Micronutrients test, neuropathy, gluten enzymes. Please help.

[Gloria L]

Hello everyone, I had a micronutrient test done recently and it shows that my vitamin A, iron, copper and leucine are low (Iron is really low, ferritin was at 4 in a regular blood test). Vitamin B5 and Zinc look higher than usual. The rest of the vitamins, minerals, etc look normal. My question is, are these type of tests accurate in celiac patients? I ask this because they say people with celiac have many vitamins and minerals deficiency when just diagnosed and one symptom that I'm experiencing since last November, is a burning sensation in my shin area (both legs), I googled it and it seems to be neuropathy, it burns really bad and even after I went gluten free I have noticed it's becoming worse, I thought that by going gluten free this will improve but it has not and I also read it could be vitamin deficiency related but my micronutrient test does not show that, I'm confused.

I started my gluten free diet on January 7, I feel extremely weak, I'm losing more weight (current weight is 104 lbs), I still have not gotten my appetite back, I have to force myself to eat.  I cook my meals: chicken or salmon with sweet potatoes, carrots and broccoli (soup), no condiments and a protein shake in the morning and midafternoon, for this, I use a banana, the protein powder is certified gluten free: GI sustain by Metagenics, I use gluten free Artisana organics coconut butter in my shake, and certified gluten free so delicious coconut milk. My items for personal use are certified gluten free. All my supplements are also gluten free: liquid iron by gaia, magnesium glycinate by metabolic maintenance, certified gluten free one multivitamin by pure encapsulation, liquid vitamin D by Thorne, and because I developed GERD since last year, I'm also taking betaine HCI plus pepsin by Integrative therapeutics, I'm taking 5 capsules at the moment, it has improved a little but I still have acid reflux and from time to time I feel heartburn. I have my own microwave, kitchen cabinets, sponge, utensils and plates. I avoid any type of cross-contamination.

I still suffer from everyday indigestion, all day stomach noises and gas (I can feel the gas moving all over my abdomen) fullness feeling and occasional abdominal pain. I know that I should add more stuff to my diet but I just can't see how, with no appetite, the fullness feeling plus being afraid of eating something that is not gonna agree with my stomach is very hard. I feel like life is leaving my body as days go by, I feel very weak, I'm skin and bones, my doctor wants me to get IV iron therapy but they are expensive. I'm 49 and because I'm having these horrible all day hot flashes and sweat, I started taking progesterone since November and it is not helping much, it's making me have 2 weeks periods, so I'm about to start taking a birth control pill and I'm having a hard time finding a gluten free birth control pill, I was supposed to start Lo-loestrin FE but I called Allergan, the manufacturer and they told me that the mannitol comes from wheat. My gyno doesn't know what's causing the hot flashes and the sweating since it didn't improve with the progesterone and now she wants me to stop the progesterone and to start birth control pills to balance my hormones so she gave me a few more names. I'm looking to see if they are safe, I told my naturopath about this and she recommended gluten manager enzymes by Integrative Therapeutics to avoid having problems with medications that have gluten, I don't know if this is a safe thing to do.  I'm posting the pics of the micronutrient test result, please I need advices.

[tessa25]

I use Vitamin Friends iron gummies with success (strawberry). I'm on a 100% liquid diet at the moment. I take my supplements at the beginning of having a bowl of soup. I then have my protein drink approx 1 1/2 hours later. This seems to keep my stomach happy. I try to avoid powdery pills. Gummy multivitamin, gummy B complex, gummy iron, Liquid magnesium, gel D3. I recently started Zinc carnosine (powder) with a glass of water 10 minutes before my soup in the morning.  I have my soup and protein drink combo 4 times a day and am able to maintain a proper weight. And my test numbers recently hit a new low.

 

[Gloria L]

  On 3/6/2021 at 10:04 PM, tessa25 said:

I use Vitamin Friends iron gummies with success (strawberry). I'm on a 100% liquid diet at the moment. I take my supplements at the beginning of having a bowl of soup. I then have my protein drink approx 1 1/2 hours later. This seems to keep my stomach happy. I try to avoid powdery pills. Gummy multivitamin, gummy B complex, gummy iron, Liquid magnesium, gel D3. I recently started Zinc carnosine (powder) with a glass of water 10 minutes before my soup in the morning.  I have my soup and protein drink combo 4 times a day and am able to maintain a proper weight. And my test numbers recently hit a new low.

