Inflamed and Untamed

Another one of the many cool things about blogging is I get to try out different products for free sometimes. Usually I do this in exchange for a review on my blog, but hopefully one day related companies will sponsor me because there are some hidden costs, not to mention a lot of time, that goes into this.  

Anyway, this time I got to try out some vitamins from Inovera.  But just because I receive something free doesn’t mean I am going to lie to you and tell you I love it just to be nice.  You deserve my honesty, and you always get it. 

So here’s the word on these babies. Inovera makes their vitamin and mineral tablets and chewables with patients in mind.  Their multivitamin/mineral Forvia, was made for patients who have difficulty absorbing their nutrients from food due to gastrointestinal conditions.  UM HELLO! Did you say it was for patients who have trouble absorbing nutrients? Sign me up! If you visit Inovera’s website you will see that Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis patients are often mentioned, along with celiac disease, and others who may have trouble absorbing nutrients due to ostomy surgery, gastric bypass, etc.

What I love about these vitamins compared to just any multivitamin is that these, like I just mentioned, were geared towards patients who have difficulties with absorption and other problems due to gastrointestinal disorders.  That means they include things that are commonly found to be deficient in patients with IBD and other related conditions and also exclude things normally found in many vitamins that interfere with absorption or aggravate the disease.  I think I love that the most! I love that these are backed by clinical research of patients with gastrointestinal conditions or who have had gut surgeries and are designed to provide the best vitamin for us.  

My 1 month review: 

These were sent to me at the perfect time because I am one of those people who deals with malabsorption when my Crohn’s disease is flaring up.  Seems every time I go into a flare-up I lose a bunch of weight rapidly, and I was dealing with that these last few months.  Plus with the surgery that I had to remove my colon absorption has never been the same anyway.  I was sent the regular tablets, the chewable tablets, and the Forbones calcium and vitamin D supplement.  I decided to start out with the chewable tablets and that is what this one month review will be describing.  

So first off, I chose the chewables to start because chewing a tablet absorbs much better for me than swallowing a pill. With my lack of a colon sometimes pills never get digested and come out whole, and when my Crohn’s is flaring it seems that things are never getting absorbed properly (hence the weight loss).  So I love that they have a chewable option! I believe these are supposed to have a natural orange flavor but… I wouldn’t quite say that they have much of a flavor at all.  I found them to be very good but I like the chalky taste of chewables, so if you’re a weirdo like me then you’ll enjoy these.  They sort of remind me of TUMS.  

The chewables would be a good option for those of you who have ostomies, j-pouches, any other bowel surgery, or have difficulties swallowing a tablet. You can see in their description that they took into account a lot of things patients with IBD deal with such as the need for extra vitamin D due to steroid use, folic acid for the reduced risk of colon cancer, more B12 because IBD patients have difficulties absorbing it, zinc for wound healing and immune function, and a “non-gassy” form of calcium.  

So it’s been one month and what can I tell you? At this point not much.  I think it’s still early in the game to notice huge differences.  I haven’t had blood work done yet so I can’t report that to you until next month when I see the doctor.  I haven’t noticed a substantial change in my energy levels or how I feel…yet.  That’s just me giving it to you honest.  But like I said, it’s early. I didn’t expect to feel all sorts of amazing in just a month, that isn’t realistic. Does that mean I don’t think it’s working? Not at all.  I have faith that it’s doing it’s job and I will have proof of that in my blood work next month.  It comes down to this: No matter what I have to take supplements of some kind.  I would rather put my trust in these, that were designed with a patient like me in mind, instead of just any over the counter vitamins that I could find.  

I have about one day left with the chewables and then I will be talking the tablets and starting the vitamin D supplement.  The only reason I didn’t start that one sooner is because I was still taking my liquid form of vitamin D.  I will report back in another month with more to tell you.  For those of you training for Team Challenge there is a video on their website of a Team Challenge runner talking about why he uses the supplements.  Might want to check it out! 

Happy butts & guts!

Sara

P.S. I should also mention how efficient this company is. My vitamins were shipped to me THE DAY we talked about it and I had them just a few days later.  They are also super swift and responding to emails. Awesome :)