Question:
I am having problems taking my vitamins.

I'm 6 1/2 weeks postop RNY. The iron & gallbladder pills go down fine. I started taking Centrium Performance and Citrical + D. It is horrible they make me gag (especially the Centrium) and make me nauceous for over an hour after I take them. This weekend I even vomitted the Citrical back up after it had dissolved. I am afraid that my stoma is too small and needs to be dialated. Or should I just try another vitamin? I tried cutting them up and they wouldn't even go down this way. I'm really confused as I never had a problem taking any pill before surgery and now I struggle just to get them down my throat. I get so sick at night that I can't finish taking the rest of my supplements. Any suggestions would be really helpful.    — Elizabeth A. (posted on October 6, 2001)

October 6, 2001
I too have tried many different vitamins which were too large and I kept searching until I found one that I can deal with. Currently I am taken Centrum A to Zinc, they are medium sized pills, I these are still too big you might want to try liquid vitamins (I tried and it was awful!!!) If you have a nature food store in your area, you can also try Tiny Tabs Multiple vitamins by New Chapter they are extremly small in size, and serving size is 6, so when I took these, I swallowed them 3 at a time. If you find that you getting nauseated from taking the vitamins, try taking them about an hour after you have eaten so that you have food on you stomach and won't get that sick feeling. As far at the calcium supplement, I take chewable Caltrate 600 Plus and it has vitamin D in it. I have read somewhere that we could only absorb I think 400 or 500mg of Calcium at a time so break them in half and take a total of 1200mg per day. I hope I have been helpful to you. I am 10 weeks post op and down from 357 to 298lbs.
   — davia.p

October 6, 2001
My doc actually suggests children's chewable vitamins for the first few months. I take two Flinstones with iron in the AM, and two in the PM. I think I might stick with these for a while, as I've never enjoyed taking those big ol' vitamin pills either.
   — blank first name B.

October 6, 2001
At 6 1/2 weeks I was getting sick of the Flintstones chewables and my doctor switched me to One-A-Day (Rite Aid Brand) - 1 tablet twice a day. They're small and digestible. When I got further along post-op I wanted a more potent vitamin and wanted to take calcium supplement too. I tried Centrum and Citrical and had the same exact problems as you're having. I've since switched to GNC SoftGel Multivitamins - they're a little on the big side but are soft, slide down pretty easy, and have liquid inside. They digest very easily and have no nasty aftertaste. I think they're on sale now. I also got rid of the Citrical and switched to a powered Calcium Citrate with Magnesium and Vitamin D in capsule form. They too digest almost immediately. I order them from www.vitalady.com. I take 500 mg 3 times a day. An 80 day supply costs 15.00. Another good multivitamin can be found at www.vita4life.com. These vitamins are made to break down in your stomach almost immediately and are suppossed to be highly absorbable. They were formulated by a bariatric surgeon especially for gastric bypass patients. Forget about the Centrum and Citrical if you're having trouble digesting them. There are a lot of other vitamin options out there. Good luck finding what will work for you.
   — Jeanne R.

October 7, 2001
Vitamins were the biggest pain in the neck to me after surgery (I had mine May 2). I couldn't swallow pills for forever. One possible suggestion is taking Centrum Juniors (2 chewables) or the Twin Lab chewable Calcium Citrate tablets, which are kinda like Sweetarts. Good luck!
   — Mary Ellen W.