Multivitamin

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John A.

Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2011
Messages
9
Location
West Chester, PA
Initially after surgery, my doctor suggested that I take a multivitamin to help with a few post-surgerical issues. The issues have been resolved and my cardiologist said that I did not need to continue the multivitamin, but now that I've made it a habit, I've decided that I'd like to continue. My cardiologist said that would be fine, but that I should take a multivitamin that is low in (or has no) calcium to guard against calcification at the valve. I've looked at my local drug store and started taking the brand that had the lowest calcium level they had (I think it was NatureMade), but it is somewhat upsetting to my stomach, even when I take it with food. I had taken Centrum previously and did not have any problems with it, but it did contain a higher level of calcium. Are there any recommendations for other multivitamins that contain low levels of (or, even better, no) calcium?

Thanks,
John
 
Honestly, I think your cardiologist is exercising undue caution...practicing based on theory not evidence. To my knowledge, calcium supplements have never been proven to accelerate valve calcification, and I've done a fair amount of research including reading articles/transcripts by many of the leading cardiologists and surgeons in the country. Obviously, you could just ask your cardiologist for evidence for his recommendation, and maybe if you don't have osteoporosis, perhaps intentionally avoiding calcium supplementation is no big deal anyway. But definitely no need to get in the habit of avoiding the much more enjoyable calcium sources in life (food) thinking it will help your valve.
 
Many women with risk of developing osteoporousis take daily doses of Calcium and our doctors are fine about it for those of us with tissue and mechanical valves. Five doctors have told me I should be taking calcium and everytime I see a new doctor for whatever, they clearly know I have a tissue valve but when they read my list of meds, none have told me to stop taking calcium.

That is just my experience and you should listen to your doctors, of course, but also do research that makes you comfortable with your choice.
 
I have taken various multi-vitamins (normally what I can find on sale) over the past 25+ years and have not had a GP or Cardio mention Calcium content. Since I am on Warfarin, they have suggested that I find a vitamin without Vit K, but have not warned against any other vitamins or minerals.
 
Just one point of clarification: the suggestion was that I avoid food supplemented with extra calcium (e.g., vitamins, Rolaids, Tums, OJ with calcium added), not calcium occurring naturally. Since I don't take Rolaids, etc., the only impact this suggestion would have for me is to check my multivitamin's calcium levels - not really a major effect on my lifestyle.
 
Just one point of clarification: the suggestion was that I avoid food supplemented with extra calcium (e.g., vitamins, Rolaids, Tums, OJ with calcium added), not calcium occurring naturally. Since I don't take Rolaids, etc., the only impact this suggestion would have for me is to check my multivitamin's calcium levels - not really a major effect on my lifestyle.

Indeed. Sorry for not intially answering your question more directly, just wanted to point out that calcium restrictions of any kind are not really standard practice. OJ certainly tastes just as good without the extra calcium, though, and with many multivitamins options out there, choosing the best case one for limited calcium intake should be pretty straightforward.

Hopefully someone else will weigh in more directly to your question on other multivitamin options. I actually take the NatureMade one you mention, but for no particular reason. I think the amount of calcium is one of the factors affecting the size of the vitamin, though, so normally the calcium level is still pretty low overall (percentage of daily value).
 
Hi John:

After my surgery I was told to take pre-natal vitamins, but now that you mentioned this I will look into that. Will let you know if pre-natals are ok for us.

Take care
 
Centrum multivitamins just don't have that much calcium to be a concern to begin with, even if there were a reason to be concerned with calcium. You need calcium to maintain your bones, sugar levels, and and general health, and your heart actually needs calcium in order to beat properly.

To my knowledge, there is no science to show that calcium intake affects valves (original or replaced). Because of this, valve manufacturers have been warned on several occasions not to suggest that calcium intake might affect the functional life of their valves, or suggest that their clients should reduce their calcium intake.

Calcium is only one of the minerals that are deposited onto valves in what is simplistically referred to as "calcification." The deposits actually include most or all of the minerals the body uses to build bones or teeth, which together form a mineral called apatite. There are various yet-unproven theories as to why the body deposits this bony concretion on the valve and surrounding area. Among others, these include thoughts like the body recognizing damaged valve tissue and trying to coat it protectively, or the body perceiving of the valve as a foreign object and trying to coat it to make it neutral, or having a disfunctional b allele in the gene that controls how vitamin D metabolizes calcium, which then allows blood-carried minerals liberated from the bones to freely deposit.

A lot of health admonitions that seem to make sense don't turn out to be true at all in real life. Calcium supplementation damaging valves is one of them. Assumptions are everywhere in medicine, based on what appears to be common sense, but turn out under scrutiny to just not be the case. Studies of the actual results of these sensible-seeming illusions are fascinating. The little alcohol swabbing they do on your arm before you get a shot actually prevents nothing in real life. Premedication by valve recipients before dental work cannot be traced to any reduction in those patients' chances of developing infectious endocarditis. Antibiotics will not cure 98% of children's earaches (most are caused by viruses). Yet most clinics still swab arms, most cardiologists still prescribe premedication antibiotics, and many pediatricians still prescribe antibiotics for earaches. And most patients still expect and demand these things.

The amount in a Centrum or similar multivitamin shouldn't cause you amny problems. If excess calcium were the cause of stenosis-causing deposits, there would be many more of us here on this forum, and they'd already have found a way to stop it from happening.

Best wishes,
 

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