Anyone in Australia, meds help pls...

[nzgirl]

Hello all,

I am a BPD-DS'er that has recently moved from the UK to Australia. I am struggling to find most of my vitamins and minerals in a 'malabsorbtion friendly' format here and even worse struggling to make both the GPs and pharmacists understand the concept, they look at me like I'm either insane - or a hypochondriac, I'm not sure which is more frustrating! lol

If any DSers are reading this is in Australia can you please let me know if you have any suggestions for getting the following:

Calcium and vitamin D3 (In UK was Cacit D3 effervescent sachets)
Vitamins ADE and K (was on AquADEKs softgels)
Zinc Sulphate (Solvazinc effervescent tablets)
Prescription multi vitamin (Forceval Multivitamin & Mineral Complex)

I know that I can buy some of the above online from overseas but it works out to be very expensive so if I could source some locally that would be much better for me.

Thanks!

[kyal]

Jan 30, 2012 0:56:28 GMT -5 nzgirl said:

Hello all,

I am a BPD-DS'er that has recently moved from the UK to Australia. I am struggling to find most of my vitamins and minerals in a 'malabsorbtion friendly' format here and even worse struggling to make both the GPs and pharmacists understand the concept, they look at me like I'm either insane - or a hypochondriac, I'm not sure which is more frustrating! lol

If any DSers are reading this is in Australia can you please let me know if you have any suggestions for getting the following:

Calcium and vitamin D3 (In UK was Cacit D3 effervescent sachets)
Vitamins ADE and K (was on AquADEKs softgels)
Zinc Sulphate (Solvazinc effervescent tablets)
Prescription multi vitamin (Forceval Multivitamin & Mineral Complex)

I know that I can buy some of the above online from overseas but it works out to be very expensive so if I could source some locally that would be much better for me.

Thanks!

Hi NZgirl,

I am Pre-Op so have been researching these kinds of things so your in luck... well a little. The news isn't fantastic and you will probably have to order some of your Vits offshore as the DS is really uncommon here as I am finding out.

Can you tell me what state you are in that might help me be able to direct you better.

For calcium there are a few options.

Swisse do a Calcium Citrate with Vit D. 315mg of elemental calcium and 313mg of Vitamin D.
www.swisse.com/products/bones-joints-muscle/swisse-ultiboost-calcium-plus-vitamin-d#!ingredients

Citracal +d which is a tablet containing 315mg of elemental calcium and 500IU of Vit D.
www.citracal.com.au/index.htm

Alternatively there is the Ethical Nutrients Calcium Hydroxyapatite which Hess states is better than both Carbonate and Citrate but its not often talked about in the supplement circles for the DS. Its also available in a powder form. ethicalnutrients.com.au/content/products/ethi-cal-bone-builder-vitamin-d-powder

For the Zinc your best bet would be the Ethical Nutrients brand and the product is called Zinc Fix. ethicalnutrients.com.au/content/products/zinc-fix

All the above products are available in your local pharmacy.

This place has some Vit K and mega potency Vit A and D. I don't however know if they are DS suitable as they seem to come in soft gel capsules. www.puritanspride.com.au/

Another place with Vit K
www.biovea-australia.com/results.aspx?PageNo=1&KW=vitamin%20k

There are no prescription multivitamins that I know of here, at least not on the PBS approval lists.

Once I make the switch I plan to have D shots, B12 shots and order what I have to overseas. Both of the other DS Aussies on here are ordering overseas.

Also as far as I know there are no suppliers of ADEK's in the country. I was told about 6 years ago that a company in Sydney had started making them but I can't find any reference to them on-line. I am seeing that surgeon on the 9th of Feb so will be asking him about that then.

I have made inquiries with an associate of mine who is a compounding pharmacist about having ADEK's made locally so I will keep you posted when he gets back to me.

As for Dr's good luck. Dr shopping until you find a good GP who is happy to run your labs is probably your best bet. Just take in a diagram of the DS and a list of labs you want run and tell then you want a pathology slip, my Dr didn't have an issue with this approach when I had my pre op baselines done. You could try an endocrinologist or a general medicine physician as well or there are some Surgeons in the country with experience with the DS, just hard to get one to actually do the procedure these days. Let me know where you are and I will point you to one.

I hope that helps a little. I don't have all the answers for you sorry but you have a fair idea now of what you will be able to get locally.

Kyal

[larra]

Well, I'm not in Australia, but I do have a few comments:

1. an over the counter multivitamin should work just fine. I take 1 daily, many people take 2.

2. Zinc over the counter also seems to work fine for me. 50 mg each, hopefully as widely available where you are as they are here.

3. ADEK's, whether available where you are or not, are not adequate for anyone with the DS. They contain all the right things but so little of each as to be useless. You will need to take A, D, and K separately in DRY form. This means that if you do find either prescription or over the counter gel forms, they are also useless, as the vitamins in them are packaged in oil and you won't absorb them (people fall into this trap in the USA as well). You will need to spend the money to order these from overseas, most likely from Vitalady here in the USA. It will be more expensive, but taking the wrong products or inadequate doses of the right products will prove more expensive to your health in the long run. The dry D comes in 50,000 units, and we need to take them daily (one daily works for me, others take two daily). The A and K will also be doses that sound high to you but are right for us.
Calcium citrate - you might be able to find this in Australia over the counter, I don't know. In the USA, many stores sell this, we just have to read the ingredients to make sure it isn't calcium carbonate (the names can be deceptive) and to make sure we take the right amount (a dose is usually 2 pills at a time, not one). So you might be able to save some money there, but if not, Vitalady has this as well. I use the Bariatric Advantage chewable lozenges, because I don't do well at swallowing large pills, but you may be able to get away with something cheaper - just make sure you check the formulation and the dose, and take at least 2,000 mg daily in divided doses (for me, 4 times daily).

Larra