What's the trick with the Vitamins/Pills?

With the little "mini meal" of meds I need to take know, I wanted to know how ya'll get them in, what have you found that works.... Taking them all at once? Splitting them up 2x a day? before meals, after meals? With supplements...  I used to take my meds in the a.m. and now its like a mini meal with my a.m. supplement, but its kind of uncomfortable for a while, so Im thinking about splitting them up into 4 time frames Currently I now take 1 Prevacid (1 a day) 2 Calcium (1 a day) - 800 mg (only need 500 & the Citrical mini's are only 400 so bonus for me) 1 B12 (1 a day) - 1000 mg 4 Multi Vitamin (2 2x a day) 2 Urso (1  - 2x a day) 1 - Other (which shall remain nameless because I can't spell it ) Taking the Prevacid, 2 Multi Vit, 1 Calcium, and 1 Urso is.... WOWZERS... So at night I would take 1 calcium,  1 urso, 2 mv and 1 mystery pill...  I know its not a lot and I could do more....Just need pointers on getting them all in comfortably. Thoughts?

hey Amanda! Hope your day went well sweetie!  dido about the med being a meal in itself ;oh how i hear ya!! Well i take 2 calcuims ,2 complete Flintstones {i have trouble with absorbtion}so i have to chew them ,anyhow A blood pressure pill,and 2 others . what i do is chew my vits first! then i take the others since they are lil i take and swallow 2 at a time........with a very small sip of water or enuf to get them down and not gulp water. anyhow yes! i take all mine in the am ......when i have to have a pain med which is huge for me to swallow 'i sma**** with 2 spoons one on top of another and put it in a pc of wax paper and tilt it back towards the back of my throat and swalllow.kinda of like you would if you were taking a BC powder.......My hubbys idea for me !Great one too! you may also crush some of them up in your food esp your first bite so alll of your food wont taste medinice.... well their u have it!  God bless! ask your dr but i think spliting them up would be fine !

Good idea about crushing them.... I didn't even think about that ... and the whole thing about making it like a goody/B.C. powder... another GREAT IDEA... I'll try that tomorrow...

u r so welcomed ms Amanda! Yeah it's all kinds of tricks we help each other with as long as its legal! LOL......   have a good one ya hear! Bonny

Ok Ok,  I hate to be the killjoy here but I gotta tell ya,.... Don't take the MV at the same time (within 4 hrs) with the calcium.  Iron and calcium work against each other when taken at the same time so neither get absorbed effectivelty.   I take my 2 MV in the AM and my calcium citrate in the PM. In the beginning I cut the calcium horse pills in 4ths, later then halves.  Now I can take my morning dosage and my evening dosage all at the same time. And if it helps any, Walgreen makes a wonderfully small small round MV with 18mg of iron.  I required more and was told to use One Source Prenatal.  I know,I know,...but as long as the strips keep testing negative, I'm OK with it. They have 28 mg iron each and I still have to take 2-3 a day to keep my iron up.  They are a small thin capsule shaped pill and are still way smaller than most MVs.   The crushing is a good advice except for the potential of tasting that junk,....blick!!!! I use to take the pills 1 and 2 at a time and wait 3-5 minutes then take the next group those first 4-6 weeks.  Also my breakfast was liquid protein in one form or another (mix, smoothie, can or bottle****il about 4 months out.  It just made the pill taking easier.  After that it got easier so, it should be getting easier sooner than later with you new graduated menu. Now I take my meds in a AM batch first thing before getting ready (then breakfast after getting showered and dresssed) and a PM batch before bed. AM: B-12 sublingual under the tongue with a squirt dosage of liquid B Complex, hold underr tongue while retrieving rest of pills that include -2-3 MV, VIt B-1, A, 2 Ds, C, E, Potassium, and Magnesium, Wash down with a swallow or two of water. PM: 1 BP med (diovan 160), 1 81 mg Chidrens aspirin, 2 Falxseed Oil (with Omega 3), 4-5 (1000mg) Biotin, 2 Calcium Citrate washed down with 2 swallows of water. Ya just throw'em in the back of your throat, pu the water in, tilt your head back some and swallow. If you aren't afraid,...you will be! Use the FORCE Amanda,...Use the FORCE.

You can take them however you want with the exception of  Iron and Calcium .. big No No ..  And crushing them , well you need to make sure that they say on the bottle you can .. sometimes they are ment to be disolved complete . I dunno .. just something my nut told me .  I take one Prenatal in the Am .. one at Night ..  I take my other 11 babies at breakfast ..  I do the shots for B12 .. so that is not even an issue .  You can get them in on what ever works for you .!!  So many people forget their vitamins .. and think they are not important .. they are what helps to keep us alive .  Have a great day ..  Nat

Vitamins are definitely important but so hard to schedule.  I had such a problem in the beginning with the no calcium & iron (in my multi) at the same time, I would end up forgetting my calcium.  I also ws having a problem locating the multi that was recommended to me because it is available at Vitamin Shoppe & all of Dr. A's patients were recommended the same thing, so they were always sold out.  My way around all of these complications.  After talking to my nut. she agreed that if I got the iron free multivitamin (always on the shelf) and took my calcium at the same time (thus not forgetting) and just adding a bit of extra iron supplement seperately at a later time, would be sufficient (my numbers have never been low).  My nut also told me to try and take my multis with food as it would help break them down better.  Iron at bedtime when my stomach was empty so it wouldn't bind with anything (have not had constipation problems, knock on wood, go like clock work every a.m.).  So here is my schedule. B-12 sublingual (I use the one from Trader Joe's) pop it in the a.m. when I grab my vits, dissolves quickly 1 multi vitamin & 2 citrical petites at the end of breakfast (in the beginning sometimes did in the middle of my meal because of sticking issues) 1 multi vitamin & 2 citrical petites at the end of lunch iron suppliment  with vitamin c (to help break it down) at bedtime (in the beginning was doing 3 chewables with a chewable vit. c, now switch to Vitron C, swallowable)

I was always told to take 1 multivitamin twice a day. Not all at once. So I take one pill in the morning with a protein shake. Then about an hour later I take my b12. Midday I take my calcium with lunch, then I take my other vitamin with dinner. I thought you weren't supposed to take the B12 or the calcium with the vitamins, but I could be wrong. That is why they are spaced out like that.  Shannon 357/180