Calcium Down the Road...Pills?

Im a little over 2 weeks post op, and im getting all of my vitamins in. I just hateeeee chewing up that nasty chalky calcium. Do we ever get to a point where we can just take a pill? And does anyone have any other suggestions, right now im taking the Celebrate Chewables, Cherry Tart. Also, B Complex? I have to empty the contents out of a pill and mix it with something to take it. Its DISGUSTING, and the only way I can take it is to mix it with tomato juice and hold my nose, then swish more tomato juice around before I can unplug my nose. Any thoughts or advice?

My surgeon allowed me to start swallowing all vitamins and supplements at 2 weeks out.  If they are too big, he said I could break them in half.  I like the Citrical petites, they are not too big. 

The ASMBS says we can take vitamins in pill form as soon as we can tolerate swallowing pills - I was able to swallow pills right after my surgery.

Another option is Upcal D, which is powdered calcium citrate.  You can put it in any drink or yogurt or something like that.  It's cheaper than chewable calcium citrate and I can't taste it at all.

I haven't had surgery yet, but I just saw my Nut for education on post op diet. She gave us a whole spreadsheet on different brands of vitamins and the one I think I will get has all the necessary vitamins in it (including the calcium) and its a mix in powder. It's also relatively inexpensive in comparison to other brands. The person who designed it is a bariatric surgeon.

http://www.newlifebariatricsupplements.com/vitamin-and-miner al-supplements/multi-vitamin-products/powder-vitamins-cherry -berry

You cannot get all the calcium you need in a single dose.  Our bodies can only absorb about 500mg at a time, so we MUST spread the calcium out into three doses a day (and any surgeon putting dorth his own vitamins should know that, but not all bariatric surgeons are knowledgeable about vitamins, And sadly some are just in it to make money).  Compare what is in them to what the ASMBS says we need before you order them, especially since the ASMBS has recently revised some of their recommendations.  

Lora

Looks like you could do that twice a day to get your multi and two doses of calcium in.  You'd still need a third dose of calcium.  One scoop of that would have 1000 mg calcium in it, but since we can only absorb about 500 mg at a time, you'd still have to take a third dose to get enough.

thanks for the insite! this is good to know. Does it make any difference on how much you absorb whether you get a distal or proximal RnY, so more small instestine is left in place?

Well, maybe, but that difference would vary from person to person based on  how much exactly was bypassed and other stuff.  The 500 mg at a time limit actually applies to everyone, whether they had WLS or not.

Some people find the Citracal Petites easier to swallow than the regular ones.  I, personally, also HATED the chalky lozenges, and found some calcium citrate from the Vitamin Shoppe (their brand) that are in thin capsules and are easier to swallow than either the large calcium tablets or the Petites (which are just shorter but wider than the regular ones). Because the capsules are thin, they are a bit flexible and they dissolve very quickly (just in case you might have one that doesn't go down well... But I have never had that happen and I started taking them just a couple of months out).

As Kelly mentioned, you can get Upcal D powder.  You can also get Bariatric Advantage calcium citrate chews or Calcet Creamy Bite chews in a variety of flavors, all of which are pretty good but are pricey.  Many of us use them for just one of our three daily doses.

Lora

I took citracal petites,  cut in half, right after surgery. It's what I am currently taking.