Multivitamin preferences?
veggibus
Posts: 34 Member
I'm still in the beginning of this whole process and am currently researching different vitamin/protein options. I've found dozens of protein shakes, vitamin D, and vitamin B12 options but haven't been as successful in finding a good variety of multivitamins.
So far, the only chewable multivitamin with iron that I've found has been the Flinstones brand for kids - which, amusingly, is on my list of recommended brands.
What are you all taking? And where are you buying your vitamins?
So far, the only chewable multivitamin with iron that I've found has been the Flinstones brand for kids - which, amusingly, is on my list of recommended brands.
What are you all taking? And where are you buying your vitamins?
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Replies
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Currently I am using Opurity.Band Optimized. Not bad but I just don't do those B vitamin flavored pills well. I have been looking at the Flintstones. Have you tried them? How many will you take?0
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I do gummy everthing. Probably shouldn't, but it feels like a treat instead of a pill. I even have gummy B12 vitamins.0
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The gummies haven't given you any problems?
My nutritionist told me to avoid gummies.
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I've been taking 1 Flinstone every morning.
I found a B12 liquid at GNC that is pretty good - it is cherry flavored and a dose is one medicine dropper.0 -
I use gummy multivitamins, calcium crystals from Bariatric Advantage that I mix with a bottle of water every morning, Vitamin D gummies from Bariatric advantage, Sublingual B12, A chewable probiotic and iron (both from Bariatric Advantage)and sublingual biotin.0
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I have had no issue with gummies. I don't have issues with many things as long as I chew and eat slowly.0
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I've been taking Naka Multi for Women, I get it at Natural World. It's a bit pricey $42.00 a month or 6 weeks, I have to add iron, B12, Calsium and D, but the iron is more about me being chronically anemic. It's a liquid, in an orange juice, tastes very vitaminy, but it's only for the first while. However, I'm thinking about going back to the Opurity chewables, it's about the same price for 3 months but only available at the Hospital Pharmacy where I am.0
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I like the Flintstones vitamins. lol. Best thing is I can get the generic brand at BJ's for like $10 for 300 of them...0
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I hate to be a party pooper, but Flintstones vitamins are not appropriate for adults, much less gastric bypassers who are dealing with malabsorption anyway.
You really need special formulated vitamins made especially for weight loss surgery patients. I am 22 months out and use Celebrate Chewables Calcium, Multivitamin and Iron. I use a once per week sublingual B12 (Physiologics brand) and I also take a once per week Vitamin D. My bloodwork was PERFECT last month, for the first time in 10 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Please take some high quality supplements. It's SOOOOOO important!!!0 -
I do gummy everthing. Probably shouldn't, but it feels like a treat instead of a pill. I even have gummy B12 vitamins.
for what its worth, my nutritionist has said while there isn't a danger taking gummies many brands don't put the same quantity of minerals and vitamins into the gummies as they do into chewables and tablets. Compare labels. So you may or may not be getting everything you need. This is of course, just an opinion and if your Dr. and/or nutritionist is ok with it, then by all means go with it.0 -
I would recommend any of the products available by Celebrate or Bariatric Advantage.
Multivitamin - When I was on chewables I did the Centrum Chewable, its orange flavored. Now I just buy whatever the generic store brand multivitamin that is a copy of Centrum Complete.
Iron - I buy the Bariatric Advantage- lemon lime flavored Iron supplement. It has vitamin C in it to help with absorbtion.
Calcium - I take one with Vitamin D in it. Normally Citrate or Citrate Petites or the store brand copy of it. When I was on chewables I did the Bariatric Advantage Chews, they're square and comes in 4 flavors and taste like Starbursts so it was a nice treat.
B12 - I buy the Nature's Bounty sublingual. It is a mixed berry flavor. This lasts a long time and if you watch the adds Krogers has it B1G1, at least twice a month.
I also take B1 and Vitamin D. These are normally Nature's Bounty or a like brand, whichever is on sale.
I agree with everyone else. The Flinstones vitamins don't have high enough levels for adults. Also, my dieticians said absolutely no gummies vitamins.0 -
Interesting... I met with my dietician this past Thursday and told her about the Flinstones multi-vitamin. She actually said that she loves them and completely recommends taking them. Granted, I'm taking 2 a day to get enough iron...
Either way, I'm open to trying some other brands too. I actually ordered a multi-vitamin from Vitamin Shoppe made by TwinLab specifically for bariatric patients. Is anyone else using this brand?0 -
Since I had the RNY, I was told that I wouldn't absorb B12 through the digestive tract... have to take it either sublingually or a shot. I take Sundown Naturals brand sublingual B12. It's cherry flavored. For multivitamins, I take Centrum chewables or VitaFusion gummies. I also take Caltrate calcium plus vitamin D chewables. Oh... I also take a biotin supplement every day to hopefully prevent hair loss. :O)0
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My nutritionist said Flintstones were fine for me to take. Last labs were dead on.0
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I take the flintstones with iron twice a day and my blood work has been great, just last week I donated blood and my iron count was better then it was before surgery. I also found a liquid B12, my doctor prescribed a shot but didn't for some reason give the right dose for bypass patients so I've been taking it orally as well. until I ran out last night my calcium was the calcet brand chews but now I'm shopping around, they are actually really good so I'm not likely to change but I thought it couldn't hurt to see what else is out there.0
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Do not take Flintstones. They are not good enough for bariatric patients. And you need to take twice as many (4 a day) so there is no savings in cost. I take CVS Spectavite Senior Chewable multivitamins, For iron, you cannot take it with calcium so it is usually useless in a multivitamin. Take Vitron-C at bedtime, 2 hours or more after your last calcium.
