GNC Calcimate Plus 800 Dietary Supplement Review

Life has a way of humbling us, doesn't it?  When I first moved to Oak Park as a young lass, I could effortlessly take the El steps two at a time (wearing HIGH HEELS) if I heard a train coming.  In those days, God forbid that I should have to miss a train and wait for a few minutes for another one whereas today, God forbid that I might have to wear high-heeled shoes at all, much less rush upstairs in them! 

Getting older (there, I've said it) can be a lot of fun but is a rosebush with its own share of thorns including a pronounced effect on energy levels and determination to catch trains.  Other issues abound as well, such as bone density and joint pain.  Medications (however beneficial) can sometimes complicate the game too.  Arimidex has done an admirable job of fending off a recurrence of breast cancer but has created certain problems of its own by telling my estrogen to get lost every day when it turns up to try to do its own job.  I am almost through with my course of Arimidex treatment (and I am grateful for this drug) but it did have side effects including achy joints and what I perceive to be teeth which are more fragile than they used to be.  The last bone density test didn't seem to alarm anyone but by that time I had reached the point where I couldn't just step over the knee high fence in the back of our property anymore without hanging on to our dumpster for support and hoping no one was watching.  Making a long story short (a virtue we senior citizens are not known for) I decided take a calcium supplement ... GNC Calcimate Plus 800 Dietary Supplement which features Calcium Citrate Malate (CCM) making it a "highly absorbable calcium with 800 IU Vitamin D and magnesium" to help improve bone density.

STATS:

Four tablets a day constitutes the recommended single daily dosage consisting of 200 IU Vitamin D (50% D.V.), 800 mg. Calcium (80% D.V.), 100 mg. Magnesium (25%) and 99 mg. Potassium (3%).  (Other ingredients include Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Titonium Dioxide (Mineral Whitener) and Vegetable Acetoglycerides.)  Cost is not exorbitant with 120 tablets priced at $8.99 and 240 for $16.99 at Drugstore.com (you can probably find it cheaper at other stores).

MY VIEWPOINT:

I take one of these after each meal with an extra one later in the evening.  GNC Calcimate Plus 800 Dietary Supplement is easy to digest, alas that the tablets are REALLY big ... bigger than that "actual size" tablet pictured on the bottle.  We are talking chunky pills which are nearly an inch long here and must be swallowed carefully.  Yah, but do they WORK? you are probably wondering.  There is of course no way for an medical amateur like myself to know for sure but here's something I can report -- after three days of this treatment, it didn't hurt to stand up this morning when I got out of bed and the stairs are a little easier to take.  I didn't even have to pop an Aleve last night for joint pain.  I am going to continue with GNC Calcimate Plus 800 Dietary Supplement for another month and then check back in here and update this review to let you know how it all worked out.