Discussion on Vitamins and Medicine Tablets with Stoma: Chewables and Non-Chewables

Has there been much discussion about vitamins or medicine tablets and whether or not your stomach will break them down before they get to your stoma? I've found in the past that some tablet medicines never broke down and came out whole when I had the j-pouch. I started taking chewables when they're available. I have a cabinet full of multi-vits, fish oil, Vit D, etc that I had to stop taking because they were burning me when they went through my j-pouch. But now that I have an ileostomy, I wonder if anyone can chime in on chewable (gummies) and how they work with the ileostomy. Also non-chewable tablets if you please.

Hello Catwoman.

I don't know much about vitamin pills except that I watched a programme once, in which they were exposing a scam where fake vit pills were being sold openly by pharmacies and they were virtually vit-free and useless.

Have you looked into vitamin drinks instead. There are lots of them on the market nowadays as athletes and bodybuilders tend to prefer them to pills.

Just a thoght

Best wishes

Bill

Anything time release will come out at least partially intact in my bag. So I've gone to chewables for vitamins and omega 3's and also tend to drink my breakfast with a vitamin/protein drink.

Catwoman,

I do gummy vitamins. A multi+omega, B-12, D-3, and C. The only non-gummy I take is Vitamin E. I found that taking an omega in its traditional form seemed to give off a metallic fish smell that eventually permeated my pouch, so that's why I take gummies now.

Bain

Hello,

I take gummies daily and have had no issues. They work as designed and are a nice morning treat... :)

Hello Catwoman, I take liquid vitamins which have worked extremely well for me. My son worked at the facility where they are made. He got to see the process and learned all about the natural and pure ingredients used. Because they use only the purest and best available vitamins, the cost is more but well worth the price. I take the multi which has all I need in one dose. Being a liquid, they absorb easily and quickly. I have experienced better health and stamina. I take the VM_100, the company is Buried Treasure Liquid Vitamins and can be found at most health food and vitamin companies. Also at Swanson Vitamins online. BTW I have an ileostomy.

Hi.. I am in the UK... What are "gummies"?? Thank you

Like the candy, gummy bears? Or candied fruit like you put in a fruitcake? Very chewy texture, fruit flavor, easily digested because you chew them up thoroughly first. Whereas a "chewable" tablet would have more of a texture of Rolaids stomach tablets - more of a powdery texture when chewed than a candy texture of the gummies.

I take a lot of vitamins and supplements. In my experience, they work best in this order:

- Liquid form (drinkable, either powder mixed into water, or a complete solution like liquid Vitamin D2) - most readily absorbed

- Liquid-filled gel caps - once the capsule breaks down the contents are as easily absorbed as liquid supplements.

- Powder-filled capsules - they break down quicker than solid-form tablets, and are almost always completely absorbed. Once in a while I will pass a melted bit of the capsule itself, when it is a larger/thicker form of capsule (like in a multivitamin) but usually everything dissolves while in my intestinal tract (I have an ileostomy, so no colon length for things to traverse).

- Solid tablets, medium and small sizes - dissolve without a problem.

- Solid tablets, large, or dense, or with an enteric coating (which is supposed to buffer the dissolving so the stomach is not upset or the intestinal lining irritated in a normal digestive tract. Sometimes these things do not break down, depending on what is in the pill, or how tough the coating is. The worst problems I've had have been with potassium citrate pills (which alter the pH balance of the urine) - they are large, very dense, and usually coated as well. Those pass whole half the time, while the other half of the time they are digested. I suspect this all depends on how much food is in my system at the time, and therefore how slow or fast the pill passes through digestive juices on its way towards the stoma.

In the end, though, it's best to just experiment with what you need to take, and see if it passes through undigested. If so, look for another form of the item. I also take probiotics in gummy form sometimes, and they are fully digested since the sugar matrix easily dissolves in the intestines. I don't care for all the 'stuff' that's in gummies, though, from the corn syrup to the food coloring, so try to take my supplements in as close to liquid form (or gel caps) as I can find.