Here's a good blog post from a very knowledgeable bariatric patient about NOT taking Flintstones. Please read it:
http://thebypassedlife.com/whats-the-fuss-about-flintstones/
And those of you early out may have ok lab results with Flintstones. Problems arise later. Why on earth would you risk it?? Thet's insane to me. AND THERE IS NO SAVINGS IN COST SO WHAT IS THE POINT?????????0 -
Thanks for the link Laura - and everyone else for the heads up.
I sent the link to my nutritionist with a few questions on points from the article.
I was planning on shopping around for other brands of multivitamins anyway (since I've been told that my tastes may change post-surgery) - now I have some better guidelines in what to look for.0 -
"AND THERE IS NO SAVINGS IN COST SO WHAT IS THE POINT?????????"
When you all caps on the internet it is considered yelling. To be clear I get a bottle of Flintstones plus iron for $5, that lasts me a month; because the adult dosage as listed clearly on the label (even in article with the pic of Flintstones complete you can see it) a double dose is 2 not 4. The bariatric vitamins I purchased early on were upwards of $25-30 a bottle which lasted 1 month so it was a big savings. I have never seen the Centrum chewables but I will look again because I wouldn't be opposed to trying something new and they are not likely to cost as much as the bariatric vitamins. The link you gave was also a bit deceptive in that it said Flintstones did not have zinc which even in their own picture you can clearly see it on the label. They were correct to point out there was no selenium but you need very little of it and it can be found in most foods we eat once we're on solids. Examples nuts, eggs, meat, fish, mushrooms and cereal; to be more specific a single egg is 1/4 of the daily value, 3 ounces of tuna is 100%, 1 ounce of brazil nuts is 777%. so while I might not be absorbing nutrition from food perfectly I'm still absorbing some from my food and the research on selenium indicates that having too little is rarely seen and usually only with other symptoms such as too much mercury. I also know that I am getting enough because I have my thyroid tested regularly due to taking synthroid, my thyroid function could decrease if I had too little selenium however mine is improving ever so slightly so again I'm not feeling very alarmed. In regard to what the article said about iron, I point out that my post iron levels have also improved, this could not happen if as the article suggests I was just using up my stores. As for the articles criticism of the taste, it impacts the credibility of the article given that it doesn't take a super genius to know taste is subjective.
Here is a research article from the National Institute of Health regarding vitamin levels both before and after in weight loss surgical patients. Strange to say there is very little difference in the % of population showing vitamin deficiencies before and after surgery.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2784422/0 -
I sent the article to my dietician and asked her a few questions about the points brought up.
She agreed that she does recommend her patients first try adult multivitamins (she highly recommends the Centrum Chewables) - however, she also said that the Flintstones are completely fine.
Here are some of her comments about the blog post that I found interesting:
"To explain more about the blog: rickets is a vitamin D deficiency. Regardless of what multivitamin Andrea was taking, she would have probably gotten rickets. Few, if any provide sufficient vitamin D. That’s why we have the minimum of 1,000 IU of vitamin D3. Vitamin D deficiency is common-we just don’t get enough from the sun living in New England!
With selenium and zinc: deficiencies are quite uncommon in the general public. Meat and dairy are good sources of both these nutrients, so you will be getting fair amounts as your intake increases postop. She is absolutely right though that the way you absorb food and nutrients after bypass is very different, so if find an adult multivitamin that has zinc and selenium and you like it, they would certainly be great to have in your diet.
Remember too that we check your labs pretty rigorously post-bypass to check for deficiencies. Not all programs have such great follow-up and that could be a reason why people can get severe deficiencies post-op."
So, for now, I'm going to keep taking my Flintstones vitamins. I will try to buy some of the Centrum that have been mentioned and will check out a few more - but I'm not too worried about continuing to take what I already have.
I do COMPLETELY appreciate all of the comments and feedback I've received on this post. More than anything, I like to learn as much as I can about this surgery and all of the nutritional limitations and challenges that come with it. I find it so fascinating to see what everyone's experiences and opinions are - sharing all of this information makes us all that much more informed.
So, thank you all and please, no hating. 0 -
I've been trying to find a good substitute for the expensive Celebrate and BA vitamins as well.
My surgeon is strict about not having anything where any of the first 3 ingredients is sugary substances. That makes perfect sense to me, but then these vitamins always have some forbidden ingredient.
When I looked up the vitamins online, Flinstones first ingredient is sorbitol, which is a restricted sweetener.
Gummy vitamins aren't an option either since the first ingredient in those is generally some sort of glucose syrup (again restricted sugar).
The first ingredient in Centrum Chewables is Glucose, so that one's off the list as well.
Even some of the vits sold by Celebrate and BA have sugar as one of the first ingredients (especially the celebrate ones).
I don't have to have a chewable vitamin anymore. I just want a good, non-sugary, potent vitamin. Where are those at?0
