Question:
Crushing Calcium Pills?

I am having a hard time taking the calcium citrate pills and the liquid stuff tastes like crap. I was wondering if anyone has ever taken the cal citrate pill and crushed it, then put it into capsule form (i think you can buy empty capsules at health food stores). Does this sound feasible? I am stressing out about calcium supplements. can you tell? :) This is like my 2nd question about it! Thanks a bunch!    — Jen S. (posted on January 26, 2003)


January 26, 2003
Never crush anything unless you ask a pharmacist. I would call a pharmacist for all med questions and alternatives for your meds/vitamins, that's your safest bet. Good Luck!
   — ZZ S.

January 26, 2003
Jen, I'd suggesty you just buy your calcium citrate in capsules to begin with. I know that vitalady.com (which I don't work for!) sells calcium citrate capsules (with Vitamin D & magnesium) that you can break open and spill into your drink or applesauce or whatever, if you don't want to swallow the capsule. Or, I guess you could chew your calcium pills a bit and then swallow them, but yuck! I'd imagine that tastes nasty.
   — Suzy C.

January 26, 2003
Hi. I agree with the vitalady suggestion: I buy the Super Calcium capsules and they work great. Easy to swallow, and you take three a day. Another option is Twinlab's chewable calcium citrate. I started out with those immediately post-surgery. Only problems are they're very expensive and they're very big, but you can at least chew them. They're similar to Sweetarts, if you like that kind of thing (actually I don't, which is why the vitalady item is such as godsend!) Good luck!
   — Mary Ellen W.

January 26, 2003
I use this little trick to get the calcium pills down. I use yogurt. I like it anyway, so I just take a spoonful and then, before I swallow it, I pop the pill in and then swallow. I also use this for my pre-natal vitamin and other large pills I have to take. I just seem to get even the smallest pills stuck if I try to get them down with water.
   — garw

January 26, 2003
Dang I can relate, until of course I went over to Michelle (Vitalady.com) & her DH's & was introduced to the BEST calcium I've had in years. (I was a pro calcium freak before WLS). I'd suggest trying her's. I also had the liquid, the chewables & BTW, Tums isn't the right kind of calcium. Take care of you!
   — LionGirl2k

January 26, 2003
I went thru hell trying to find calcium citrate I could stand. I tried crushing pills and some liquid calcium citrate that was so thick I couldn't get it out of the dosage cup to drink it. I finally found calcium citrate pills at GNC that I cut into 4 small pieces with scissors and swallow like a pill. Anyway it works for me and they are inexoensive compared to some.
   — kelly M.

January 27, 2003
WaterOz makes a liquid calcium that is flavorless. You can order it online or their headquarters can tell you of a health care practitioner in your area that carries it.
   — AlisonR

January 27, 2003
I also like the calcium citrate capsules. Very easy to swallow. What kind of liquid did you try? I tried the Drinkables and MAN! was that EVER NASTY!!!!! :(~ It is supposed to be vanilla flavored and it tasted like coffee-flavored cough syrup. UGH! I use the NatureSource liquid (or something like that) from www.vitaminworld.com. It is actually pretty tasty in the lemon custard flavor--kind of like lemon yogurt. Definitely NOT something I have to choke down. Also, I found that the Target generic of the Citracal tablets are kind of tapered at the ends and I can swallow them. Citracals almost always get stuck going down. BELIEVE ME: If I can swallow them pretty much anybody ought to be able to!
   — ctyst

January 28, 2003
Hey Jen, don't give up on trying liquid calcium. As a registered nurse I have tried many brands before I found "Isotonix" Calcium Plus. As far as I'm concerned, this calcium product outshines any calcium on the market! I've been taking it for over 6 years and like it so well that I've quit looking for anything better, because I truly believe there isn't anything better. Not only does it taste great, but you can actually expect to absorb around 90% of this calcium within 5 minutes! From what I have found so far, no other calcium on the market is absorbed as well as Isotonix Calcium Plus.
   — Patti S.

January 28, 2003
Gee, I hope you still check the answers from a couple of days ago! See what one will do when the message board is down??!! Just wanted to say that per my doc's orders, I take my caltrate pills and drop them in 1 oz of water. Wait about 5 min, stir w/ a fork to break up lumps. The white gunk at the bottom is the coating on the pill(s). Do not drink this! What's floating in the water on top is the actual calcium. Do the shot. It's not too bad actually. I do this w/ 3 pills once a day. Blood work came back fine, tho I don't know if it registers calcium intake.
   — Laura S.




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