Calcium Forms

I know this question has been asked before, but I am having a devil of a time doing a search on it in the DS forum, so I'm asking . . . again . . . and hoping folks aren't too perturbed to reply.  What is your calcium regimen?  I have been doing the "Kroger" brand of Citrical Petites, but something in it really irritates my behind.  I have just ordered some UpCal D as I've seen it mentioned so much by folks I thought I'd give it a try, but was wondering . . .

1.  UpCal D users - is anyone using ONLY UpCal D or do you combine it in a regimen with other calcium (pills, liquid)?

2.  Non-UpCal D users - what calcium do you use.  I'm open to suggestions.

 

Thanks for your replies.

I use Vitacost's Bone Booster Complex (it must have the word Complex on the end as their Bone Booster is nowhere near as good).  This stuff has Microcrystalline Hydroxy Apatatite and it has a reasonable amount of vitamin K2 in it although I do take extra (as well as strontuim).

I also upped my magnesium citrate recently as I finally realized I wasn't getting it in the 2:1 ratio.  I believe that the extra K2 and strontium were restored my PTH to normal in my last set of labs.

Are you suffering with constipation?  I've had to resort to Miralax recently.

Yes, I do deal with constipation and, since I had a fissure a couple years ago that only healed after LIS, I DON'T want that to happen again.  1/2 to 1 dose of miralax a night keeps me comfortable and I'm happy with that, just hate the burning butt I get from the citrical.

I don't really suffer with a burning butt.

I use Citrical MAX. 2 pills - 3 times a day for about 1800 mg. It hasn't given me any problems yet. I was constipated
early on right after I started but I added 250 mg magnesium with each dose and have not had a repeat so far. Of course,
being a little further out I also make sure I get more fat than I was the first 2 months.

I also use Vitacost's Bone Booster Complex. I struggled with different types of calcium because they were either too big to swallow or they upset my stomach. When I made the choice to switch to BBC, I did alot of research of past threads here. I put together a little spreadsheet of who was taking what, what problems they may be having related to osteopenia, etc.

UpCal has had a little controversy here, a couple of years ago. I can't remember the reasons. Regardless, it is not popularly taken by many DSers.

I might add that some DSers primarily take one form of calcium but will add a different type just because. I will add a lemon Calcet calcium citrate chew, just to mix my calcium up a bit.

I've been using the UpCal D, and my Calcium levels, after being low for my first three months when I was using VitaLady's Calcium, moved to normal on UpCal D for the past 6 months.  I do supplement 1x a day with the Vitafusion Calcium Gummies I got from Costco.  Both have carbs in them, so remember to account for those accordingly.  However, both feel like treats to me, unlike the original calcium horse pills I was taking, so I figure the extra carbs are worth it.

It's been  7 1/2 yrs  since I had my surgery and have been plagued by the burning butt syndrome. Never could figure out what was causing it until I read about others on this forum. I contacted by nutritionist  and  she suggested to change a different form of calcium citrate supplements. They must be calcium citrate not any other type of calcium. The best form is powdered. Available at up-cal. There are great chewables available at Bariatric Advantage.com , you can request samples from them. I just did and they are really great. Also, Celebratevitamins.com has calcium chews and they also have a product called calcet creamy calcium bites. They are really good!!  Hope this helps alleviate everyone's burning butt.  :)  If you still want to take Citrical  and have trouble swallowing those horse pills you can disolve them in a liquid drink, such as diet snapple or crystal lite. It does leave a sludge on the bottom but doesn't alter the taste. Much easier to tale then choking on those pills.

 

Yup, I decided to give UpCal a try as I've seen quite a few people mention it on the boards.  I read there were some issues about 4 years ago regarding them changing their formula which greatly compromised the amount of calcium you're getting, but if I remember correctly from everything I read, that was rectified eventually, so the current formula is good.  So, I started on UpCal D on Friday and haven't had any problems so far.  I actually use it to take my other supplements.  I have 6 batches and I mix the powder with about an oz of juice then add cold water.  I use that to wash down the supplement batch.  I also picked up a bottle of the Wellesse liquid for variety.  Orange was the only flavor the Walmart on my way home had, but it's not so bad, not after chilled - it's not like you're drinking a whole glass of it.  By the time the taste gets to me, I've already washed that down with a few swallows of water - no harm, no foul.  I did have the slightest bit of burning this morning, but nothing compared to what I experienced with the citrical.    I'm thinking there may be a balance off in my gut and hopefully beefing up my probiotics will help with that last little bit.  But if it doesn't and my labs show I'm getting the necessary calcium . . . then I'll be happy with that.

Plus, when I look at the ingredients on citrical (which I should have done years ago, I'll admit), there's just one thing I can actually pronounce and that's disturbing.  I looked up each ingredient on the web and almost all of these "y" things are used in topical stuff like sunscreen, eye drops, etc.  Frankly, that just creeped me out.  I'm a bit more comfortable with the ingredients listed on the UpCal D container.  The only question is, it says 2500mg of which 500 of that is elemental calcium (per serving).  What's the other 2000mg . . . . citrate?  And what exactly is that?  Researching that today.

Just a note - and I learned this lesson the hard way.  Regarding the dissolving tablets in water.  My surgeon originally told me that after my surgery in 2006.  He said the sludge in the bottom was filler that you can toss and the calcium stays in the water and you can drink that.  I did that for the first 3 years and while I didn't experience any burning butt or constipation, eventually . . . and unfortunately . . . my labs showed I hadn't been getting any calcium either.  Turns out, the sludge includes the calcium, as I think others on the board may have also found.  That was a sad day for me in more ways than one.  I went gunho trying to correct the issue by starting out with my full dosage of pills instead of starting slowly as I did immediately post-op and ended up with a fissure.  Not . . . fun!