vitamins!!!!

hey everyone i am having a hard time with vitamins, im trying to figure out the right ones has anyone taken centruim chewables? or can anyone point me in the right direction of buying over the counter vitamins other than flinstones that are good that have everything in them? thanks for the help and remember you are awesome!!! kevin

  Kevin,  I take Optisource that are recommended by Mary Lou.. she may have given you a sample.  They have them on the shef at Walgreens..about 30$ a bottle.. months supply.  I haven't tried anything else.  Good luck to you.  Alice

hey alice! thanks for getting back to me! yeah mary lou did give me optisource to try them but its a lil spendy every month so i was looking for a cheaper alternative, someone that had wls told me about centruim chewables so i wasnt sure i guess i will just have to ask mary lou when i see her on the 27th for my pre op appt! thanks for you help i totally appreciate it!!!! remember you are awesome!!! kevin

  My pleasure Kevin.  Keep looking here and maybe check the main chat board and see if anybody else can give you some suggestions.  I live alone and am not to restricted on money.. So have found that I save lots of money that I was spending on restaurant food and buying junk food for myself that I have been able to  get the things I ned for this .  Good luck to you and I am sure there are people out there with ideas for you.  Alice

orry Kevin.  Meant main forum message board...  Alice

Kevin what dose your Dr. want you to take?

well if it is oprtisource that they recommend then its 4 chewables a day

Just follow your Dr.s program make sure you get your labs, everyone is a little different! stick with your proteins and you should do great! have a great day!

I'm 3 weeks post-op and I had gotten Tropical Oasis liquid multis, calcium and B-complex --- they were great before surgery, but after surgery my tummy did not like them at all. My NUT warned me to be careful with OTC vitamins because they are not formulated for post-WLS malabsorption issues... so taking extra dosage to get one vit up to the right level may result in too much of another more easily absorbed one. Definitely check with your NUT and see what is recommended and if she has any samples to try post-op before ordering/buying anything that you might not be able to tolerate after surgery. Since surgery, I have found that the Bariatric Advantage Chewable multis are the only multi that I can tolerate that also have the right amount of nutrients... you can order them online and often if you buy them in bulk (180 tabs vs 60) you get a discount. I also take Caltrate Calcium Plus chewables (available everywhere) and a sublingual B-Complex (I got mine at Rite-Aid, but they're pretty much everywhere, too). As for the priciness of good vitamins, consider how much your health is worth. Besides, you'll be spending so much less on food that even with the increase for vitamins, you'll probably be saving in the end anyway.

Actually, many "ordinary" vites are fine for post-ops, but they have to be specific forms, such as the vit D has to be D3, vit A has to be retinol, vit E has to be d-alpha and so on. THE "vehicle" (chew, liquid, swallow) is not as important as what's in it.

It SAYING it is right for WLS doesn't make it so. Some truly are, but some are most definitely not. Remember, many of us did fine on combinations of good vites (always cheaper than "brand name") for many years before someone figured out we were a population that need exploitation.

I agree that Bariatric Advantage is one of the few that wears the label that is right for a starter dose and do not feel taken "Advantage" of.

But stick with their calcium, because Caltrate is actually carbonate form, which is great for making kidney stones, and not good for making or keeping bones & teeth. Or other calcium citrates, of course. I use a capsule, a powder AND the BA cinnamons, but they are one of my scheduled snacks when broken up and eaten on apple slices. YUM!