Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Which calcium supplement do you suggest of IBS-D?

I did some research on this a while back and this is what I came up with:

calcium citrate is good if you're constipated (Citracal)

calcium carbonate is good if you have diarrhea:
Tums (but they have mineral oil)
Caltrate
OsCal
Viactiv (but most - perhaps all - flavors have dairy)

My understanding is that magnesium is bad for diarrhea so I don't take it and no one - not my Family Practice doctor or my orthopedist or my endocrinologist - has suggested I do so.

I take my calcium in the form of Tums. At some point I read that your body can't handle more than 500mg of calcium at a time, so that's how much I take at once. I take mine with lunch, with dinner, and right before bed for a total of 1500mg a day. I like Tums because I have mild reflux so I'm getting 2 for the price of 1, but I think *any* calcium carbonate will have an antacid effect because - as far as I can tell - it's the calcium carbonate itself that acts as the antacid in Tums. There's nothing else in there except color and flavor.

I started very slowly with 200mg of calcium per day and went up very slowly, adding no more than 200mg per day at a time.

I have a vague sense that calcium is more "bioavailable" if you take it with food - I guess you're fooling your body into thinking you're eating something that has calcium - but I don't know that for sure.

One thing I did find out was that I'm not getting enough Vitamin D. My endocrinologist checked for that the last time I saw her. Apparently you need Vitamin D to process calcium. She wants me to get 1200 IU of Vitamin D per day which is 3 times the Recommended Daily Allowance - you should check with your doctor before getting that much. I've been getting 400 from my multi-vitamin (One A Day Essential) and I'm adding the rest gradually - 200 IU at a time. If you're out and about outside your body is probably making enough Vitamin D from the exposure to sunlight. Some calcium supplements have Vitamin D built right in.

So:
calcium carbonate if you're IBS-D
1500mg per day
500mg at a time
make sure you're getting or your body is making enough Vitamin D

HTH.

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