Vitamins - please share tips

[lily06 26]

Hi Everyone

I am in desperate need of tips on how to take my Vitamins.

I have tried 4 different brands that my surgery office prescribes (i live in Europe so may not have the same brands as other areas). They are all bariatric patient specific vitamins.
I have also tried different formats of the vitamins: powder/ gel capsule/ hard pill … neutral or flavoured.

And i just can’t take them. Every time i swallow a pill it feels stuck inside my throat and makes me cough and splutter and i feel it stuck for ages.

When i break open the capsules and pour the powder over something i gag so badly because of the taste that it makes me feel sick for hours.

The powder that you mix in a a drink is so disgusting that i heave when i try to force it down

I do take them with food during a meal but it puts me completely off my food once i struggle to get them down.

I don’t know what to do anymore - does anyone have any ideas or tips on what i can do or on any Vitamin brands available in Europe that have the correct composition for vsg patients ? I need a high Iron supplement due to genetic form of anemia.

🙏🙏🙏

[NickelChip 925]

I take the chewable Celebrate One with 45mg Iron and have had no issues even though I used to gag on Vitamin capsules pre-surgery. I doubt I will go back to pills. I find the Tropical Twist flavor to be nice. Here is their EU site: https://celebratevitamins.eu/

[FifiLux 160]

I went through similar for the first few months and couldn't keep them down. In the end my surgeon agreed that I could take 'normal' Vitamins for a month, which I had been taking pre-op, and then to go on to a different format of the bariatric vitamins once my stomach was ready to accept them.

I had been taking the hard ones that were so big, dry and tasted disgusting and couldn't keep them down, even the smell of them turned my stomach. Now I can take the capsule format as there is no taste or smell.

I also tried a different brand of bariatric capsules but they were cherry tasting (hate) and couldn't keep them down and even putting into a smoothie turned the the taste of the smoothie vile.

For the Calcium I have to just buy generic ones on Amazon as the special bariatric ones I can get here can only be sold as a package with the horrible cherry capsules.

I also had to take a daily dose of Iron for a month or so when my levels got too low as I have pernicious anemia.

Picture attached of the daily Vitamin one I take. I also took their special hair capsule one in addition for three months to help when I was losing so much hair.

Edited May 12 by FifiLux

[lily06 26]

On 05/12/2024 at 13:40, NickelChip said:

I take the chewable Celebrate One with 45mg Iron and have had no issues even though I used to gag on Vitamin capsules pre-surgery. I doubt I will go back to pills. I find the Tropical Twist flavor to be nice. Here is their EU site: https://celebratevitamins.eu/

Thank you! I just ordered a sample pack to try them out - fingers crossed

[lily06 26]

On 05/12/2024 at 16:42, FifiLux said:

I went through similar for the first few months and couldn't keep them down. In the end my surgeon agreed that I could take 'normal' Vitamins for a month, which I had been taking pre-op, and then to go on to a different format of the bariatric Vitamins once my stomach was ready to accept them.

I had been taking the hard ones that were so big, dry and tasted disgusting and couldn't keep them down, even the smell of them turned my stomach. Now I can take the capsule format as there is no taste or smell.

I also tried a different brand of bariatric capsules but they were cherry tasting (hate) and couldn't keep them down and even putting into a smoothie turned the the taste of the smoothie vile.

For the Calcium I have to just buy generic ones on Amazon as the special bariatric ones I can get here can only be sold as a package with the horrible cherry capsules.

Picture attached of the daily Vitamin one I take. I also took their special hair capsule one in addition for three months to help when I was losing so much hair.< br />

Exactly ! I think it’s the smell more than taste that’s activating my gag reflex even before i swallow them. I never had an issue with vitamins before surgery it’s so weird.

Does anyone know the composition that i should be looking for ? I don’t even know how to compare brands because i’m not sure what measurements of what Vitamin or mineral i should be taking.

[Alex Brecher 10,498]

I use BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE “1 per Day!” flavorless capsules from https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/bariatricpal-multivitamin-one! BariatricPal has a special offer where it’ll cost you only $99 for an entire year's supply! Check it out at https://store.bariatricpal.com/99

With just ONE convenient & affordable BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE each day, you can get the bariatric Vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy! BariatricPal Multivitamin ONE was designed and developed by a team of the world’s leading Bariatric medical professionals.

Please take a Calcium supplement separately to prevent interference with the absorption of Iron. You can view a large selection of bariatric-friendly Calcium supplements at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/calcium.

You can also find MANY other brands of bariatric Multivitamins at https://store.bariatricpal.com/collections/multivitamins.