How to take supplements

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

Messages
203
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Kaits neurologist requested that she take vit-D and calcium everyday. I asked him specifically when she would take the supplements and he said it really didnt matter that she could take them anytime as long as she took them everyday.

Our boys see a mental health Dr. once a month for their ADHD. Yesterday when they had their appointment he wanted to know what was 'new' in our home as sometimes 'changes' can cause unwanted behaviour with ADHD. We discussed Kaits new diagnosis etc. The boys' Dr. said that the supplements need to be taken with food. He did go into details of why, but for the life of me I cant remember his explanation :(

Again, it seems that every Dr. has a different opinion...so I was interested in hearing from ya'll how you take your supplements and if you notice a difference in taking them with or without food or at different times of the day.
 
I also take calcium & Vitamin D and when I researched them I found calcium is best absorbed when taken with food.

In many individuals, calcium supplements are better absorbed when taken with food. It is important to check supplement labels to ensure that the product meets United States Pharmacopeia (USP) standards.

http://www.niams.nih.gov/health_info/bone/bone_health/nutrition/

I also found the RDI by Health Canadas standards, the US Institute of Medicine & the EU. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D#Dietary_reference_intakes
 
In addition, certain foods and vitamins work better when taken at the same time. For instance, calcium is better absorbed in an acid environment, so cranberry juice fortified with calcium is actually not a bad idea. Small amounts of the trace element boron can improve calcium absorption too (boron is found in foods like apples and grapes, as well as in supplement form). Certain vegetables (bok choy, cauliflower, kale, brusselsprouts, etc.) both contain calcium and help facilitate its absorption.
 
Thanks! I followed your links which got me to thinking about the calcium she is taking. The more I think about different points of the neurologist visit the more I wonder if this is the right neuro for us. He told her to take a 1000mg Tums everyday for the calcium supplement. Reason - Calcium supplements are larger pills and many of his patients will take them in the begining and then stop because of the size of pill. He found that his patients will eat a tums everyday. From what I was just reading, Tums are a poor source as a calcium supplement. Any thoughts on this?
 
Pros: Tums are cheaper than calcium vitamins.
Cons: Tums provide calcium as calcium carbonate (chalk), which is not always easily absorbed by the body.Calcium citrate is a form that is better absorbed, so you might want to look for that variety.
 
Agree with Nakamova. Calcium carbonate should be taken with food to help absorption.
Calcium citrate is absorbed without food. My calcium also has magnesium which my doctor feels helps the absorption and also Vitamin D. I have osteoporosis (phenobarbital), so my requirement is higher, but I split three times a day, with the largest amount before bed, although only 500 mg can be absorbed at one time so in the evening I divide at 6 and 10 pm. Hope this helps
 
I am interested in this post, too. My daughter's dr also recommended the calcium with vit D and the pills are HUGE! We tried splitting them in half - too rough on the edges. Perhaps there is a smaller pill form if the calcium and vit D are taken separately? Or a liquid form? I would gag taking those pills!
 
Chop456: There is liquid calcium and also calcium chews. I just Googled liquid calcium and there is one specifically for children. Check with her doctor and see if either of these could be an option and/or how much per day
 
I can not take over the counter calicum or vit. D., these cause me to have seizures. This is NOT always the case for people with E.
I have my compounded, (I found out about compounding Phar. through this forum. I went 40+ years without them.
I just to share this with you so you can be aware. It took me along time to put the vit. and seizures together.

I'm not trying to scare you. Dealing with seiz. and medic. is hard enough.
 
There are calcium chews available on the market that are pretty good. The ones I take have Vitamin D and K as well.
 
Thanks for all the great information everybody! Definately lots of options available and something I will be looking into in more detail. If Kait needs the supplements I want her to be taking whats best and going to help her the most, without looking at the meds and going "ugh!"

No worries jyearta, you didnt scare me with the info you provided. Its good to know that supplements can have the opposit effect. How did you realize it was the OTC supplements that were causing your seizures? In my mind, every bit of information is useful.

