As much as I hate to admit it, I really suck with the Calcium citrate supplement. I have tried so many different types, and had settled on the Citracal petites for awhile, but let's be honest (those of you on my FB), I lead an extremely active little life, and I forget to take them. I have to take 6 tablets to get in the recommended DV, and they can't be taken all at the same time. I honestly do not have time to take pills 3 times a day. I take my multi at night, my b12 and Prilosec first thing in the morning, so I'd have to take the Calcium in the morning, afternoon and at least 2 hours before my multi so nothing interferes with the absorption of the calcium. I know it sounds horrible, but I hate it! I'm ready to throw my hands up in the air and just say screw it, but since I'm stubbornly taking my Prilosec still, and know that I NEED the calcium, I have to find something that will work for my life.

So, I need a swift kick in the ass because next month is my 18 month follow up with labs, and I know my calcium is going to tank. I'm good for my b12, and my Multivitamin, but I can NOT for the life of me get on the calcium kick.

This is what the calcium citrate must have that qualifies as a good option:

1) Must be able to take it in 2-3 pills NOT 6-8

2) Can be chewable or pill form ( I can swallow horse pills with zero issue)

3) Must not cost an arm and a leg

These are the ones I'm investigating/researching:

UpCal D (powder which you dissolve in your liquids, flavorless, no texture) ANY REVIEWS on this product would be appreciated.

Bariatric Advantage lozenges ( a little pricey, but willing to spend the money if they truly work, and I don't have to eat 10 of them a day to hit 1000mg of calcium citrate per day)

I know this isn't my normal, upbeat, YAY sleeve thread, but this calcium thing is really weighing on my mind. I fought hard to be healthy, and to live a great life, I don't need my bones snapping because I'm slacking in the calcium department.

Thanks in advance for any information, and good swift kicks are greatly appreciated ! ! !

Thank y'all so much ! ! !

I use the Bariatric Adv chewables. First thing in the morning...and I mean first, is chewing on one of those. Then I start my day by doing all the little chores we must doing like shower, make bed, make Breakfast, feed dog, pick up after others, and get newpaper. That usually gives me the time frame for absorption. Second chewable is a little more difficult to plan but I have used it as a "sweet treat" during the day. Lemon one tastes a little bit dirty. I have no favorite and have tried all three flavors without one sticking out as horrid.

Good luck and let us know how you have tackled this topic. I follow closely as you have answered many questions I never even considered. Thanks.

ocgal

I get mine from vitacost. 500 mg for 2 chewables. kind of sweet orange flavor but I chew them fast and drink some Water.

cheap. 9.99 I get so much other stuff there that I usually get free shipping but you know their shipping is only 4.99 for no matter how much stuff you order. i m going to look into what's mentioned in these posts that you can get at costco.

I also take Bariatric Advantage choc chews and I think they are delicious.. I take 2 right after dinner like dessert.

They are 9.99 and no shipping if you put them on auto order. 60 in a pack so 2 a day is 500 mg.

The up cal D powder is chalky and I find it bearable if I mix in vit water or something but it's not my preference at all

How about this? i believe you can take all 4 of the tablets at once...this is what the dietician attached to the company wrote to me when i inquired about their Multivitamins as well as the calcium: (and the link to the website is www.unjury.com)

Thank you for your interest in OPURITY! My name is Tovah, and I’m one of the Registered Dietitians at powders?utm_source=BariatricPal&utm_medium=Affiliate&utm_campaign=CommentLink" target="_ad" data-id="1" >unjury Protein and OPURITY Vitamins.

Right now the recommendation is that vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients follow the same Vitamin supplementation as patients who have had gastric bypass surgery. When you use OPURITY multivitamins, all you need is one orange berry chewable a day!

Along with the BYPASS-Optimized Multi, we recommend you take the OPURITY calcium citrate Plus (orange flavor chewable). The calcium needs to be taken two hours before or after the multivitamin as calcium and Iron compete for absorption. We also recommend that if you doctor has you on a sublingual B12, or injections, that you continue to stay on that in addition to taking OPURITY.

Does this information help answer your question? I've attached more information about OPURITY Vitamins to this email. Please feel free to call and speak with me or one of the other dietitians if you have any other questions.

Healthy Regards,

Tovah

Tovah Wolf, RD

Clinical Nutrition Specialist

UNJURY® Medical Quality Protein

OPURITY™ Multivitamins - Trust is the First Ingredient®

Tovah@UNJURY.com

www.UNJURY.com www.OPURITY.com

1 800 517 5111

Monday - Friday 9 AM to 6 PM Eastern Time

I take Viactiv 3 times a day with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love the caramel ones - kind of like my little dessert after meals.

