Vitamins Not Digesting

[Newbee]

I take a lot of vitamins and I noticed recently that some of them are going completely through my body without being digested. I'm trying to figure out what to do about this. I'd heard hard tablets can do this but I think it is some of the capsules I'm taking as I took some toilet paper and pressed it against it and white powder came out (sorry this is kind of gross). I thought capsules were supposed to be easy to digest. I can't digest things like raw vegetables either. Should I just open up the capsules and dump them in my mouth and take them that way or poke them with a knife to try and open them up a little in hopes that the stuff inside can escape? I appreciate the help!

[GottaSki]

There are liquid vitamins - they can be quite pricey, but if you aren't absorbing the capsules it might be a good idea to try liquid. Also I know B vitamins are available in sublingual (dissolves under the tongue) form, perhaps other vitamins are available sublingually as well. Can you add the capsules you have to a smoothie? If there are too many it probably would not be palatable, but may be worth a try.

[Newbee]

I tried taking a liquid multi-vitamin but realized it did not contain a lot of the vitamins that most multis do (was missing things like iron and iodine amongst other things). I am worried about having low thyroid and have heard not getting enough iodine can make this worse. I haven't found an iodine supplement that is recommended. So I went back to a liquid soft gel. I'm not sure if I'm digesting this or not but I've found other supplements that are not being digested (I take a LOT of supplements). I don't do smoothies anymore as they gave me digestive issues. I wonder if I can just take the stuff out of the vitamins and take it straight that way. Anyone know?

[kelly97]

My dietician was just talking to me this last week about vitamins. Because of malabsorpsion, she says we need fat soluble vitamins delivered in a water soluble way. She was going to send me either info about them or a prescription for them. I'm not for sure which. Maybe you should talk to your doctor about them?

Take care,

Kelly

[ravenwoodglass]

I tried taking a liquid multi-vitamin but realized it did not contain a lot of the vitamins that most multis do (was missing things like iron and iodine amongst other things). I am worried about having low thyroid and have heard not getting enough iodine can make this worse. I haven't found an iodine supplement that is recommended. So I went back to a liquid soft gel. I'm not sure if I'm digesting this or not but I've found other supplements that are not being digested (I take a LOT of supplements). I don't do smoothies anymore as they gave me digestive issues. I wonder if I can just take the stuff out of the vitamins and take it straight that way. Anyone know?

You should be able to get enough iodine by just using iodized salt. It is also a good idea to have your iron levels tested to make sure you need to supplement it as it can be toxic if you take too much. Are you also seeing a lot of undigested food? Have you talked to your doctor? If you haven't it would be a good idea, IMHO as you may have something going on in addition to celiac.

[pricklypear1971]

You should be able to get enough iodine by just using iodized salt. It is also a good idea to have your iron levels tested to make sure you need to supplement it as it can be toxic if you take too much. Are you also seeing a lot of undigested food? Have you talked to your doctor? If you haven't it would be a good idea, IMHO as you may have something going on in addition to celiac.

If you do indeed have a thyroid problem, and it is Hashimoto's Disease, there's strong evidence to support NOT taking iodine. Not all hypothyroidism is the same.

Edit:sorry, should have replied to the original post.

[Newbee]

I see undigested vegetables. I've mentioned this to my doctor before and he told me it was normal to see pieces of vegetables. He hasn't been very helpful. I wouldn't be surprised if something else is going on. I did ask the doc about that but he said he was sure all my issues were celiac related. Blah, may need a better doctor.

[Juliebove]

I don't know if this could be the case here, but some pills are made in such a way that the casing can come out in the stool. Such is the case with a diabetes med that my daughter is taking. I remember a discussion about it some years back on the diabetes newsgroup but I don't think anyone knew the answer. Then my daughter went on the med. The Dr. whispered something to her about the med which I just barely heard. It had something to do with seeing a "ghost" in her poop and not to be alarmed. It could be that the vitamin is made like that.

I have gastroparesis. That means that I don't digest my food properly. I know that it is common for all people to eat corn or even peas and have some of that come out undigested. And perhaps that could come down to not chewing as well as we should. I will occasionally have trouble with undigested food going through me. Not often, but occasionally if my stomach is acting up this will happen.

[1desperateladysaved]

I have been puzzling over the same issue. I have been opening capsules and chewing tablets. One could also put tablets through a blender to crush them.

I asked of my health pros and they said that I either had too short of transit time, or not enough hydrochloric acid. One thing if you ever try to take hydrochooric acid do not grind them!

[ravenwoodglass]

I see undigested vegetables. I've mentioned this to my doctor before and he told me it was normal to see pieces of vegetables. He hasn't been very helpful. I wouldn't be surprised if something else is going on. I did ask the doc about that but he said he was sure all my issues were celiac related. Blah, may need a better doctor.

There are some doctors that once we are diagnosed will then consider any issues to be related to celiac. I agree it might be time to consider a different doctor. This is especially the case if you have been strict with your diet.

[Mom-of-Two]

I am unsure of the vitamin issue but just wanted to comment that it can be hard to find a very supportive dr- I am lucky that I did, and she really treats me with the full spectrum- meaning, she tetss my vitamin levels, looks for any other complications of celiac, follows up every 3 months (it will go to once a year after this next visit, assuming it shows normal antibodies), she takes a lot of time and listens to everything, gives advice about nutrition, diet, what supplements, reads labels of ones I take to ask her about, etc etc. I am not saying this is the norm for a physician, I am just saying that having celiac disease, you need a good deal of support to really heal- and it can be a frustrating process. You need a good dr, particularly one that knows celiac disease and all its manifestations.

Good luck to you!

[bartfull]

Before I went gluten-free I had undigested vegetables in my stool every day. For YEARS. If I ate a salad the night before it looked the same the next morning as it did when I ate it (minus the bowl of course). It seemed the only thing I could digest was meat and bread. Even french fries would show up the next morning. Going gluten-free changed all that and as long as I stay away from gluten I poop like a normal person now.

[Newbee]

Juliebove, what do they tell you to do about gastroparesis? I wonder if I have that. As the vitamin I keep seeing will squash out white powder once it has gone through my digestive system, I don't think I'm absorbing what I'm supposed to. Maybe the coating on this one is extra difficult to digest for some reason. I hope it is not all vitamins that are going this way, but I really don't know.

[kittty]

I see undigested vegetables. I've mentioned this to my doctor before and he told me it was normal to see pieces of vegetables. He hasn't been very helpful. I wouldn't be surprised if something else is going on. I did ask the doc about that but he said he was sure all my issues were celiac related. Blah, may need a better doctor.

I mentioned the same thing to a doctor several years ago, and she also told me it was normal. Current doctor asked me recently about BM issues, and I mentioned that. She wondered why I hadn't mentioned it before...well, because I thought it was normal

It went away after a month or so of being gluten free, but unfortunately it came back again after a glutening and hasn't gone away again. Not sure why that is. I haven't been glutened in over a month, and it's really bad again now.