Vitamin HELP!
I had RNY surgery on Aug 17th. I am on the pureed food stage. I am taking a few vitamins however, my dietician has told me I have more vitmins that I need to take. I have looked at the local pharmacies etc and not finding many chewable, sublingual, proper strengths etc... Does anyone have some suggestions as to where they buy their vitamins? I would like to go to one place either in person or online and get all I need instead of going all over the place?! I live in Indiana. Any suggestions anyone has would be so welcomed! Thanks for your help in advance!
Finally had surgery on Wed Aug 17th! Came home on 22nd! Thank you Dr. Mattar
You're probably not gonna get it all at one place. I know, it's annoying.
You can usually get chewable Centrum at most stores that sell vitamins. You can also get sublingual B12 there. With B12, you can be kind of flexible. You need to take about 500 mcg a day (unless your labs show you need more), but if you want, you can take one that has 1000 mcg every other day instead. Or 2500 mcg every five days.
Just stay away from kids chewables and gummy vites.
If you want chewable calcium citrate, stores almost never carry that. They will have chewable calcium carbonate, but we don't absorb that. I like the Calcet creamy bites from Celebrate and caramel calcium chews from Bariatric Advantage. I also like Upcal D, which is a powder you can add to any drink. It has no taste. You gotta order online, but I think you can get both that and Calcet creamy bites at Amazon.
If you want chewable iron, I would order from Bariatric Advantage. They have the type we absorb the best. If you want iron you can swallow, look for Feosol carbonyl iron (not ferrous sulfate) at CVS when you look for your multi and B12.
If you need D3, I think the best place to order that is from vitalady.com. She has big doses if you need that, which you won't find in stores. She also has Tender Iron, which is a good choice in iron if you want iron you swallow.
You can usually get chewable Centrum at most stores that sell vitamins. You can also get sublingual B12 there. With B12, you can be kind of flexible. You need to take about 500 mcg a day (unless your labs show you need more), but if you want, you can take one that has 1000 mcg every other day instead. Or 2500 mcg every five days.
Just stay away from kids chewables and gummy vites.
If you want chewable calcium citrate, stores almost never carry that. They will have chewable calcium carbonate, but we don't absorb that. I like the Calcet creamy bites from Celebrate and caramel calcium chews from Bariatric Advantage. I also like Upcal D, which is a powder you can add to any drink. It has no taste. You gotta order online, but I think you can get both that and Calcet creamy bites at Amazon.
If you want chewable iron, I would order from Bariatric Advantage. They have the type we absorb the best. If you want iron you can swallow, look for Feosol carbonyl iron (not ferrous sulfate) at CVS when you look for your multi and B12.
If you need D3, I think the best place to order that is from vitalady.com. She has big doses if you need that, which you won't find in stores. She also has Tender Iron, which is a good choice in iron if you want iron you swallow.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I buy all of my vitamins at the pharmacy -- Centrum chewables, Biotin, Zinc, Feosol (iron carbonyl), Vitamin C. I bought Citrical "Petites" calcium citrate tablets at Walmart. They're not advertised as chewable but while they're chalky they are absolutely tasteless so I don't mind chewing them. I have no problem swallowing the Biotin, Zinc, or Feosol. The Vitamin C is chewable. I don't like the aftertaste of B12 sublinguals so I do the shots.
Notes:
Mbezoni
on 9/6/11 10:00 am
on 9/6/11 10:00 am
https://www.celebratevitamins.com/shop.html You can get all of the vitamins in one place. Celebrate vitamins are specifically for people who have undergone weight loss surgery. Good luck!
for a multi, I would just go to a local pharmacy and get some centrum silver chewables, they have everything you need in them and take 2 per day.
B12 - at the same pharmacy - look for some sublingual B12 - atleast 1000mcg daily (this is where most people srart and then increase after there first set of labs - most need more)
for vitamins online - go to vitalady.com
Calcium citrate - chewables can only be bought online - vitalady.com sells bariatric advantage vitamins, including calcium, so this way you can get everything in one place. I personally love the cherry lozenges or the raspberry chewies. The lozenges are 500mg, so you need to take 3-4 per day. The chewies are only 250mg, so you need to take 2 at a time, 3 or 4 times per day or take a combination of the 2 if you would like. They also have other flavors. Most people dont' like the cinnamon or chocolate lozenges. YOu need atleast 1500-2000mg per day, in 3-4 daily doses, no more than 650mg at a time and not within 2-4 hours of your iron or thyroid medication.
iron - also at vitalady.com - you can get tender irons - they are made of carbonyl iron which are highly absorbable. They come in 2 strengths. The chewables are only 25mg, so you need to take quite a few of them and with that you need to add some vitamin C. For every 30mg of iron, you need 200mg of vitamin C. Vitamin C aides in the absorbtion of iron. There are also 60mg capsules and these already have the necessary vitamin C in them. These are the most popular and very cheap - comes in bottle of 400. My NUT starts patients off with a dosage of 120-150mg of iron per day, all in one dosage - a minimum dosage of the chewables to start would be 50-75mg but you might want to start higher.
vitamin B1 - 100mg per day - I think you can get sublinguals from vitalady.com otherwise, once you can swallow pills, you can get these locally.
vitamin D3 - you need Dry D3 - almost everyone is vitamin D deficient preop and don't even know it requiring them to take large doses of dry D3. A minimum dose of 10,000 units per day is suggested but more is usually needed = 15,000 - 20,000 units daily or 50,000 units 2-3 times daily. IF you can get your level checked it would be helpful
Anything else depends on your labs.
B12 - at the same pharmacy - look for some sublingual B12 - atleast 1000mcg daily (this is where most people srart and then increase after there first set of labs - most need more)
for vitamins online - go to vitalady.com
Calcium citrate - chewables can only be bought online - vitalady.com sells bariatric advantage vitamins, including calcium, so this way you can get everything in one place. I personally love the cherry lozenges or the raspberry chewies. The lozenges are 500mg, so you need to take 3-4 per day. The chewies are only 250mg, so you need to take 2 at a time, 3 or 4 times per day or take a combination of the 2 if you would like. They also have other flavors. Most people dont' like the cinnamon or chocolate lozenges. YOu need atleast 1500-2000mg per day, in 3-4 daily doses, no more than 650mg at a time and not within 2-4 hours of your iron or thyroid medication.
iron - also at vitalady.com - you can get tender irons - they are made of carbonyl iron which are highly absorbable. They come in 2 strengths. The chewables are only 25mg, so you need to take quite a few of them and with that you need to add some vitamin C. For every 30mg of iron, you need 200mg of vitamin C. Vitamin C aides in the absorbtion of iron. There are also 60mg capsules and these already have the necessary vitamin C in them. These are the most popular and very cheap - comes in bottle of 400. My NUT starts patients off with a dosage of 120-150mg of iron per day, all in one dosage - a minimum dosage of the chewables to start would be 50-75mg but you might want to start higher.
vitamin B1 - 100mg per day - I think you can get sublinguals from vitalady.com otherwise, once you can swallow pills, you can get these locally.
vitamin D3 - you need Dry D3 - almost everyone is vitamin D deficient preop and don't even know it requiring them to take large doses of dry D3. A minimum dose of 10,000 units per day is suggested but more is usually needed = 15,000 - 20,000 units daily or 50,000 units 2-3 times daily. IF you can get your level checked it would be helpful
Anything else depends on your labs.
Most Active
Recent Topics