I read on an RNY "grads" Yahoo group, that one calcium supplement should be taken at bedtime, because calcium works best when bones aren't supporting weight, i.e. lying down. I haven't done any independent research on whether that's true, but it did occur to me that bedtime would be a convenient time to get in my last one. I take BA lozenges, 400 mg per lozenge, and I take three a day because post-menopausal women are supposed to get even MORE calcium, sheesh! :-)

Wow! I guess I need to get to the store and start buying all my vitamins. Great info here! I will be headed to Costco this weekend.

So, I thought I would update this with my choice: I ordered some samples of Celebrate calcium citrate, and I'm IN LOVE ! ! ! They sent me 6 samples all of the chewable varieties based on what I wrote in their comment section. Best thing is that I only have to take 2 per day to get my 1000mg of Calcium Citrate, plus the one I've chosen have Vit D and Magnesium. These things taste like those "old school" sweettarts, no grit, they are a wafer type, but I bit into it, and it crumbled and dissolved in my mouth with minimal chewing. I'm placing my order tonight, and so very excited to be getting back on the Calcium bandwagon.

The Cherry Tart is pretty rocking in the Calcium Plus 500, and I had the Berries and Cream in the Calcium Plus tasted great as well(which I would have to take 3 of those) so I'm sticking to the Calcium Plus 500 chewables.

I'm actually ordering this one because it'll be more than a 90 day supply for me since I'll only taking 2 of these.

https://www.celebratevitamins.com/shop/mix-match-vitamins/calcium-plus-packages/calcium-plus-500-package-b-90-day.html

You can order samples of their products by filling out this form. I'm content with my Multivitamin and indicated that on their form so they sent me samples of all their chewable calcium after I told them I didn't want to take 6 pills/chewies a day to hit 1000mg ! ! !

http://www.celebratevitamins.com/component/chronocontact/?chronoformname=sample

Thanks for all the suggestions. I can easily take 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and slam my multivitamin at night before bed.

I take Viactiv 3 times a day with breakfast, lunch and dinner. I love the caramel ones - kind of like my little dessert after meals.

If you're on a PPI, you know that the calcium carbonate in Viactiv is essentially not being absorbed even with food in your stomach? If you're not on a PPI or acid reducer, you might be absorbing some of the calcium, but calcium carbonate is pretty useless for bariatric patients bc of the reduced amount of acid in the stomach. Carbonate needs an acidic environment to be truly absorbed, and it's not recommended to be used by bariatric patients. My PCM doesn't even recommend carbonate for his "normal" patients, he thinks it's a true waste, and a majority of his patients are retired military and retired military spouses, so he has a large patient ratio in their 50s-80s, and he told me that he wishes that carbonate wasn't even marketed because of all the "bone" issues he sees especially from women in their 60s and 70s even though they thought they were getting in enough calcium via these type of a OTC formulations.

I had actually read that in your previous post after I posted that. Do you know if there are any other chews that have the right kind of calcium? It's weird that my doctor didn't mention that when I told them what I was taking. Too bad because I really like the Viactiv :-(

Tiff: Just saw your post above with your recommendations! Thanks!

Bariatric Advantage lozenges ( a little pricey, but willing to spend the money if they truly work, and I don't have to eat 10 of them a day to hit 1000mg of calcium citrate per day)

Tiffy, I also take the Bariatric Advantage lozenges in the Cinnamon flavor. They taste amazing to me. I got samples in the hospital and have taken them all year. They used to be 400mg but they are now 500mg. I order mine from Diet Direct because if I get 2 bottles shipping is free. I have osteopenia (precurser to osteoporosis) because I had a full hysterectomy at age 41, so calcium is very important to me. I also take a monthly bone strengthening pill. But the BA calcium seems to really be helping. My nails are very strong, which is one way I can gauge my calcium and Protein intake.

Just thought I would update again ! ! ! I "friended" Celebrate Vitamins on Facebook, and they had a little Christmas contest and I WON. I won a 30 day supply of their multi with Iron, 45 (90 count) day supply of calcium citrate 500 Plus (which has magnesium and Vitamin D) and a 30 day supply of their sublingual b12. . . I picked the berries and cream Calcium Citrate, and let me just say I won't be slacking on my Calcium anymore.

I'm highly impressed with their customer service, their products are amazing, and they have super fast shipping.

The contest was "pick a prize" from the ones they had taken pictures of. Well, I chose a random box, and it was a huge sample of their Protein drinks, blender and shaker bottles. I emailed them when they sent me the notification that I would not be able to use the protein sampler pack, and to regift it to someone else. The customer service department (Carrie) called me within 15 minutes of that email, and said, we rearranged the gift numbers, and can offer you a sample of all our vitamins for you ! ! ! Now, that's an awesome company.

I haven't tried the multivitamin yet, but since the cost is the same as my GNC, I might just switch all my vitamins to Celebrate.

I didn't think I'd ever find a calcium that I could tolerate.