Another question - I will be talking to Kaits neurologist on whether she needs to continue taking the Vit-D (2000iu) daily in the summer. We get a ton of sun and she spends alot of time out in it with her friends around the pool and such. Do ya'll continue to take the same amount of Vit-D in the summer months as you do in the winter or darker months? I was reading another thread here on the forums and there was some 'argument' about to much Vit-D. I realize that 2000iu is not a whole lot. I know there is a blood test, is this something that I should as for to make sure she isnt getting to much? I know that the only reason he has her on it is to help absorb the calcium.
 
Last edited:
After a summer of being outdoor quite a lot, and getting very tan, my vitamin D was still low on the blood test. So I keep taking Vitamin D all-year long, regardless of sun exposure. (Exposure to sunlight for extended periods of time doesn't cause vitamin D toxicity, because once a certain level is produced in the skin, the body degrades the rest. It only takes about a half hour in the sun to reach that level).

Currently, the suggested upper limits are: 2500 IU per day for ages 1–3 years, 3000 IU per day for ages 4–8 years and 4000 IU per day for ages 9–71+ years (including pregnant or lactating women). Most signs of toxicity don't kick in unless someone is at much higher daily dose (20,00-50,000 IU) for a prolonged period of time. If you are concerned, have her levels tested from time to time.
 
No worries jyearta, you didnt scare me with the info you provided. Its good to know that supplements can have the opposit effect. How did you realize it was the OTC supplements that were causing your seizures? In my mind, every bit of information is useful.

It was a neur. (2 diff. neur. at diff. times) that said I tested low on Vit D. I purchased over the counter Vit D. When I started the vit. I started having seizures, I stopped the vit. the seizures stopped. It took me a few days to put this together. I called and asked my neur. who said NO this does not cause seizure. The 2nd neur. said the same thing.

It could be just me. It seems this is one of my triggers, when I take ALMOST anything new to my system, be it an antib. calcium, B vitamins along with vit. D it causes my seizures.

I tried taking the vit. D again (over the counter) and again the seizure start up. I thought I was going crazy, with both neur. saying this was not possible. I then called my pharm. and they said THAT VT. D AND CAUSE SEIZURES. He gave me a printout of this inform. that I took to my neur.

I live in the Atlanta GA area and I'm outside as much as possible, I say that to say I'm getting plently of Vit. D from the sun however I still tested low.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
It was a neur. (2 diff. neur. at diff. times) that said I tested low on Vit D. I purchased over the counter Vit D. When I started the vit. I started having seizures, I stopped the vit. the seizures stopped. It took me a few days to put this together. I called and asked my neur. who said NO this does not cause seizure. The 2nd neur. said the same thing.

It could be just me. It seems this is one of my triggers, when I take ALMOST anything new to my system, be it an antib. calcium, B vitamins along with vit. D it causes my seizures.

I tried taking the vit. D again (over the counter) and again the seizure start up. I thought I was going crazy, with both neur. saying this was not possible. I then called my pharm. and they said THAT VT. D AND CAUSE SEIZURES. He gave me a printout of this inform. that I took to my neur.

I live in the Atlanta GA area and I'm outside as much as possible, I say that to say I'm getting plently of Vit. D from the sun however I still tested low.

I found calcium causes me to seize, but magnesium and Vitamin D help with the problem. Found that out by asking baffled doctors and documenting when seizures happen against a food diary. Not trying to scare, just keep a record.

Jay
 
Jay: This is good to know because since I have osteoporosis I am suppose to start taking 3000 of D a day. I already take calcium with magnesium, but I am not sure I want to add that large amount of D.. always something to watch out for... Time to bring out the steno pad for record keeping.. Thanks.. MaryK
 
I always take my Calcium and Vit D3 with a banana it seems to absorb better that way and is less likely to upset my stomach.:e:
 
Back
Top Bottom