 

Expand Quote  

Hi @tessa25 I would love to have your soup recipe and what protein drink do you drink if you don't mind? I wish I could maintain my weight too.

[tessa25]

  On 3/7/2021 at 9:32 PM, Gloria L said:

Hi @tessa25 I would love to have your soup recipe and what protein drink do you drink if you don't mind? I wish I could maintain my weight too.

Expand Quote  

Warning: I am able to have dairy. My protein drink is 1/3 scoop Fitness Labs 100% whey protein mixed in Morning Moos chocolate drink (3 heaping tablespoons). I go through a #10 can of chocolate drink every week.

 

Mashed potato soup:

If you can't have dairy leave out the cheese and use earth balance fake butter. Doesn't taste as good without the dairy.

Boiled yukon gold potatoes (5lb bag)

1 package cauliflower, steamed

4-6 slices of Boarshead white American cheese

4 tablespoons butter

salt

homemade chicken broth, salted

 

Chop steamed cauliflower into teensy bits. Put in mixer with butter, cheese and a potato or two. Blend while slowly adding potatoes. Keep whipping for a minute or so. Salt to taste.

 

Combine 1/2 cup mashed potatoes to 1 cup salted chicken broth. Mix with spoon until mashed potatoes have completely dissolved. Enjoy. Individual servings can be frozen.

 

Homemade chicken broth: makes 8 - 10 cups of broth

 

1 organic chicken (regular chickens are too big)

1 stalk celery

1 carrot

1 large bay leaf

1/2 package fresh thyme from the  herb section of the vegetables area

 

Put all ingredients in pressure cooker along with 1.5 liters water. Bring to pressure. Cook for 35 minutes. Separate broth from solids. Separate broth from fat. Add ridiculous quantities of salt until it tastes like soup. Sorry I use a salt grinder so I don't have precise salt quantities.

 

[Gloria L]

  On 3/8/2021 at 12:20 AM, tessa25 said:

Warning: I am able to have dairy. My protein drink is 1/3 scoop Fitness Labs 100% whey protein mixed in Morning Moos chocolate drink (3 heaping tablespoons). I go through a #10 can of chocolate drink every week.

 

Mashed potato soup:

If you can't have dairy leave out the cheese and use earth balance fake butter. Doesn't taste as good without the dairy.

Boiled yukon gold potatoes (5lb bag)

1 package cauliflower, steamed

4-6 slices of Boarshead white American cheese

4 tablespoons butter

salt

homemade chicken broth, salted

 

Chop steamed cauliflower into teensy bits. Put in mixer with butter, cheese and a potato or two. Blend while slowly adding potatoes. Keep whipping for a minute or so. Salt to taste.

 

Combine 1/2 cup mashed potatoes to 1 cup salted chicken broth. Mix with spoon until mashed potatoes have completely dissolved. Enjoy. Individual servings can be frozen.

 

Homemade chicken broth: makes 8 - 10 cups of broth

 

1 organic chicken (regular chickens are too big)

1 stalk celery

1 carrot

1 large bay leaf

1/2 package fresh thyme from the  herb section of the vegetables area

 

Put all ingredients in pressure cooker along with 1.5 liters water. Bring to pressure. Cook for 35 minutes. Separate broth from solids. Separate broth from fat. Add ridiculous quantities of salt until it tastes like soup. Sorry I use a salt grinder so I don't have precise salt quantities.

 

Expand Quote  

Thank you very much, I will make it. I was diagnosed 2 1/2 months ago, still trying to figure out this diet without losing weight. How long ago were you diagnosed?

[tessa25]

  On 3/8/2021 at 12:59 AM, Gloria L said:

Thank you very much, I will make it. I was diagnosed 2 1/2 months ago, still trying to figure out this diet. How long ago were you diagnosed?

Expand Quote  

7ish years ago. I'm in the group that doesn't get better by just going gluten free. Yes I have tried dairy free with no positive results. Only liquid diet allows my numbers to go down (extremely slowly).

