Just wanted to ask which brand of calcium or calcium + vitamin D most people are taking?
I have always felt quite unwell taking calcium supplements although the vitamin K2, as recommended here, has certainly helped. I take chewable Kacipos-D which are horribly sweet (glucose + sucralose.) Since admitting to my GP that I stopped biphosphates some time ago she doubled the Kalcipos to twice a day. Yuk!
I read somewhere that the glucose isn't just for taste (I don't have a sweet tooth anyway) but helps increase uptake of calcium. The Kalcipos also has vitamin D 'of bovine origin' which is off-putting.
The alternative I was offered was Ideos which I never see mentioned here but tried once otc and remember it as similarly too sweet.
I know this isn't urgent or pain related, but I would be interested in any comments or opinions. Thanks.
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Danda99
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Thanks for your reply. Yes, it is different. I imagine the NHS picks the brands in the UK. Is Adcal pleasant or at least ok?
I go to the cheapest pharmacy I can find in Dublin and they source medicines from all over Europe - mostly Spain & Greece but also UK. I could experiment myself but it's a hassle to get the prescription changed. I often buy supplements online but the Irish government are about to whack VAT on health supplements - it is unclear yet whether certain vitamins will be exempt.
Thank you for this. I will give it a try. It is not quite the same formulation but for £5.26 instead of €26.82 per month well worth it (admittedly that is my latest double-dose script, but still a big difference regardless of taste..)
I'm struggling to find anything about vit D "of bovine origin" - it is usually made from irradiation of lanolin from sheeps wool. Ther is no mention of it here
I find the 'bovine origin' for vitamin D puzzling too.
It is stated on a couple of NHS webpages. I haven't included a link as it is a pdf download you may not want to do. You can google 'Kalcipos bovine' if interested.
Usually it would indicate a gelatin capsule, but these are chalky, chewable tablets.
Can't help with brand names and as my calcium supplements are not covered by any insurance I'm free to buy what I want. I take two different kinds, one is calcium hydroxyapatite (from mad cow free NZ cattle) because it's supposed to be better absorbed by people on pred, has a lot of other micronutrients in it also. And calcium citrate. Both are easy to swallow capsules so no issues with taste or added flavours and colours. I try to take three doses a day, if I remember. Sometimes I have magnesium citrate instead of calcium at bedtime.
I hope you know not to take calcium at the same time as pred, or indeed with most other medications and supplements. And each dose should ideally not exceed 400 or 500 mg as the body cannot efficiently absorb more than that at one time. Taking Vitamin K2 (not K1) helps to avoid possible problems with too much calcium settling in the wrong places in the body as Vitamin K2 directs calcium into the bones.
I have not been prescribed any calcium at all with my steroids.
I cannot take vitamin K supplements in any form, as it interferes with warfarin. The vitamin K lowers the INR, making the warfarin less effective, therefore making the blood more likely to clot.
I regulate my vitamin K very carefully through diet and keep it in constant check.
My question to you is this- how can I get a very high quality calcium supplement ( I , like you prefer a capsule with no added sweetener, colors, or excipients) that is compatible with steroids? Can you recommend one in particular?
Is there one without vit k?
If I take green leafy vegetables in the evenings ( vitamin k 1), woukd this mean I take calcium in the morning?
For many years I've taken a brand called Natural Factors. They have gigantic caplets and reasonable capsules in almost identical bottles and I've bought the caplets by mistake sometimes which is annoying as I find them impossible to swallow! The formula seems reasonable. Calcium citrate 125 mg, Magnesium citrate 125 mg, Potassium citrate 10 mg, Zinc citrate 5 mg, Manganese citrate 1 mg, Vitamin D3 100 IU. Recommended daily dose 2-4 capsules per day. I take two of these a day and four of my other supplement, which includes a small dose of K2 and has 150 mg calcium hydroxyapatite per capsule. So my total daily dose of calcium through supplements is 850 mg.
I don't know if you can get them in the US. Their address is Coquitlam, BC, V3K 6Y2.
Just for your information, Vitamin K2 is not supposed to have the same effect on blood as K1, although it does have some. You can get a little bit through some foods which might be safer. Unfortunately our own bodies aren't very good at converting Vitamin K1 to K2 which is why we rely on other sources, and of course in your case you'll even be limiting the amount of K1 you get through food.
I don't know if any studies have been done but I would suspect that if people can't take Vitamin K2 for any reason it may be wise to also limit the amount of calcium taken through supplements and get most through food.
It’s worth having a word with your Pharmacist, when l was on Chemo l couldn’t stand the Calcichew as my mouth was so badly damaged but they found me an alternative & l asked my Doctor to change the Prescription, unfortunately it’s currently unavailable & l’m back on Calcichew.
I also had difficulty with Calcium supplements, I was on Adcal which sounds similar to yours. My doctor took me off it and I am on vit D, I buy my own vit K and Magnesium and have a Calcium rich diet.
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