What Vitamins/Supplements do you take?

As I get closer to having my file submitted to insurance, I would like to know from all of you which vitamins, calcium, iron, b12, other do you take daily??  I am trying to get a good idea of what I should start with.  Not sure if I should try chewable, liquids or just small pills.  I appreciate any suggestions and what works for you.  Thanks! Lisa

Lisa I started out with Flinstones chewable, bariatric advantage calcium which are huge and I hated them, and I didn't take an iron pill.  I have changed to: Tropical Oasis Liquid calcium - tastes orange & 2x daily. Get it over with quick & easy Bariatric Advantage Chewable multi vitamin - orange flavor, kinda tasty, 2 mos supply $35+ It has no iron so I got a Bariatric Advantage Chewable Passionfruit Iron pill. Its a 3 mo supply for $25+ around that.  And it tastes like SWEET TARTS!  I love it I have heard that the bariatric vitamins have something that the flinstone types do not have, and because I feel muscle weakness sometimes, and some weird sensation in my feet and fingers, one is from vit d deficiency which I take a tab for, and one is from amino acids or something that regular vitamins doesnt have in it....  But its by choice that I take the BE vitamins.  If your doctor says chewable multi vitamins, they should be ok. If later you experience something, you might want to change.

I used chewable multivitamin and calcium for the first few months and switched to regular at about 3 1/2 months. I switched then because I got braces and could no longer chew the hard vitamins. The chewable calcium that I used was purchased at The Vitamin Shoppe and tasted like a big Sweettart. I tried the liquid calcium, Tropical Oasis, and I thought it was nasty. I know a lot of people *****ally like it though. What I take now is: a complete multivitamin with iron - I get mine at Sam's, any "good" multi 1200 mg Calcium Citrate - again, I purchase at Sam's, just make sure it is Calcium Citrate and that it contains vitamin D My surgeon requires prescription Pepcid for the first 2 years as well as Foltrin, a prescription Iron, B12 & Intrinsic factor, capsule every day. I also choose to take 5 mg Biotin for my hair and 3 Omega 3 Fish Oil capsules. These are not required by my surgeon. I have swallowed pills since right after surgery. When I came off the IV pain pump, the first pain meds they brought me were in pill form. I figured, if I could swallow a pill in the hospital...I could swallow pills at home. I did purchase a pill crusher prior to surgery and never used it. You're welcome to it if you want it. I can bring it to the next support group meeting on July 3rd. Hope this helps. I will pray for a speedy insurance approval and surgery date. Keep us posted. Susan

I forgot to add something, but my internet was slow at work.  Susan is right, if you do not do 3 fish servings a week, you need omega fatty vitamins/fish oil stuff... I like solaray chewable sublingual b12 tablets, you can get them at Vitamin Shoppe. they taste like sweet tarts too.  Must be something about vitamin people loving sweet tarts?? Anyway, they are 2500 mcg and I take one once a week.

Lisa, I am 3 years post op and here are the vitamins I take. B12-sublingual (I do daily cause my B12 was low, usually taken weekly) Bariatric Advantage 2 Flintstones chewables (I do Walmart brand cause its cheaper) Calcium Citrate 1200mg  -  Bariatric Advantage Cinnamon  Lozenges Vitamin D (script cause mine was low) Iron 29mg chewable- Bariatric Advantage, Passion Fruit Coromega 1 packet a day (kind of like a condiment packet) Don't take the Iron and calcium together because they will not allow each other to absorb.  Wait at least 2 hours between. Hope this helps, my doc said that anything larger than a birth control pill needs to be broken into smaller pieces, I don't crush either. Darlene

Prescription Pepcid  1st thing in the morning whether needed or not  - my surgeon gave me a one year prescription to be taken daily.   1 daily Repliva (prescription) highly absorbable iron and b12  -- these are good size pill but I've been able to take them.  1 dose of liquid form of sublinial B12 Flintstones Complete chewables - one first thing in the morning and one in the evening when I remember Calcium Caltrate petites (600mg twice daily) These are pill form and I've been have been able to swallow pills. or yeah not a vitiman but may I suggest having Benefiber on hand ;)

As per my surgeon, I do not have to buy the Bariatric Advantage...I can't afford them so I use a children's complete chewable, twice a day...the brand does not matter as long as it says Complete...some do not say that and only have 10 or so vitamins in them. I take a dropper of B12 every morning sublingually...I buy this at CVS and it costs less than $4 for two months worth. I take Tropical Oasis liquid calcium, Melinda mentioned this, but I hate the taste so I take it once and then I chew two of the cinnamon lozenges.  When I run out of these, I will probably go to a citrate capsule or tablet as I do not have any trouble swallowing. I take two iron pills a day...I use a pill I swallow but I also like the Bar. Adv. passion fruit one...it is not as expensive as the multivitamins and it actually tastes like candy to me. I make sure I eat tuna three times a week so I don't have to take the coromega packet. This is all the surgeon requires but I also take Venastat, horse chesnut, for my legs.  I walk four miles a day and I can tell that my legs are not nearly as tired when I take this...I also have no varicose veins and I have taken this for years. Good luck and keep us posted!

Will the Venastat help with existing varicose veins or spider veins?