[knitty kitty]

@Gloria L and @tessa25,

You poor things!  

Have you tried the Autoimmune Paleo diet? Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a Celiac herself, has written a book that is very helpful called "the Paleo Approach."  This diet has been scientifically shown to promote healing.  I like this book because it's easy to read with pictures and diagrams and lists. 

https://www.thepaleomom.com/books/the-paleo-approach/

The Autoimmune Paleo Diet removes grains (including rice and corn), legumes (beans), and nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants).  And ALL dairy!

Nightshades are really bad for you because they contain alkaloids that promote leaky gut.  Leaky gut is where the cells in your intestines produce zonulin which causes spaces in the intestines where big molecules can leak into the blood stream and causing inflammation in places they're not supposed to be.  Here.....

"Potato glycoalkaloids adversely affect intestinal permeability and aggravate inflammatory bowel disease"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12479649/

 

Dairy can cause continuing inflammation.....

 

Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are limited as well.  Sweet potatoes, although not a nightshade, have an enzyme that destroys thiamine B1.

By limiting carbohydrates (grains, legumes, starchy vegetables), your bad intestinal bacteria will be starved out giving the beneficial bacteria a chance to repopulate.  The bacteria that feed on the carbohydrates you are eating are causing the gas and rumbly tummy.  The antibiotics in your shake may be encouraging bacteria to grow in the small intestine causing SIBO.

The AIP diet is high in meats, healthy fats, and vegetables, with some fruit.  Your body will switch from burning carbohydrates for fuel to burning fats and proteins for fuel.  

@Gloria L, 

Vitamin deficiencies are not always reflected accurately in blood tests.  See this article...

Vitamins are circulated in the blood stream to go to important major organs like the brain and the heart.  The body will steal vitamins stored in other tissues to ensure the brain stays supplied with what it needs from the blood stream.  So testing the blood is not going to reflect accurately the vitamin status in the cells of tissues.  Without enough vitamins, the cells can't produce energy and can't function properly.  For example, the amount of thiamine in the blood can be reflective of how much thiamine was consumed in the past twenty-four hours. 

The eight essential B vitamins all work together.  They are water soluble, so if you're low in one, you're probably low in others. Supplementing with a B Complex ensures there's plenty of all eight B's to go around.  Any excess is excreted in urine.  There's scientific research showing certain B vitamins can improve certain neurological conditions even if no deficiency can be proven.

"B Vitamins in the nervous system: Current knowledge of the biochemical modes of action and synergies of thiamine, pyridoxine, and cobalamin"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930825/

 

However, Fat soluble vitamins are a little different.  Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble vitamins.  They are stored in fat and the liver.   When these stores start becoming depleted, it is reflected in the blood. 

 

@Gloria L,

Please look at your test results and compare them to the ingredients list of your shake....

https://www.metagenics.com/gi-sustain

 

Your Vitamin A is low because your shake is giving you beta carotene.  Vitamin A from meat, liver, and fish is more easily transformed into a usable form than beta carotene.  Vitamin A is very important to intestinal health and in making red blood cells (which also needs riboflavin B2).

Vitamin D is important in regulating inflammation.  And at higher levels (80 nmols), Vitamin D works like a hormone.  My hot flashes went away when I got my Vitamin D level about 80 nmols.  Holding off on the birth control pills to see if Vitamin D resolves the hot flashes first would be wise.  Liver is a great source of Vitamins A and D.

Your zinc is high because your shake has more zinc in it than copper.  There's also more zinc in your multivitamin, but no copper.  There needs to be a balance between zinc and copper.  Are you including any other foods high in copper?  Like liver?  

Your B 5 is elevated.  B 5 is pantothetic acid.  You're getting 2000% in just one shake!   In Latin, pan or panto means "it's everywhere."   It's one B vitamin that is found in lots of foods, so rarely need to supplement, especially this much.  It's probably being used here as a filler.  

There's very little iron.  I understand you take an iron supplement.  However there is ten times the amount of chromium picolinate as iron in that shake.  And there is more chromium in your multivitamin.  Iron and chromium compete with each other for absorption and chemical processes in the body.  You may not be absorbing enough iron even with the supplement.  Liver is a great source of iron.

The symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle wasting, gas, bloating, peripheral neuropathy, etc. are all symptoms of low thiamine B1.  When thiamine gets low, thiamine transporters on cell surfaces quit working and shut down.  To get them working again high doses of thiamine need to be taken.  You need to take a minimum of 300 mg of thiamine HCl a day.  Thiamine is water soluble, non-toxic, no upper limit, safe and effective to take.  I take high doses of thiamine.  

You may want to discuss these points with your doctor and dietician or nutritionist.  

Hope this lights your way!

 

 

Edited March 8, 2021 by knitty kitty
Typo correction

[Scott Adams]

  Quote

my doctor wants me to get IV iron therapy but they are expensive

Expand Quote  

You may want to take your doctor's advice, or at least consult with them regarding your alternative approach, as your levels are quite low.

[knitty kitty]

I really think that if the chromium (in the multivitamin and shake) is stopped, then the iron will come up with continued iron supplementation.  

Discuss with your physician or nutritionist.

[Gloria L]

  On 3/8/2021 at 6:16 PM, Scott Adams said:

You may want to take your doctor's advice, or at least consult with them regarding your alternative approach, as your levels are quite low.

Expand Quote  

Hi Scott, I will, thank you. I read somewhere here (can't find it now) that you also had neuropathy, did it resolve? What did you take?

 

[Gloria L]

  On 3/8/2021 at 3:23 PM, knitty kitty said:

@Gloria L and @tessa25,

You poor things!  

Have you tried the Autoimmune Paleo diet? Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a Celiac herself, has written a book that is very helpful called "the Paleo Approach."  This diet has been scientifically shown to promote healing.  I like this book because it's easy to read with pictures and diagrams and lists. 

https://www.thepaleomom.com/books/the-paleo-approach/

The Autoimmune Paleo Diet removes grains (including rice and corn), legumes (beans), and nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants).  And ALL dairy!

Nightshades are really bad for you because they contain alkaloids that promote leaky gut.  Leaky gut is where the cells in your intestines produce zonulin which causes spaces in the intestines where big molecules can leak into the blood stream and causing inflammation in places they're not supposed to be.  Here.....

"Potato glycoalkaloids adversely affect intestinal permeability and aggravate inflammatory bowel disease"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12479649/

 

Dairy can cause continuing inflammation.....

 

Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are limited as well.  Sweet potatoes, although not a nightshade, have an enzyme that destroys thiamine B1.

By limiting carbohydrates (grains, legumes, starchy vegetables), your bad intestinal bacteria will be starved out giving the beneficial bacteria a chance to repopulate.  The bacteria that feed on the carbohydrates you are eating are causing the gas and rumbly tummy.  The antibiotics in your shake may be encouraging bacteria to grow in the small intestine causing SIBO.

The AIP diet is high in meats, healthy fats, and vegetables, with some fruit.  Your body will switch from burning carbohydrates for fuel to burning fats and proteins for fuel.  

@Gloria L, 

Vitamin deficiencies are not always reflected accurately in blood tests.  See this article...

Vitamins are circulated in the blood stream to go to important major organs like the brain and the heart.  The body will steal vitamins stored in other tissues to ensure the brain stays supplied with what it needs from the blood stream.  So testing the blood is not going to reflect accurately the vitamin status in the cells of tissues.  Without enough vitamins, the cells can't produce energy and can't function properly.  For example, the amount of thiamine in the blood can be reflective of how much thiamine was consumed in the past twenty-four hours. 

The eight essential B vitamins all work together.  They are water soluble, so if you're low in one, you're probably low in others. Supplementing with a B Complex ensures there's plenty of all eight B's to go around.  Any excess is excreted in urine.  There's scientific research showing certain B vitamins can improve certain neurological conditions even if no deficiency can be proven.

"B Vitamins in the nervous system: Current knowledge of the biochemical modes of action and synergies of thiamine, pyridoxine, and cobalamin"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930825/

 

However, Fat soluble vitamins are a little different.  Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble vitamins.  They are stored in fat and the liver.   When these stores start becoming depleted, it is reflected in the blood. 

