Calcium/vit d tabs

[Sleeplessinlife]

Alongside alendronic acid, I have been prescribed calcium tabs. I started them, but every time I take 1, I'm getting awful constipation, tried halving and separating dose, same problem. Do I really need to take these?? I am now taking more calcium in diet than I was before. I'm happy to take my vit d .

[Fruitandnutcase]

I was prescribed calcium/vitamin D tablets along with AA. First lot I tried was called Accrete, they messed up my gut, next prescription was for Ad-Cal which did the same. Eventually along with my fracture liaison nurse it was decided I was probably getting enough dietary calcium. I used the ROS calcium calculator that is on their website.

I now buy my own vitamin D capsules and have since started taking Atlantic seaweed based calcium capsules, I only take one as I am just ‘topping up’ but I think you are meant to take more than that over the day. I started the calcium / vitamin D a week before the AA so I knew it was definitely the calcium tablets and indeed my FLN said that was not uncommon. Basically calcium carbonate is just rock and you can get different types that are much kinder on the gut..

togetherhealth.co.uk/produc...

[LM100]

Try swapping to calcium citrate. I think it is very difficult to get the amount needed (1000mg) every day through diet alone.osteoporosis.foundation/pat...

[Haz58]

As fruit says I followed her after she mentioned this to someone else a while ago and stopped calcichew D3 as I'm certain it upset my stomach. I now take the seaweed calcium plus vitamin D every day as does fruit. I'm fine on the seaweed. I got it from Amazon. If your interested I'm sure fruit or myself will send you the link.

[MnMTwo]

I have recently stopped taking Adcal as I was getting debilitating stomach and bowel pains. Within a week the pains are subsiding and I’m not being woken during the night.

I contacted a ROS specialist nurse about my decision to stop the Adcal and take another supplement. This is part of their reply -

‘It is very common for people to be prescribed calcium and vitamin D supplements when on drug treatments (such as zoledronate) for osteoporosis. When research was done into the medicines for osteoporosis, all people in the trials took calcium and vitamin D supplements, so this has generally continued. However, more recently, most specialists in osteoporosis would recommend where possible to get calcium from a healthy balanced diet and a supplement is only needed to “top up” what you may be missing.

If you are getting 700mg a day from your diet and 800mg from the supplement you will be getting 1500mg a day in total. For people who take a drug treatment for osteoporosis it is recommended you get around 1000mg of calcium a day, some people may be recommended to get slightly more, around 1200mg a day’

Like @Fruitandnutcase, I checked my calcium intake using the ROS online calculator and am easily achieving (and exceeding) the NHS guidance of 700mg per day but because I have had infusions, I bought a calcium + Vit D supplement approved by the ROS called Lethokexal which provides 800mg.

I shall contact the GP and explain why I’m not taking Adcal anymore.

[Foodie2shoes in reply to MnMTwo]

Can you please tell me what ROS is and how to get on the website? I currently stopped my CA supplement. Trying to get from diet. I do take a Vit D/K3 pill as well. thanks

[CallMeSunny in reply to Foodie2shoes]

Royal Osteoporosis Society….just Google it

[Foodie2shoes in reply to CallMeSunny]

Thank you

[MnMTwo in reply to Foodie2shoes]

Here is the link if you still need it -

theros..org.uk

It won’t copy and paste for some reason.

[Foodie2shoes in reply to MnMTwo]

Thank you

[Icholta]

I have no problems with the calcium tablets but couldn't take the alendronic acid as I suffer from reflux and it made it worse, I now take isendronic acid.

[LynneH-19]

I aim for around 1200 mg of Ca a day and usually manage to get this from diet. Dairy milk contains about 124mg Ca per 100ml.

English cheddar cheese has approximately 730 mg of Ca per 100 g, I eat 30g a day, giving me 219 mg Ca. I often have a large, white bread bun at lunch time with the cheese and salad. This contains about 180mg per 100g.

