Chewable Vitamins vs Swallowing

[MasonMoonGirl 43]

Good evening everyone! I just ordered all of my Vitamins for my post op August 7th! I noticed a lot of people go for chewable vitamins. I ordered all gel caps. Do people go for chewable because it's hard to swallow after the surgery? Is that a better option? TIA!

[Arabesque 7,592]

It can be difficult to swallow in the first couple of days after your surgery (swelling) but also some surgeons will want you not to swallow meds for a period of time advising Patches, chews or to crush meds (not all can be crushed). And of course there’s also what you’re able to do & tolerate in those first few weeks while healing.

I had swelling to begin but the hospital gave me pain killers & other meds as tablets in hospital after the first day - it wasn’t easy & hurt. I didn’t have to begin any Vitamins until I was home (day 4) but by then the swelling was gone. I was also able to take my vitamins as tablets. Mine were capsules but I could only swallow one at a time with a little break between. Also took half the tablets in the morning & the other half at night.

[MasonMoonGirl 43]

Good to know, thank you! I'm going to order some chews as well!

[Synlee 17]

4 hours ago, MasonMoonGirl said:

Good evening everyone! I just ordered all of my Vitamins for my post op August 7th! I noticed a lot of people go for chewable vitamins. I ordered all gel caps. Do people go for chewable because it's hard to swallow after the surgery? Is that a better option? TIA!

I went with the Patches, I bought the chewable vitamins, but i couldn't get over the taste, they made me gag. So now i just put on my 4 small patches before bed, then and take off 8 hr later.

[Smanky 757]

To this day I don't enjoy swallowing large pills, and so opt for chewable where available. Large tablets and supplements can make me feel sick for a good half hour or so after taking them.

(Obligatory YMMV disclaimer)

[MasonMoonGirl 43]

Thanks all! This is stuff I never thought about before joining Baripal and very helpful to me!

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,680]

WHen I had my sleeve, I had to have chewables. They're SO nasty. OMG. So when I had my revision to bypass, I bought liquids, thinking I wouldn't be able to swallow any pills (I couldn't do any kind of pills with my sleeve for like 4 weeks). I was shocked when I found I could take ALL my pills with absolutely no issues at all by day 5 after the bypass. So now I have the liquid vitamins that I'm finishing up and then I'll be switching to normal bariatric Vitamins (mostly because I refuse to waste money lol )

[MasonMoonGirl 43]

Man i go back and forth because I already have everything and these Vitamins are so expensive. chewables do not sound appealing to me at all and yes from what I've read nasty haha. I'm considering getting the Bariatric Advantage Chewables as a backup, I just want to do things right and I guess since I'll be taking vitamins for life it's fine to stock up!

[SuziDavis 549]

I do not like the chewable, the taste and texture make me gag, I get capsules. I get to take less and i haven't had an issue with taking them,

[SaraSara4 16]

My daily chewable are so gross but I only have to take one a day so its not terrible. My team does not suggest Patches because there just isn’t enough research on them. I can take tablets my surgeon told me chewable is the best overall tolerated but as long as I can swallow them then I can change to the tablets. I chose one a day tablets and I am not having any difficulty swallowing them. However I am going to finish off the 2 bottles of chewable because I hate wasting money. The Calcium was harder for me to swallow in tablets they are a bit bigger so I am still using a liquid for now

Edited May 28, 2024 by SaraSara4
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[Chatterboxdea 226]

How soon after surgery did everyone start Vitamins? I’m a week post op and am still dealing with antibiotics and other things the drs gave me. I was under the impression, that starting vitamins was good when you hit stage 2; yes or no?

Also, what are everyone’s must have vitamins?

[FifiLux 565]

I was expected to start the Vitamins from day 1 post op.

They were disgusting chewable ones and I couldn't keep them down (due to complications from my surgery) so I had to wait a month, then started different capsule ones which were fine but two weeks later had to stop when I had to go back into hospital and was put on a feeding tube. Have been back on the capsule ones since finally discharged from hospital.

[Chatterboxdea 226]

3 hours ago, FifiLux said:

I was expected to start the Vitamins from day 1 post op.

They were disgusting chewable ones and I couldn't keep them down (due to complications from my surgery) so I had to wait a month, then started different capsule ones which were fine but two weeks later had to stop when I had to go back into hospital and was put on a feeding tube. Have been back on the capsule ones since finally discharged from hospital.

I’m so sorry you had complications. I hope things are going better now.

I will take a chewable Multivitamin today and see how it goes.

[ShoppGirl 5,072]

I did the chewables for the first month then switched to my capsules. I also did the powder chewable Calcium for the first month as opposed to the “calcium chews” which are more like a starburst candy. I was a revision to SADI and they did not operate on my stomach so i wouldn’t have had any problem swallowing it, but I figured it’s one less thing to possibly get stuck on the way down.

[FifiLux 565]

6 hours ago, Chatterboxdea said:

I’m so sorry you had complications. I hope things are going better now.

I will take a chewable Multivitamin today and see how it goes.

I am doing much better now thanks.

That is a good idea, see if you can manage one pre-op for taste and texture though do keep in mind that our tolerances can change after the op, in good and bad ways. I can now tolerate certain amounts of egg whereas I detested them before, I have difficulty eating beef at times, which was never a problem before and some smells now turn my stomach.