 

@Gloria L,

Please look at your test results and compare them to the ingredients list of your shake....

https://www.metagenics.com/gi-sustain

 

Your Vitamin A is low because your shake is giving you beta carotene.  Vitamin A from meat, liver, and fish is more easily transformed into a usable form than beta carotene.  Vitamin A is very important to intestinal health and in making red blood cells (which also needs riboflavin B2).

Vitamin D is important in regulating inflammation.  And at higher levels (80 nmols), Vitamin D works like a hormone.  My hot flashes went away when I got my Vitamin D level about 80 nmols.  Holding off on the birth control pills to see if Vitamin D resolves the hot flashes first would be wise.  Liver is a great source of Vitamins A and D.

Your zinc is high because your shake has more zinc in it than copper.  There's also more zinc in your multivitamin, but no copper.  There needs to be a balance between zinc and copper.  Are you including any other foods high in copper?  Like liver?  

Your B 5 is elevated.  B 5 is pantothetic acid.  You're getting 2000% in just one shake!   In Latin, pan or panto means "it's everywhere."   It's one B vitamin that is found in lots of foods, so rarely need to supplement, especially this much.  It's probably being used here as a filler.  

There's very little iron.  I understand you take an iron supplement.  However there is ten times the amount of chromium picolinate as iron in that shake.  And there is more chromium in your multivitamin.  Iron and chromium compete with each other for absorption and chemical processes in the body.  You may not be absorbing enough iron even with the supplement.  Liver is a great source of iron.

The symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle wasting, gas, bloating, peripheral neuropathy, etc. are all symptoms of low thiamine B1.  When thiamine gets low, thiamine transporters on cell surfaces quit working and shut down.  To get them working again high doses of thiamine need to be taken.  You need to take a minimum of 300 mg of thiamine HCl a day.  Thiamine is water soluble, non-toxic, no upper limit, safe and effective to take.  I take high doses of thiamine.  

You may want to discuss these points with your doctor and dietician or nutritionist.  

Hope this lights your way!

 

 

Expand Quote  

@knitty kitty

 

  On 3/8/2021 at 3:23 PM, knitty kitty said:

@Gloria L and @tessa25,

You poor things!  

Have you tried the Autoimmune Paleo diet? Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, a Celiac herself, has written a book that is very helpful called "the Paleo Approach."  This diet has been scientifically shown to promote healing.  I like this book because it's easy to read with pictures and diagrams and lists. 

https://www.thepaleomom.com/books/the-paleo-approach/

The Autoimmune Paleo Diet removes grains (including rice and corn), legumes (beans), and nightshades (potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants).  And ALL dairy!

Nightshades are really bad for you because they contain alkaloids that promote leaky gut.  Leaky gut is where the cells in your intestines produce zonulin which causes spaces in the intestines where big molecules can leak into the blood stream and causing inflammation in places they're not supposed to be.  Here.....

"Potato glycoalkaloids adversely affect intestinal permeability and aggravate inflammatory bowel disease"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12479649/

 

Dairy can cause continuing inflammation.....

 

Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are limited as well.  Sweet potatoes, although not a nightshade, have an enzyme that destroys thiamine B1.

By limiting carbohydrates (grains, legumes, starchy vegetables), your bad intestinal bacteria will be starved out giving the beneficial bacteria a chance to repopulate.  The bacteria that feed on the carbohydrates you are eating are causing the gas and rumbly tummy.  The antibiotics in your shake may be encouraging bacteria to grow in the small intestine causing SIBO.

The AIP diet is high in meats, healthy fats, and vegetables, with some fruit.  Your body will switch from burning carbohydrates for fuel to burning fats and proteins for fuel.  

@Gloria L, 

Vitamin deficiencies are not always reflected accurately in blood tests.  See this article...

Vitamins are circulated in the blood stream to go to important major organs like the brain and the heart.  The body will steal vitamins stored in other tissues to ensure the brain stays supplied with what it needs from the blood stream.  So testing the blood is not going to reflect accurately the vitamin status in the cells of tissues.  Without enough vitamins, the cells can't produce energy and can't function properly.  For example, the amount of thiamine in the blood can be reflective of how much thiamine was consumed in the past twenty-four hours. 

