Supplements and Vitamins – My New Life

I used to hate taking my vitamins, and I still do. I also hated that powder my mom would mix into the milk that I’d pour onto my cereal every morning. I still hate it, but I married a super helper. She puts my pills into one of those old person pill containers on the end table for me every day of the week, and I’ve been doing much better taking everything.

What does Fatboy take?

Good question! My mom asked when they were over and I had to say,  “I don’t know. Beautiful puts everything in there and I take what she gives me.” Well, I’ve found out, and we’ll see if I know why I take everything, too. Keep in mind, this doesn’t include any of my enzymes (8 bottles of pills per month) or any of my aerosols or injectables.

Calcium – If I’m not mistaken, I take 1200mg/day of calcium + D to prevent osteoperosis. I’ve had osteopenia for years, so it will be interesting to see if taking calcium actually does a darn thing. Can you tell that I’m skeptical about supplements?

ADEK – Like everyone with CF should, I’m on Vitamin A, D, E, & K boosts. This particular pill also has Vitamin B and zinc. I take 2 softgels per day. I don’t notice one way or another if I do or don’t take it for a day or for a year. Buy, hey, they’re free with my other supplies.

Prilosec – I have been taking Zantac 150 for years, but I’ve been mentioning severe heartburn to the point that they were going to do the pH test and possibly the Nissen procedure to wrap my stomach around my esophagus to prevent GERD. I asked if I could try Prilosec first because we couldn’t afford the test co-pays that were going to come. Sure enough, it works fine. No heartburn at all since I switched – and we use the store brand, too.

Acidophilus – Plain and simple, this is to counteract the effects of being on aerosol antibiotics because I can’t remember to eat yogurt every day, and a pill is just that much simpler. Life has been much improved since taking this, so much so, I wish I’d started on a regimen of it years ago.

Fish Oil – We bought a year’s supply of caplets from Walgreen’s on sale because of the anti-inflammatory benefits, but this is definitely something that I’m not going to claim to notice any effects from.

Sudafed – We buy the little store brand with pseudoephedrine hydrochloride for congestion. It helps and is an 8-hour dose just to clear me up when I wake up.

Zithromax – I’m on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday dose of it for my sinuses. I’ve never been able to take it regularly until putting it in the pill container. Now it’s a no-brainer.

Boost Plus – Not exactly in the same category, but it’s an extra part of my life/diet. We buy the Publix store brand chocolate drink. It’s $6.99 for a 6-pack, but they are 350 calories each, with a lot of fat and protein. I try to down 3 per day. I really feel guilty going through so much, but it’s got to be done to keep or gain weight. When it adds $21 to each week’s groceries, it’s hard to not feel bad – it’s $1092 per year!