Caltrate and Vit D3?

Good Morning ALL!
 I see so many people talking about "dry D3".  I take Caltrate with Vit D3, IS this the "right " kind of D3?  I am now 24 days post-op and the only vitamins my doctor told me to take are Multivitamins w/iron (4 a day) Calcium citrate (3/day). I added Sublingual B complex w/B12.
I just want to be sure I'm not missing something vitally important.

Thank you all for being such a GREAT support system.
 Ginger 

Good morning, Ginger.
I would encourage you to consider Vitalady's plan. We need dry D3, alot of it, so we can absorb it.

It isn't enough D3 and caltrate is calcium carbonate.  You need calcium citrate.

Compare what you are taking to Vitalsy's starter pack for DSer's:

http://www.vitalady.com/index.htm

HTH,
Michele

 Oh lord, dear, this is not nearly what you need, and your surgeon is whack.   You have been prescribed the absolute BARE minimum that a RNY'er, not a DS'er needs.       Please contact Vitalady at Vitalady.com, and please trust and listen to what she has to say.    That is, if you don't want your bones to turn into jelly.    Good luck and I hope you are doing well otherwise.

With us it's all about absorption.  IMHO you'll absorb more calcium by licking the sidewalk than taking calcium carbonate.  The RDA says we need 1000mg elemental calcium a day.  There are lots of types of calcium out there and each is absorbed differently.  You can certainly get your daily requirement in by taking Caltrate, but it becomes cost prohibitive because of the amounts you would need to take daily.  Calcium citrate is readily available and affordable for most.  There's also lactate, gluconate, malate, bisglycinate, and hydroxylapatite.  They come in liquid, chewable, tablet, or capsule form.  No matter which of these you choose, read the label carefully and consider the dosage.  Your labs will tell you how you are doing.  Also some calcium comes with D3 (dry D) which is our preferred form for absorption, but often times we need additional D3.  Again, your labs will dictate how much, but since you are just starting out you can look at Vitalady's recommendations as others have already posted.  Thanks for asking about this so early out as you've got time to switch to a better calcium. 
Cindy

 Thank you ladies.  I knew I could come here for some straight up answers.
 I did go and look at Vitalady's starter pack and Holy Cow!! almost $400 dollars for 90 days!!! I'm just concerned, because I've already had the surgery, and had no idea about the cost of the vit. regimen. We are on a very limited budget, since my husband and I were both laid off about a year ago, and Have both had to take jobs at a considerable pay cut (about 1/3 what we use to make).
I'm starting to panic about being able to afford the things I need to keep me healthy.  
We don't even have health insurance so all my labs will be out of pocket as well. I knew that was coming but now this...... I'm worried. 
Thanks again
Ginger

You don't necessarily need the entire Vitalady starter pack.  But what were your pre-op labs like?

You could do the following, which is the majority of the regimen I do:

Costco:
Citrical, take 2 at a time, 2-3 times a day (240 tabs are about $12 for 40-60 day supply)
Chewable vitamin C, 500 mg, twice a day

Walgreens:
Prenavite 100 tabs, 1/day (about $10/bottle of 100 - over a 3 month supply)
Zinc - 50 mg tab, 1/day (about $8 for a bottle of 100)

Order from Vitalady:
50K D3, 3 per week should be more than enough to start (I didn't take D3 for 6 years, and didn't need it - but what were your levels pre-op?)
Proferrin - 1-2/day, break in half (I actually don't take this, because I get iron infusions instead, but a lot of people take this)

But this is just stop-gap - you MUST find some way to get what you REALLY need, which you can't know without being tested!  So you MUST get some kind of insurance - labs can cost around $1K!

I'll be in her back yard in another week or so!

But please, no Prenates.

You have a PM.

 I'm not  sure what my pre-op labs were.  I will have to see if I can get a copy.  Even then I'm not even sure they will have tested for all I need.  I think they are using RNY guidelines. Now that I know what needs to be tested, I can be more proactive. I have not seen my surgeons name on here for the DS But he is a accredited surgeon from a "Center of Excellence". I Just think he is new at the DS.  He had Dr, Husted assist, and I've seen some "not so great" posts about him. 

Thank you all so much for all your support.
Ginger