to get (online is ok).

Someone suggested the CitriCal Petites. Two pills is 640 mg so i'd have to take them three times a day anyhow. I haven't seen them, but they're supposed to be smallish.

Any suggestions?

I was afraid of pills at first, but I now don't have any trouble taking a full-size 315 mg calcium citrate pill (630 mg per 2-pill dose).  Citracal brand is fine but we are talking about a product with lots of identical generic equivalents.  I buy the Sam's Club generic brand, which costs almost nothing per pill in a huge bottle. Before I found those, drugstore.com had some good prices on Rite-Aid brand generic, I think about 1/3 the price of the name brand. BTW, the Citracal Petites are fine, but they are considerably more expensive per g of calcium, and they are only 200mg per pill, not 320 as you've been led to believe.  I'm also not aware of a generic copycat.  I'd buy a small bottle of 315mg size and see if you tolerate them before you go with the petites (you can always cut them or chew them if necessary). 3 times a day?  1.9 g of calcium a day?  Have you asked your doc if that's really necessary?  I only take one pill per day, because I eat a lot of calcium sources and my doctor didn't consider it a major risk for me.  I understand better safe than sorry, but that's rather high for a male unless you have family history of osteoporosis or bad bone density scans.

You shouldn't have any trouble swollowing full size pills now. I buy all my vit. and mineral suppliments at WalMart.

I buy the Chewable Calcium Citrate (250mg) at the Vitamin Shoppe.  I can swallow pills, but these are easy to digest and fairly inexpensive.  You can get them online for approximately $7. TwinLab  Calcium Citrate Chewable Wafers  60 Wafers  Rob

Jake, I was taking two Citrical’s a day and could swallow them with no problem, But I got in the habit of chomping them up anyway. Yeah, it was a little chalky, but I wasn’t taking them for the taste. Based on my bloodwork, my doc had me pull back to one a day. (I eat a lot of yogurt, and dairy so my Calcium levels were great) I recently had a ‘dexiscan’ for bone density just to make sure. Over 4 ½ years out, My doc (PCP) and I were both curious. So far, great results. There’s plenty of off-brand Calcium Citrate tablets out there That are less expensive than those marketed exclusively to Bariatric Post-Ops. I get them sometimes from Wal-Green's and sometimes from Sam's Club. Just keep basing your intake on your labwork and discussions with your doc. Best Wishes- Dx