The eight essential B vitamins all work together.  They are water soluble, so if you're low in one, you're probably low in others. Supplementing with a B Complex ensures there's plenty of all eight B's to go around.  Any excess is excreted in urine.  There's scientific research showing certain B vitamins can improve certain neurological conditions even if no deficiency can be proven.

"B Vitamins in the nervous system: Current knowledge of the biochemical modes of action and synergies of thiamine, pyridoxine, and cobalamin"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930825/

 

However, Fat soluble vitamins are a little different.  Vitamins A, D, E and K are fat soluble vitamins.  They are stored in fat and the liver.   When these stores start becoming depleted, it is reflected in the blood. 

 

@Gloria L,

Please look at your test results and compare them to the ingredients list of your shake....

https://www.metagenics.com/gi-sustain

 

Your Vitamin A is low because your shake is giving you beta carotene.  Vitamin A from meat, liver, and fish is more easily transformed into a usable form than beta carotene.  Vitamin A is very important to intestinal health and in making red blood cells (which also needs riboflavin B2).

Vitamin D is important in regulating inflammation.  And at higher levels (80 nmols), Vitamin D works like a hormone.  My hot flashes went away when I got my Vitamin D level about 80 nmols.  Holding off on the birth control pills to see if Vitamin D resolves the hot flashes first would be wise.  Liver is a great source of Vitamins A and D.

Your zinc is high because your shake has more zinc in it than copper.  There's also more zinc in your multivitamin, but no copper.  There needs to be a balance between zinc and copper.  Are you including any other foods high in copper?  Like liver?  

Your B 5 is elevated.  B 5 is pantothetic acid.  You're getting 2000% in just one shake!   In Latin, pan or panto means "it's everywhere."   It's one B vitamin that is found in lots of foods, so rarely need to supplement, especially this much.  It's probably being used here as a filler.  

There's very little iron.  I understand you take an iron supplement.  However there is ten times the amount of chromium picolinate as iron in that shake.  And there is more chromium in your multivitamin.  Iron and chromium compete with each other for absorption and chemical processes in the body.  You may not be absorbing enough iron even with the supplement.  Liver is a great source of iron.

The symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite, muscle wasting, gas, bloating, peripheral neuropathy, etc. are all symptoms of low thiamine B1.  When thiamine gets low, thiamine transporters on cell surfaces quit working and shut down.  To get them working again high doses of thiamine need to be taken.  You need to take a minimum of 300 mg of thiamine HCl a day.  Thiamine is water soluble, non-toxic, no upper limit, safe and effective to take.  I take high doses of thiamine.  

You may want to discuss these points with your doctor and dietician or nutritionist.  

Hope this lights your way!

 

 

Expand Quote  

@knitty kitty Wao thank you very much for all the information, I had the feeling that micronutrients tests could not be accurate. For the vitamin D, I'm taking 3 drops a day (500 IU/drop) I'm gonna have to take more than that, How many drops a day do you recommend?,  I also think that perhaps now that you mentioned the zinc is high because I was taking for 3 months prior this test GI resolve by Biotics Research (zinc carnosine with L-glutamine)? I'm definitely gonna cut down high FODMAP food, to be honest, I've been eating only chicken for the past year since I got sick, I love liver, just didn't occurred to me to eat it now, in my mind I thought it was hard for my stomach to digest because ever since I got sick, indigestion is one of my main symptoms but I will give it a try and see how it goes, can you please recommend a good B vitamin complex? Thank you again for this very helpful information.

[Scott Adams]

  On 3/10/2021 at 8:36 PM, Gloria L said:

Hi Scott, I will, thank you. I read somewhere here (can't find it now) that you also had neuropathy, did it resolve? What did you take?

 

Expand Quote  

I take a B-complex, D3, and Citrical, and recently added Magnesium Citrate and benfotaimine (B1) which seemed to help.

[Gloria L]

  On 3/10/2021 at 11:36 PM, Scott Adams said:

I take a B-complex, D3, and Citrical, and recently added Magnesium Citrate and benfotaimine (B1) which seemed to help.

