Another Vit/Supplement Question...

My fish oil, biotin and multi are all capsule form. Has anyone heard that taking a capsule with a warm beverage like hot tea will help dissolve the capsule and get more of the vitamin to digest? After gagging on the chewables, I've been on this regimen since I was three months out and now I'm worried that I haven't been getting enough benefit.  So far so good on my labs, but I'm going for a1 1/2 year blood work check-up this week to see if there has been any change. Thanks, Carol in Charlotte

Hi Carol. I'm a nurse that works at a Poison Control Center. I've never heard that taking capsules with hot liquids makes them dissolve faster. Sometimes the best thing to do is call the company that makes the individual medications and ask them what you can do to maximize absorption.  I've reached out to companies myself with various questions and I always say I'm calling from a Poison Control Center so they are more willing to talk on a technical level. My experience is that most of the absorption info they have will not be from people who have had WLS but it never hurts to ask. By the way, Charlotte is a great city. I have a vacation place in Hendersonville but at least once a year I hit the stores in Charlotte. Wilma

I've been taking as many of my vitamins as I can in capsule form for well over a year and my labs have been excellent. Fish oil is a tough one.  With RNY, you have malabsorption of fats... fish oil is oil which is a fat.  So there is a question of how much of that you could absorb of those plus those capsules tend to be much thicker to hold the oil in.  There is an emulsified fish oil on the market that is like a flavored paste in a foil pouch.  The brand is Coromega.  Do a web search.  I believe the vitacost.com has the best price I've seen.  It isn't cheap but I think it is probably a better form for us. Kathy