Multivitamins...

Hello All, I've been here for quite some time now  just lurking around, soaking up as much knowledge as I can before my surgery in November. My question is this: I'm really concerned about sticking with my multivitamin regime because of the fact that I'm having to force myself to take them now, Centrum chewables, and worry what it will be like after my surgery. I don't mind the flavor(orange) it's the crunchy, chalky tasting after taste that I'm struggling with. Any hoo, I was wondering what other's have found works for them. I'm in the process of trying to find a soft chewable one, but no luck so far, but still hoping. Let me know thanks:)

There are liquid vitamins and it is also not necessary that you take a chewable; you can take tablet form.

I have tried several Bariatric brands and liked Celebrate best.  I switched to over the counter at 3 mos wanting to cut the expense but have went back to Celebrate as they seem to be the easiet for me.  Go online to Bariatric Advantage, Celebrate, Building Blocks, Fusion, etc. and see what you can get in samples to try.   I see several post Vitalady.com as their go to place for vitamins as well.  You want to watch how many you have to take of each brand to get in your requirements plus watch that they contain calcium citrate. 

Just FYI, if you use Bariatric Fusion, you need EIGHT a day (I know the bottle says four, but that only gives you about half of what the ASMBS says you need).

I have an aversion to vitamins as well. I am currently taking 6 gummy vitamins a day. 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening.

Honestly, you likely can swallow pills, it may just take a little practice post op. I took script pills the night of my surgery in the hospital.  I tried a variety of chewables--some sour, some had aftertaste, some were so hard I though my teeth would break.  I did use a liquid vitamin for about 3 years post op, but it was a choice I made. For the past year I take a high potency capsuled vitamin, one AM and one PM.  It has no vitamin K in it, but I also take 600mcg vitamin K supplement to help with the severe bruising I had post op.  DAVE

I am so glad you mentioned the bruising. I bruise very easily and many times I don't know what happened to me. Even another doctor noticed the bruising and didn't ask. I think I need to ask my pcp to check my vitamin K levels.
jules

I have labs done on a annual basis. Never had any mention of my K levels being low. But I did ask my surgeon's bariatric nurse--who assists him in wt loss surgeries. She said to take vitamin K as it helps with blood clotting. I must say it's much better than a couple of years ago. Beginning around 8-9 months, I began having large bruises (size of 50 cent coins) on my forearms. These would appear with no memory of any trauma, like bumping my arm, falling down, etc.  Taking 200 mcg daily, I noticed the sizes of these bruises a lot smaller, and they healed quicker in the matter of a couple of weeks. Over the next few months, I upped intake to 400mcg and then 600mcg daily--split into 2 doses.  If I have trauma to my arms, they still do bruise, but those "non trauma" bruising issues seem to have gone away.  I carried a large box, about 3 x 3 x 1 foot in size, about 35 pounds the other day.  I should have used a dolly to move it. As soon as I took the box out of my SUV, and walked about 25 feet, I could feel the edges of the box putting pressure on my arm. I only had to walk about 50 feet. Within a couple of minutes after setting it down, I had major big bruises on both of my forearms.  But these did heal and were virtually not visible within about 9-10 days.  I also found that using legal marijauna infused lotion improved the healing time. This also works well on cuts or scratches too. DAVE

I like Celebrate Vitamins best. Contact them. They will send you samples, which s very nice, so you can try them before investing a lot of money on a huge bottle.

You don't have to take Centrum brand chewables.  There are other chewables, there are liquids, or there are pills you swallow.

I am not aware of any soft chewables that have all the vitamins and minerals we need.  Gummy vitamins are all missing a whole bunch of things.

You might wanna try ENS from Celebrate.  It's a drink mix that is a multi and 500 mg calcium.  I think it tastes like Koolaid.  You can contact them to get a sample.

I used ENS for a long time but now I just take generic multis that I swallow.  Cheap and easy.