Expand Quote  

@Scott Adams What B-complex are you taking? I need to take it too, thank you.

[knitty kitty]

@Gloria L,

Look for a B Complex with the "activated" forms of the B vitamins, like this one....

https://www.elitelifenutrition.com/products/super-active-b-complex-pure-b-50-complex-vitamins

And....

5 Benefits of Vitamin B100 Complex

https://www.livestrong.com/article/401283-benefits-of-vitamin-b100-complex/

 

If you get a B 50 Complex, you can take it twice a day for better absorption.  The B vitamins are water soluble so any used vitamins are excreted in the urine.  Riboflavin will turn your urine iridescent green when your body is using it properly, don't be alarmed.  As you start supplementing, you might feel sludge-y as your body begins functioning better, but bear with it and you'll see improvements.  

😺

Edited March 11, 2021 by knitty kitty
Add link

[Scott Adams]

  On 3/11/2021 at 1:38 AM, Gloria L said:

@Scott Adams What B-complex are you taking? I need to take it too, thank you.

Expand Quote  

I'm using Nature Made Super B Complex from Costco.

[charks]

Poor you. You are having such a wretched time. I went through something similar. I too had terrible stomach problems and took masses of antacids. I didn't realise that they would stop me absorbing B12 and I became very deficient. Read about B12 deficiences here https://ada.com/conditions/vitamin-b12-deficiency/#faqs

Symptoms include intestinal complaints, nausea, loss of appetite and weight loss as well as neuropathy

It can only be sorted out by taking very large amounts of B12. Either by injections or orally. When taken orally the body passively absorbs only 1%. So you have to take quite a large amount. I take 4mg of b12 drops daily. Vitamin b12 is totally safe. You can't overdose.  https://stichtingb12tekort.nl/english/treatment-with-high-dose-vitamin-b12-been-shown-to-be-safe-for-more-than-50-years/

I think you should try taking B12 for a month. The drops are very cheap. You sound desperate. What have you got to lose.

 

[Gloria L]

  On 3/12/2021 at 12:34 PM, charks said:

Poor you. You are having such a wretched time. I went through something similar. I too had terrible stomach problems and took masses of antacids. I didn't realise that they would stop me absorbing B12 and I became very deficient. Read about B12 deficiences here https://ada.com/conditions/vitamin-b12-deficiency/#faqs

Symptoms include intestinal complaints, nausea, loss of appetite and weight loss as well as neuropathy

It can only be sorted out by taking very large amounts of B12. Either by injections or orally. When taken orally the body passively absorbs only 1%. So you have to take quite a large amount. I take 4mg of b12 drops daily. Vitamin b12 is totally safe. You can't overdose.  https://stichtingb12tekort.nl/english/treatment-with-high-dose-vitamin-b12-been-shown-to-be-safe-for-more-than-50-years/

I think you should try taking B12 for a month. The drops are very cheap. You sound desperate. What have you got to lose.

 

Expand Quote  

Thank you very much for the info. 

[Posterboy]

Gloria L,

I came across this research recently that might help you.

It is about your Low Iron levels....If you have been loading up on green tea especially lately it might be triggering low Iron levels.

Here it is entitled "Iron deficiency anemia due to excessive green tea drinking"

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ccr3.707

This might also true in many other Polyphenol heavy drinks..as well.....but it was only recently studied in Greens teas...

Turmeric might also lower your Iron levels...

I was studying this topic because I have Hemachromatosis (too high iron) and was trying to see what I might do to low my Iron levels.

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.

Posterboy,

[Posterboy]

  On 3/6/2021 at 7:55 PM, Gloria L said:

I feel very weak, I'm skin and bones, my doctor wants me to get IV iron therapy but they are expensive. I'm 49 and because I'm having these horrible all day hot flashes and sweat,

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Gloria L,

Your night sweats can be from your Low Iron levels.

Either too high Iron or too low Iron can trigger the same symptom's.....the body only has so many levers it can through at one time.

Here is a nice article about it.

https://www.medicinenet.com/excessive_sweating_and_pale_skin/multisymptoms.htm

I hope this is helpful but it is not medical advice.

Posterboy,