Suppliments

What is your favorite source for suppliements (vitamins, minerals as well as protien).

Hi there,

What I use right now is the protein bullets that are 42 grams of protein and the premiere nutrition protein bars that are 30 grams  of protein, I can get those at costco. But the bullets can be bought at gnc stores or bariatric eating website. But, I have just started in the last week taking one of each day and it has started to make feel better and I think I am losing weight again.

As for vitamins, I take a multi vitamin and becuase I am low, I have to take a vitamin D and Vitamin B complex vitamin.

WOW, you don't have to take hardly anything.   I am jealous .  I have a whole sheet of stuff I have to take.  It is insane.    A, B, B12, C, D, E, Cal, Zinc, Iron, Multi  etc.   

I am taking a variety of vitiamins.  Calcium, Iron, A, B complex, B-12, C, D-3, and a multivitamin.  I drink alot of muscle milk, I cannot really stand the taste of protien powder drinks or the taste of the bullets.

Have any of you guys shopped around and found a good source?   I am heading out to spend the day going from store to store (Natures Market in Kent, Super Supplements in REnton, Marlene's in Fed way etc..) ...   wondering if you guys have already found a good location.

My doctor has a TON of supplements we are supposed to take.  

I so far HATE all protein drinks that I have tried, all but one that was loaded with sugar, go figure.   Really not looking forward to that, but I know the importance and there has to be one out there I can like.

One stop shopping.  I goto vitalady in Puyallup.  You can order online at vitalady.com or go and see them.  I have problems with with the protein drinks as well, so I drink alot of muscle milk.  I seem to like that.

What an exhausting and interesting day.   

I will go to Vitalady from now on.  

I went to several stores in the area.  Most places didn't have what I needed and there was no savings either.

Super Supplements cost the most surprisingly (I thought they were supposed to be discount).  Kent's Natural Market was the next highest.  Minklers Green earth in Renton was the cheapest (even lower that Vitalady on some stuff).  But running all over costs time and gas.

Vitalady has everything needed and prices that are pretty close to the cheapest I found.

From now on, I will just go to her and make it simpler.

Hi, I get my protein and my vitamins at Vitalady also.  I prefer the Champion Protein Shakes and she does have the best prices - even cheaper than Seattle Super Supplements.  I do get my Vitamin C from Costco, and also my Multi-Vitamins.  I take all the vitamins and supplements required by Dr. Ki Oh for RNY surgery. 
Donna/ragadolly

I have disliked the majority of the protein powders I have tried. Finally, I bought some Unjury unflavored, and it is tolerable. It definitely has a taste, just no specific flavor. If I mix one scoop of it with a 16oz. of Diet Snapple sugar free peach iced tea, it really isn't that bad, I don't mind it at all. It is really the only protein powder that doesn't gag me! LOL! I try and use one scoop a day to supplement my protein intake, and am quite happy with it. I rarely use protein bars, but when I do, I have eaten a Clif bar before a workout, mostly for the energy more than the protein. It is a great snack to eat in the car on my way to the gym. I also like the Twisted protein bars (15 grams protein, 21 grams carbohydrate) you can buy at Costco (they almost feel like you are eating a candy bar), but last time I ate one I dumped (which was soon after surgery). Now that I'm almost 9 months out, I'll have to try one again just to see if I still dump from it. Last time I went to Costco, I bought a box of Nugo bars, again more for a pre-workout snack than for the protein. They have 11 grams of protein and 26 grams of carbohydrate. I have not tried them yet, but my personal trainer likes them.

For Supplements, I take the following:

Multi-Vitamin - 2 a day - I use Bariatric Advantage in the mixed berry flavor. I also have a bottle of Centrum Silver chewable, which is not as tasty, but ok. I am not of an age to need Centrum Silver, but the only difference between it and the regular Centrum is that the silver does not have iron. Since I take an iron supplement, I use the Centrum Silver.

Iron Supplement - Bariatric Advantage lemon lime flavored chewable 60mg. The form of iron in Bariatric advantage is carbonyl (brand name Ferronyl), which is better tolerated by us. I have found it does not cause the constipation that other OTC iron caused. When my BA chewable is gone, I plan on purchasing iron supplements from Vitalady, as she sells capsules that use the carbonyl. Also, I get my labs done in the next week, if I find that my iron levels are low, I will continue with the 60mg. Otherwise, I will switch to a supplement with lower levels of iron. The RDA of iron is 18mg.

Calcium Citrate - I take 3 a day of Bariatric Advantage cherry lozenges. The cherry lozenges are very tasty, nice and tart! The second flavor I like is the cinnamon, although cherry is my favorite. When I run out, however, I plan on buying my calcium from Vitalady, as she sells a capsule form of calcium citrate that has magnesium citrate (helps with leg cramping)  and magnesium oxide (helps with constipation).

B12 sublingual from Bariatric Advantage - 1 a day. My B12 was in the normal but low range. By reading the forums,I'm learning that I need to bring it up. If it is still low at my next appt, I'm going to ask about shots. I'm also going to buy my sublingual B12 from Vitalady when I run out of Bariatric Advantage.

The above is what my surgeon recommends. To this regimen, I have added:

Magnesium citrate (Vitalady)  and magnesium oxide (Nature Made brand purchased at Bartell's), I take qty 3 a day of the 140 mg. of calcium citrate which is 105% of the RDA, and I take 2 a day of the magnesium oxide (250mg * 2 tablets) which provides 126% of the daily RDA. My primary care doctor has told me that taking extra magnesium is ok, especially given that I have suffered from leg cramps in the past. Since surgery, I have not had any! I will not have to buy these when I start using the Vitalady Calcium Citrate, since her calcium has mag citrate and mag oxide in them.

B Complex - from Bariatric Advantage - 1 a day. I've added this just because I don't think it can hurt.

Vitamin C - I take an OTC vitamin C with my iron supplement, although my iron supplement also has C in it.

I also take 2 stool softeners a day, (in addition to the magnesium oxide) to help with contstipation. So far it has helped some, but yesterday I ended up breaking out the Milk of Magnesium., which is frustrating. It helps, but then I'm stuck with diarrhea afterwards. The chronic constipation has been a big problem for me post-op, and I plan on asking the surgeon about it at my next appointment. I've heard there is a prescription medication that one can take for this problem.

I've learned a ton about vitamin supplementation and what your blood levels should be for the labs by reading the OH boards and advice from the veterans. I'm anxious to get my lab results to see how I'm doing, as I got real sloppy about vitamin supplementation during the holidays. I finally had to buy this to ensure that I got everything in. It really helps:

www.amazon.com/Apex-70069B-7-DAY-MEDICAL-PLANNER/dp/B000LR9Z NK/ref=sr_1_43
 
I'm probably healthier now than I was pre-op, since I never took vitamins pre-op.

thank you so much.  This is great.  I didn't know about some of these sources.  

how is studying going today?