Tired All The Time

[SandyC]

Hi,

I'm fairly new to this forum. Need some suggestions. I have been gluten free for several months. Well mostly, except for the accidental glutening from an unsuspected medication. My concern is tiredness. I can get 8-10 hours of sleep and I still am tired. I am on Effexor for depression, which helped a lot! I also take a multi vitamin, eat a healthy diet. Most of my symptoms of celiacs have subsided. I just have this incredible fatigue. I have absolutely no energy. I feel like I need a nap, all the time!

My other question is this. My multivitamin , Nature Made Multi for Her has 250 mg of Calcium and over 1000 IU of Vitamin D. If I suppliment with Nature Made Advanced Calcium I get even more Vitamin D. It seems to me that Vitamin D is one of the vitamins that stores up and you can become toxic if you get too much. Most vitamins if you get too much are excreted but not Vitamin A, D, E, and K. They store in the fat cells. I'm afraid that in order to get all my needed Calcium, I will get too much Vitamin D. Any suggestions? I figure that I need to get at least 750 mg of Calcium to meet the minimum requirement of 1000 mgs. If I Suppliment my Calcium I end up getting 1400 I.U's of Vitamin D in addition to my diet.

I'd welcome any suggestions.

Sandy

[Ursa Major]

Sandy, lots of things can cause fatigue. Lack of magnesium is one of them. You should never take calcium without magnesium.

Low vitamin D is another thing that could cause fatigue (besides many other problems). You are right, if your vitamin D is good, you shouldn't supplement with too much. That is why you should never take high doses of vitamin D without first checking your levels of it.

Low levels of iron, or vitamin B6 or B12 could be another problem.

It sounds to me like you need to get some bloodwork done, to determine your levels of essential nutrients. Every person diagnosed with celiac disease ought to do that. Get your levels of vitamin D, calcium and magnesium, vitamin K, ferritin (iron), vitamin B6 and B12 and your hemoglobin checked. Then you will know where you need to supplement, and how much is needed.

Lastly, you may be suffering from adrenal fatigue or hypothyroidism, or both. It would be good to be tested for those as well.

[loraleena]

I would get your thyroid checked. Read up on symptoms of hypothyroidism. Make sure you get the whole panel including thyroid peroxidase antibodies (show the autoimmune version of the disease). This is very common in celiacs.

[SandyC]

Thank you both for responding. I have had my bloodwork done. My calcium is on the low end of normal, that's why the doctor suggested supplimenting my calcium and taking a good multi vitamin. My bone density results were not good. It is real obvious that I haven't been absorbing enough Calcium. Obviously the result of the Celiacs. It just seems odd to me that my multi vitamin has over 1000 IU's of Vitamin D (250% of Daily Value) but only has 250 mg of Calcium and only 100 mg of Magnesium (which is only 25% of needed daily value). My Calcium Suppliment has 500 mg of Calcium, 250 mg of Magnesium and 200 mg of Vitamin D. In order to get 1000 mg of Calcium a day, I would end up getting 475 mg of Magnesium which is over 150% of the Daily Recommended Value, and well over 1300 mg of Vitamin D which would be over 325 % of Daily Value. That just seems like an awful lot of Magnesium and Vitamin D. My thyroid and adrenals are also fine. I tend to be a little bit anemic, which could be what is causing it. I was just curious if this was just par for the course and when my body "normalizes" I'll feel better or if there was some suppliment I was missing. I am also taking acidophilus, which has helped a lot. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thank you both again.

Sandy

[CarlaB]

Anemia, even slight anemia, will definately cause fatigue. Do all you can to get this fixed!

I take NT Factor for fatigue. You can Google it ... but the full-strength stuff can only be purchased through a doctor.

[Nancym]

Vitamin D in a dry form is virtually worthless. If you're going to supplement it be sure to get the sort that is oily and says cholecaliferol.

For the fatigue I'd start suspecting an autoimmune disease. Talk to your Dr. about it. It might be thyroid, or something else, most of them make you fatigued.

[tarnalberry]

RDA's are far from gospel (many times they were picked out of thin air - such as the one for sodium).

Magnesium should be in a 1:2 ratio with calcium - so if you're supplementing 1000mg of calcium a day, you take 500mg of magnesium along with it.

More useful is knowing the toxic levels of vitamins, and the RDA is not that - it's merely the minimum amount needed to not get sick - which by American standards, is *not* the same as the amount needed to stay healthy.

[SandyC]

Thank you all!! I've learned more in a few posts than I ever learned from the doctor and the dietician at the hospital. Sandy

[loraleena]

How are your B-12 levels. The RDA is way to low. You can not overdose on B12, so try a sublingual version.

[SandyC]

Started taking the Subling. B12. and increased my iron intake. Feeling much better. Thank you all for your suggestions

Sandy