Calcium Citrate

[Frustr8 7,886]

And let me weigh in here. Would anyone like to hear what tetany is like? Too bad, because I'm going to tell you anyway. I was nursing baby #2, a very allergic child in 1976-77, had a casein intolerance so no cows milk. He could accept my milk because the main Protein in human milk is lactalbumin , not casein,the primary protein in cows milk. Upon,the recommendation of baby's pediatrician I had also removed many potentially allergic items from my diet including cows milk. Do you see where I'm leading? No, well then I shall continue. Nobody reminded me to continue my prenatal Vitamins or take suplemental Calcium. So I woke up,and day with a case of tetany. The muscles all cramp at once in your arms and legs, it is extremely,painful . On a pain scale somewhere between acute pancreatitis and passing a kidney,stone, yeah just THAT painful. We were living in Columbus on the outer edge. Luckily,we had a touch tone phone, I called the Sharon Township Emergecy Sqaud in Worthington by using my nose👃. Sounds crazy but honey it worked, what else could I do? All 4 limbs were in spasm. Luckly they were able to come in because the front door was unlocked. Yes Columbus is a big city but I still,was small town enough to mot always lock my,doors. They had to roll me onto their stretcher because I wasn't able skoot over myself, start a calcium-containing
containing IV and transport me to Riverside Methodist Hospital where I spent the next few hours getting pumped full,of lovely electrolytes and Calcium. After. I got stabilized I had to start on big horse pill sized calcium pills, and get a script for extra strength penatal vitamins and,have them until he was weaned many,months later,when we found a toddler formula that was soy-based that he could tolerate. When baby #3 came along 3 years later there was no quibbling, back to calcium and prenatal vitamins for the duration, And that is my tetany story by someone who,knows TAKE YOUR CALCIUM!!! Okay?😛

[Taoz 284]

4 hours ago, Frustr8 said:

....

yeah just THAT painful.

And that is my tetany story by someone who,knows TAKE YOUR CALCIUM!!! Okay?😛

Yikes!!! That sounds awful. Thank you for sharing!

I have my post op bariatric Multivitamin sorted, but still need to arrange the Calcium - am considering the caramel chews mentioned earlier as I think I'll do much better with those than the dissolvable ones that are similar to Vitamin C tablets

[Frustr8 7,886]

Yes they sound a very tasty option. FYI I lost 3 inches in height from then until now. Menopause partially but spine crunching down, I don't have osteoporosis, technically that means bone porousness but osteopenia which boils down to bone-lack, means I will lack a normal level of Calcium the rest of my life. And the weirdest fact, the last long bone fracture I had was not a clean break but greenstick, that's the variety children get. Like snapping a twig in half instead of the adult sraight across fracture. I take a mega dose of Vitamin D on the first day of every month along with calcium all along, that's how I could speak of the difference between Citracal and Caltrate. And when I have my RnY with its inherent malabsorption, I will go to a dosage of Vitamin D chugging along with Mr Ca the chemical symbol for Calcium. And i may have to switch to chewable if I'm not able to swallow pills. Ah, ain't life just grand!😳
Old carnival barker's proverb " You Pay YOUR money, you take YOUR choice" and that is the truth.. Still beats being dead all hollow!😛

[Taoz 284]

Dammit. If I wanted to buy a 3 packs of calcium citrate chewy bites from BariatricPal Store ($102), the cheapest postage cost to Australia is $62

Amazon doesn't post any here. I doubt I'm going to find an affordable way to get them.

[Frustr8 7,886]

Almost be cheaper to send a medical courier to fetch them and bring them back to Oz, wouldn't it? There has to be a chemist company down under that makes such a thing. Aussies are a very bright enterprising people aren't they? I'm a redheaded well more ginger rabble rouser. Start with your local, then state and then,petition Canberra if that does,not work. Appeal to national pride if ought else works! My paternal grandmother, may she rest in peace, had a saying "The Good Lord never made an itch he didn't make a scratcher to fit it!" means there is an answer if you look hard enough. And I suspect,i get more like her every day! My. late,mum would be so disappointed, they loathed each other. I was told as a eee girl,you should not use the terms hate or loathe, it means you dislike someone to the point of wishing them dead. Yep, I said to the adult telling me this, that about sums it up!😛 I'll have a beautiful day and you have a peaceful evening because you're 12 hours ahead of me.Couldn't find an Aussie flag so you'll have to do with the Union Jack you are still part of the Commonwealth🇬🇧
!

[Taoz 284]

Yeah, we're getting a few more decent low-carb options and supplements available here now, it's just frustrating to see so many things available in the US, often with free shipping options etc, yet shipping anything here costs a darn fortune.

I have already ordered bariatric Multivitamins, but I was hoping to at least find some better tasting options for calcium citrate supplements (most Calcium supplements I can find listed in chemists here are other forms of calcium).

I shall keep looking though.

And yes, it's 9:30pm, Wednesday night here in the land of Oz, and I'm a right grumpy **** today - probably a combination of VLCD, my kids being on school holidays and goading each other ALLLLL DAAAAYYY LOONNGGGG, and Aunt Flo being about due (hopefully to arrive and bugger off again well before surgery 2nd May!!!).

