Question:
Has anyone taken calcium carbonate without problems?
I would like to know if anyone has taken calcium carbonate long term without problems? I am at 5 weeks and just started taking pills. I am having a problem swallowing the calcium. The pills are huge and when broken in half they scratch my throat. If I split them in half I have to take 6 halves, it is just too much. I need to know if I can take chewable calcium carbonate? If not any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks... — AmyWollet (posted on October 8, 2003)
October 8, 2003
Hi, I understand that Calcium Citrate is much more effective and is
absorbed better than the carbonate. I take a chewable Calcium Citrate in
chocolate flavor which is great made by bariatric advantage. They have a
web site just pull up the name bariatric advantage. They also have a
chewable iron citrate in strawbery. These vitamins are made especially for
WLS patients. I love them!
— Karen Renee
October 8, 2003
Hi, Amy: Just ask Vitalady Michelle Curran and her husband about taking
calcium carbonate; it's just not effective for us surgery patients. I
can't take Citracal because the pills are huge and I can't crush them, but
I ordered the capsules from www.vitalady.com and am able to swallow them
without any problem. The plastic coating dissolves very quickly so I've
never had any problem with them getting stuck. I've heard lots of people
talk about the bad effects of the calcium carbonate, but I've never heard
one negative thing about the calcium citrate. I'd rather be safe than
sorry!
— Moysa B.
October 8, 2003
You can also get chewable calcium citrate at vitaminshoppe.com. Don't take
a chance with your bones!
— LLinderman
October 8, 2003
Hi Amy: People don't know they're getting into trouble with their calcium
until it's too late. Your blood test won't tell you you're low on calcium
because you're not technically low until you've sucked out the calcium from
your bones. By the time you show you're too low, your bones are already
weakened. I know the big pills are a pain. I don't have any suggestions
for you except to say look into the ones that you've been given by the
other posters, and stick with trying to find a citrate that works for you.
I'm not a doctor, but I agree with the others that it's better safe than
sorry.
— sherry hedgecock
October 8, 2003
You can get chewable calcium citrate in health food stores like Hi
Health.My opinion is that...if there is any question at all that we don't
absorb the carbonate as well as the citrate then why risk it?
— jennifer A.
October 8, 2003
One of the women in support group buys the Citracal calcium citrate with
vitamin D which are huge but she just chews them up and says they have no
taste and it works great. No need to buy some special chewable calcium. I
used the plain Citracal coated tablets without vitamin D for the first 3-4
months and then when I was okay with huge pills switched to what I take
now. The key is the coated ones. I bought a huge bottle from GNC as a
pre-op and took 1 pill out of the bottle and will likely never touch it
again. The non-coated just stick everywhere along the road.
<p>For you own long term health please find some way to do calcium
citrate. It would be okay to do the chewable calcium carbonate for the
first month or two as you will still have lots of fat yet, producing excess
extrogen protecting your body, but switch over by then. It's best to do
the citrate all along but my surgeon has gone to the Viactive for a short
time just to help people develop the habit. The regular coated Citracal
citrate are much smaller and might be okay for you even now. Keep trying
to find something! By the time any bloodwork show a problem it will be way
too late and you will likely have serious problems. Also get a baseline
Dex scan at some point in the first 6 months or so. In the future you will
be glad you have that reference point. It should not be a problem for your
PCP to justify as bone density, long term, is a major concern after WLS. I
had mine at 6 months and everything looked normal. Now I just have to hope
it stays that way. Also when you are further out make sure you do lots of
weight bearing exercise as that is important to bone density also. Good
Luck and enjoy your new healthy life. It's an awesome ride on this new
journey!
— zoedogcbr
October 9, 2003
I recently had to go to the doctor because I'm suffering pain in my legs
due to lack of calcium. I was taking Viactiv Chews and OsCal not realizing
that they were Carbonate.
— [Deactivated Member]
October 9, 2003
I had the same problem finding a calcium citrate that I could swallow. I
finally found it...nothing. I gave away probably 5 bottles of different
pills! I did find a chewable calcium citrate at a local health food store.
It can be ordered online cheaper that I got it at the store, for 8.55 per
bottle. I order 4 bottles at a time to save on shipping. They are about the
size of a half dollar and are a little tart, but to me no more than a sweet
tart. It has an orangy flavor. They are Soloray chewable calcium citrate in
60 chewables. I take 2 twice a day. You cen get them cheapest on line at
thehealthdepot.com. Feel free to email me if you have any further
questions. By the way, my dietician said something to the effect that
because our digestive juices don't work as they did, carbonate doesn't
break down like it does pre-op, and basically flushes right out. May as
well be eating candy.
— Denise B.
October 9, 2003
Sorry not to get all my thoughts into the same post. Since there seems to
be discrepancy from doctors/nutritionists about whether we can take
carbonate why take a chance? Osteoperosis isn't anything to take even a
remote chance with. No one seems to deny the fact that we absorb citrate,
so why not go down the proven road?
— Denise B.
October 9, 2003
I take liquid calcium citrate. It comes in flavors such as blueberry and
strawberry. I take 3 T daily and the taste isn't chalky at all. Runs
$9.95 a bottle at my local vitamin store. I use two bottles a month. If
you can't swallow the pills nor like the taste of the chewables, this is a
wonderful alternative. If you have trouble locating liquid calcium
citrate, drop me a line and I'll pick up some for you to try.
— Vicki S.
October 9, 2003
calcium carbonate does not absorb as well with bypass pateints, by the time
you realize you have bone density problems the damage will already be done
to your body, IT IS NOT WORTH THE RISK! take calcium citrate in liquid or
powder (can dump it right into anything and not know its there. to allow
your bones to be damaged for the rest of your life because the pills are
too large or scratch your throat is not wise, and when you are hunched over
and wearing casts fomr all the broekn bones in the years to come, you might
wish you took the calcium citrate. i use capcules and dump them into my
shake, can not even tell they are in it and they were cheap.
— janetc00
October 9, 2003
If you haven't had a baseline bone density scan, do so right away. And
then have one annually. Its the only way to know if calcium is being
absorbed by your bones and whether you need to adjust the amount of citrate
you need to take. My surgeon happens to believe that we can take either
citrate or carbonate and that we have enough stomach acid left to break
down the carbonate. Now my surgeon is a very smart guy but on this one, we
break ranks. He is going to track both his carbonate and citrate patients
to see if there is a difference but it will be years before he has any
results to share. In the meantime, I had a baseline and then an annual
scan a year later and so far, so good and I plan to have a scan annually
from now on. I have met enough longer term post-ops who had started with
carbonate and then developed osteoporosis to take a chance on anything but
citrate. Also, be careful of liquid calcium citrate and find out how much
of the citrate is elemental. That is the only form we absorb. For
instance, I was taking a 1200 mg calcium liquid citrate yet when I called
and asked how much of it was elemental it was only 250 mg. So, instead of
1 tablespoon of 1200, it would have taken 5! Also, we can only absorb 500
mg of citrate at a time, so space out your citrate. I order mine in
capsule form (no scratchy pills) from vitalady.com.
— Cindy R.
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