What types of Vitamins to purchase and save a little $$??
Any and all suggestions are welcome!
Thanks SO much
Suzanne
Everything you need you can buy over the counter at places like Walmart, Sam's Club and Walgreens. I use generics when available; I also look for the buy one/get one 50% off or FREE that is commonly run at Walgreens.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO PURCHASE EXPENSIVE BARIATRIC VITAMINS!
I used regular vitamins right from the beginning....not even chewables. But if you want them, Centrum makes a chewable adult vitamin. Do not be tricked into thinking that children's or gummies (even adult gummies) are adequate...they are NOT. Chewable calcium citrate is harder to find; however, they do make "petite" sized but of course you have to take more of those to get the dosage you need.
Marilyn (now in NM)
RNY 10/2/01
262(HW)/150-155(GW)/159(CW)
(updated March 2012)
If a person needs chewable calcium citrate, those stores don't carry that.
I take large doses of D3, and I can't get that in a large dose in stores. I take 50,000 IU three times a week, and I guess I could buy 5000 IU at Walmart and take ten of them at a time, but I think it's probably cheaper to buy the 50,000 IU online. Plus I don't wanna swallow ten pills at once.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
I use generic centrum, regular formula. Calcium citrate (watch the dosage on the label - a serving is usually 2 tabs) from walmart. D3 - dry from walmart. B12 sublingual - walmart. Feosol carbonyl iron - walmart.
Just because it tastes good -- Bariatric Advantage lemon calcium chews. Almost like a starburst. Not cheap.
For calcium citrate, most stores do not carry chewables. You can buy calcium citrate tablets and dissolve them in a couple ounces of liquid and drink that. Or you could use Upcal D, which is a powder you can mix in any drink. You have to order it online but it's pretty cheap.
For iron, I don't use chewable. I use Sundown Perfect Iron, which is carbonyl, which is absorbed well and it's cheap. You can find it in many stores.
You can buy sublingual b12 in stores, or you may find with your insurance that B12 shots are cheaper. My B12 shots cost me something like $2 a month.
I actually take quite a few vitamins, and I did the math and I spend about $1.06 a day on everything.
You can get multis and calcium citrate pretty cheap if you watch for sales. Lots of stores have buy one, get one free sales from time to time and I always stock up then.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
Ok, so to answer your question about chewables, I would like to use as many chewables as I can right after surgery, but I am open to all other options once I heal up a bit.
Thanks for the suggestions!
Maybe we can look at one vitamin at a time. Like talk about a multivitamin, then talk about calcium, etc. Maybe looking at one thing at a time makes it less confusing.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
*500mcg sublingual B12
*two complete multi vitamins daily (1 vit 2x a day)
*500-600 mg Calcium Citrate + Vitamin D (3x a day w/meals)
*additional iron suppliment (depending on how much muli vit has)
Optional-
*B-50 complex or B complex
*Probiotics 150 mg or 2.4 CFU/day
*Omega 3s 150-500 mg daily
THOUGHTS???
500 mcg sublingual B12 - the brand doesn't matter. You can find this at many drug stores. If you don't see 500 mcg, you can get 1000 mcg and take it every other day. B12 is a vitamin we store so you don't necessarily have to take it every day.
multivitamin - I would get Centrum silver, in the chewable to start with. Now, it doesn't have iron. But that's OK because you can take iron separately, and it makes it easier to take it separately, because then you can take your calcium and multis at the same time. I'll show you a schedule in a minute.
calcium citrate - you won't find chewables in most stores. You might find some if you have a Vitamin Shoppe near you. Or you can order online. If you get pills you swallow, you can buy the generic brand at any store. Just make sure it says citrate, not carbonate.
iron - the ASMBS says menstruating women need 54-63 mg iron a day, and everyone else needs 36 mg a day. If you get a multi with 18 mg iron in it and take it twice a day, that means mean would not need additional iron. But mensturating women would still need another 18-27 mg. I think it's easier to just take however much iron all at once, not in my multi.
You can do a schedule something like this:
Breakfast - multi, calcium, B12
Lunch- calcium
Dinner - multi, calcium
Bedtime - iron
If you want to add those optional things, you can stick them in there wherever.
Kelly
Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. If you want medical advice, talk to your doctor. Whatever I post, there is probably some surgeon or other health care provider somewhere that disagrees with me. If you want to know what your surgeon thinks, then ask him or her. Check out my blog.