[TakingABreak 2,733]

12 hours ago, jess9395 said:

Your blood Calcium levels are a measure of how your parathyroid glands are functioning and nothing else. If they don’t get enough dietary Calcium they will leech it from your bones because if you don’t have enough calcium in you blood you with have severe muscle spasms (tetany) and eventually not be able to breathe because calcium is necessary for nerves. Bones are secondary. I developed osteoporosis with a high level of blood calcium because I had problem with my parathyroid glands.

Please don’t rely on blood calcium to see if you are getting enough.

I appreciate your concern, but my bariatric Vitamin technically has enough calcium and Vitamin D in them, I choose to supplement with the Caltrate for my own piece of mind. I'm confident that between what I consume in food, the bariatric vitamin, and even if I only consume 50% of the Caltrate.... I think I'm doing okay. I appreciate the clarification on how they measure calcium.

[Orchids&Dragons 9,046]

10 hours ago, Frustr8 said:

On a pain scale somewhere between acute pancreatitis and passing a kidney,stone, yeah just THAT painful.

I soooo agree, very painful and I didn't have it nearly as bad as you! The first time, I was donating platelets on an apheresis machine and my Calcium levels plummeted. My toes completely curled under my feet and the cramps went up my calves. The staff was filling me up with Tums and massaging my blanket-wrapped feet, trying to ease the pain. I went back to donating whole blood :-) The second time, it came on slowly, I started getting leg cramps during the night that got progressively worse. Found out my calcium levels were way too low.

[jess9395 5,448]

Dammit. If I wanted to buy a 3 packs of calcium citrate chewy bites from BariatricPal Store ($102), the cheapest postage cost to Australia is $62 [emoji20]
Amazon doesn't post any here. I doubt I'm going to find an affordable way to get them.

Try this site—

https://www.bariatricadvantage.com/item/calcium_chewy_bites_250mg/bariatric-advantage-calcium-chewy-bites-250mg

[jess9395 5,448]

I appreciate your concern, but my bariatric Vitamin technically has enough Calcium and Vitamin D in them, I choose to supplement with the Caltrate for my own piece of mind. I'm confident that between what I consume in food, the bariatric vitamin, and even if I only consume 50% of the Caltrate.... I think I'm doing okay. I appreciate the clarification on how they measure calcium.

Great! Just didn’t want you developing a false sense of security based on the blood test.

We tend to think what shows up in our blood is a measure of the adequacy of our diet but for things like calcium and Protein it isn’t. Protein in the blood is actually a bad thing (poorly functioning kidneys)as is too much calcium (over production of parathyroid hormone). Those things can’t be assessed with a blood test.

I don’t doubt you are getting enough calcium, I just think it’s important for future readers to have all the facts available.

When I had my parathyroid surgery my surgeon wasn’t familiar with bariatrics and told me to use calcium carbonate to supplement.

I wound up in the ER with tetany and I agree... OUCH! He upped my calcium carbonate and prescribed active vitamin D. Tetany subsides but when I had a bone density test they not only found osteoporosis but intestines full of undigested calcium. They asked me if I had recently done a barium swallow bc they couldn’t figure out what all the white stuff showing up in my intestines was!

[TakingABreak 2,733]

20 minutes ago, jess9395 said:

I don’t doubt you are getting enough Calcium, I just think it’s important for future readers to have all the facts available.

Like I said, my bariatric vitamin meets the ASMBS recommended amount for calcium and Vitamin D. I was taking the Caltrate to go above and beyond, and if I only absorb 50%, 20%, OR 10% then I've went beyond that much. But I'm pretty sure I'm getting what I need from food consumption PLUS that bariatric vitamin.

BEWARE of Calcium Carbonate everyone! I didn't know that it wasn't a good option for Bariatric patients. My doctor told me to take with a meal.... but FOLLOW YOUR PROGRAM RULES. Don't listen to me!

Edited April 18, 2018 by AshAsh1

[Taoz 284]

9 hours ago, jess9395 said:

Try this site—

https://www.bariatricadvantage.com/item/calcium_chewy_bites_250mg/bariatric-advantage-calcium-chewy-bites-250mg

Unfortunately they don't ship outside of the US.

[jess9395 5,448]

Unfortunately they don't ship outside of the US.

Bummer!

[Taoz 284]

I tried my first chewable multivitamin today (now that they finally delivered). YUK. it left an awful saccharine type taste in my mouth for ages. If that's what the standard chewable calciums taste like too I REAAAALLLLYY don't want to be using those. might just have to shell out a fortune in postage to get 6 months worth of calcium chews shipped to me.

[jess9395 5,448]

I tried my first chewable Multivitamin today (now that they finally delivered). YUK. it left an awful saccharine type taste in my mouth for ages. If that's what the standard chewable calciums taste like too I REAAAALLLLYY don't want to be using those. might just have to shell out a fortune in postage to get 6 months worth of calcium chews shipped to me.

Does tour Dr. require chewables? I just take the regular pills usually.