Question:
I need some suggestions for Calcium Citrate....chewable or liquid!!

I am looking for some suggestions for taking my Calcium Citrate. I am in my first bottle, but they are absolutely horrible! I purchased Twin Lab Calcium Citrate chewable wafers. They are huge -like a hockey puck- well okay, maybe not that large but they are really big. I now dread taking them every day, but I am committed to finishing the bottle. I do know I will not be buying them again though, so I am hoping to get some wonderful suggestions for my next purchase. I am looking for chewable or liquid as I am not able to swallow large pills yet. Thanks, I appreciate your help!    — thegoodlife (posted on April 13, 2009)

April 13, 2009
I got mine at www.tommyhealth.com. Under categories, on the left hand side click on calcium products and the fruit calcium 250 tabs chewables are 600 mg of calcium citrate per 2 tablets. They are inexpensive, small, and they taste really good, not very chalky at all. Hope this helps!
   — k_ibarra912

April 13, 2009
I use Jamieson Calcium french caramel soft chews, they are low in fat and taste great. I hope im allowed to use these, lol.
   — sassy1696

April 14, 2009
I asked my nutritionist if it would be alright to take Calcium Carbonate because I found one that was like eating hershey's kisses and she said because I had the band it was alright. They are Healthy Indulgence Chocolate Calcium. They are like little round hershey's!!! I love them - here is a link http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=YB-1013
   — sarah_joy_1

April 14, 2009
Becky...I could not handle them for long either as a new post op...The idea of chewing 4 a day just gagged me...After 5 years of taking chewable vitamins...every day...all day long it gets to be so hard to make myself take vitamins daily...I HATE IT! I even became complacent and just stopped being very releigious about taking everything all day (I also became malnourished within a year of that!) SO...you really have to do what you have to do! DO NOT LISTEN TO LAPBANDERS! They can take calcium carbonate that comes in yummy little chewy chocolate (calcium carbonate is a smaller molecule as well...so their calcium is nice and small...Caclium citrate is huge molecules and so if you are really getting calium citrate, it's gonna be BIG!...With RNY you need Calcium as citrate(which produces the acid environment needed to absorb in the RNY body) because you have no stomach acid and calcium carbonate needs stomach acid to be absorbed!!! I have several different calcium citrate products that I keep all the time because of the flavor thing you are going thru...I DREADED the Twinlabs "hockey pucks"! Now I actually like them...But newly post op they are like a flipping meal, just eating one! Up Cal D is a powder that is milky/creamy/sweet and melts right on your tongue or dissolves in liquid. I usually have that around the house and it comes in packets so it travels really well in the handbag/car glove box etc! Bariatric Advantage also has all kinds of different flavors of calcium citrate wafers (smaller than TL). I didn't like any of the flavors except the cherry, which I LOVE!!!! But they have cinnamon, mint, chocolate and cherry... So I ordered a HUGE container of the cherry...Just last week or two they re-introduced a chewy version by citracal that I used to use years ago but it was discontinued...IT'S BACK now thru BA!!! YAY! I have not ordered any yet...I am well stocked up on CC right now...but that's my NEXT order! I also found a powder C.citrate at Vitamin Shoppe that has no flavor comes in a tub...I tossed in a half a tub of Crystal Lite Rasberry Lemonade and mixed it all up well for instant flavor!...Then I let the mixture dissovle on my tongue when I am not in the mood for the Twin Lab wafers...You do what you have to do...but PLEASE don't stop taking your calcium citrate. And whatever you use, make sure it has Vit D as Vit D3 and you take it in doses of 400-500 mgs of elemental calcium as or from CITRATE 2-4 times a day... It took a long time, but I actually like the hockey pucks now...They have magnesium in them as well which I need in my diet as I am chronically mag deficient...so they help me get rid of night time leg cramps immeditately...The other calcium citrates I mentioned, do not have enough magnesium in them for me personally...and so I had to buy magnesium citrate as well...and take with the other calcium citrate supps. (Mag is calcium related and also helps with the constipation associated with calcium and iron and is needed to balance your calcium levels) Just for your info...Good luck!
   — .Anita R.

April 17, 2009
Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I really do appreciate it!
   — thegoodlife

April 17, 2009
I was like you bought a huge bottle of the calcium citrate pills and when I got them home I wanted to die when I seen the size of them! I used a pill cutter but it seemed like I would have to take a dozen pieces a day just to get in the daily requirement. Then the day before surgery I was talking with a friend who had had RNY six months before me and she told me what she was taking and I ordered them the morning before I went in to surgery and they were at my house by the time I was released from the hospital. They are called UpCal D...calcium citrate plus vitamin D. It's a powder that you mix with a little bit of juice twice a day and have been a real sinch to get down. The web site is www.globalhp.com the company is in New York and their phone number is 1-800-638-2870 So that's it...easy easy easy. Good luck!
   — butterflygirl72

April 18, 2009
i use bariactric advantage calcium citrate chewable. they come chocolate, cinnamon flavor and are really good.
   — gogirl1960