St. Helens Farm Goat yogurt contains 240mg Ca per 100 g. A 150g portion would therefore contain 360 mg Ca.

I try to avoid having more than 500mg of Ca at any one time, because I believe this is the maximum amount the average person can absorb in one meal.

I have a varied diet with plenty of veg, fruit and a little meat. Unfortunately these tend to be fairly low in Ca.

I take vit D3 in gel capsule form. It’s important to get your blood level checked. My GP refuses to test for this. I therefore use a blood spot collection kit, which I get from, then post back, to an NHS Lab ie City hospital Birmingham.

My last test kit cost approximately £30 in May. My D level was 137 nmol/L which they reported as being ‘sufficient’. Their ‘sufficient’ range, was stated as between 50.1 and 220. Greater than 220 is risk of toxicity.

I get my level checked twice a year.

I aim for a level of between 125 - 175 nmol/L My original level was low, so I was taking 5000 IU per day. I now take either 1000 or 2000 IU daily, but alter this according to my blood level. I’ve found I don’t make vit D from sun exposure on my skin during summer. As I’ve got older this ability has waned. I’m now 75.

See. vitdtest.org.uk Or email [e-mail]

Phone [phone] to speak to the Lab staff, if you have a question not covered in the other 2 links.

[Cheerleader123]

Hello,

I take a calcium supplement with vitamin D3 and it does cause digestive issues- especially in the carbonate form. I was then prescribed magesium to combat these issues. I would have preferrred to try the calcium citrate form to see if this would have been better tolerated, but where I live (outside UK) it's almost impossible to find this form of calcium.

The magnesium has helped and although the digestive issues have improved, I still need to drink a coffee in the morning to help with transit.

I am also taking alendronic acid on a weekly basis. I must say that my skin and nails have improved lately, but I'm not sure if this is due to the vitamin C and zinc supplements that I have been taking for the last 3 months.

All in all I sleep better and my skin has improved. Not sure if related or due to summer months and vitamins supplemts etc.

Ask your doctorif you can try another form of calcium or if you cantake a Vit D supplement separately and supplement your daily in take of calcium through your diet if possible.

Good luck!

[Cheerleader123]

Forgot to add that it's imperative that you take the calcium "carbonate" form with meals.

The ideal would be to take magnesium, zinc and vit C with breakfast.

Take calcium with lunch!

Drink plenty of water during the day.

Another important point is, the day I take alendronic acid, I don't take anyother supplements, just drink plenty of water to help flush out my kidneys.

[Saigongal]

Now we can see our medical notes I saw I’d been labels ‘non-compliant’ by the doctor. I called to ask why and it was because I’d stopped taking Adcal. It made my tummy bad. I’d actually spoke with one of the doctors about this and they told me as long as my diet was good no need for calcium supplements. Then when another doctor noted I’d stopped he gave me that label. So seems the world of doctors have no consensus on this!!! But I note these days an emphasis on protein - not sure if that’s instead it as well as calcium!! I’m seeing a co sultana today after 7 years on alendronic acid and intend to ask them about this calcium/protein thing.

[ROSModerator Partner]

Hi all,

We are the Royal Osteoporosis Society and we just wanted to pop in and say a very warm welcome to our community! 😊

It is great to see so much discussion and support happening. We also just wanted to let you know that we have lots of information on our website that you might find helpful.

We have factsheets on….

Vitamin D: strwebprdmedia.blob.core.wi...

Calcium: strwebprdmedia.blob.core.wi...

And lots of other information (including videos) about osteoporosis: theros.org.uk/information-a...

Wishing you all the best,

ROS Moderator

[Sleeplessinlife in reply to ROSModerator]

Having just read the fact sheet on calcium from the ROS, I now feel entirely more confident I do not need need this supplement. I have stuck a note on my fridge to remind me of calcium levels in each food or drink I take, thank you all for the numerous responsenes to my initial query.