Vitamins

[roxie]

Hey! I have been reading a lot about Celiac Disease and vitamin B12. Do we need to take this if we are already eating healthy and taking a multi-vitamin everyday? What about calcium? Or, is this just for people who are still having specific problems? I have chronic back pain and thought it might go away after going gluten free. It has not so far. My back is now really having trouble keeping up with my new energy level from eliminating the gluten. I am SO HAPPY to have energy again, but my back is still preventing me from being as active as I want to be. I have done all kinds of treatments, and I am now doing physical therapy. I have read so much information that suggests that people with celiac may also have other auto-immune diseases that cause a lot of pain. I had blood tests done for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis (which runs in my family). The test for lupus came up positive, and she ran the test again, and it came back negative, so she said I did not have it. How can it come up positive one time and negative the next?? I am trying to avoid pain medicine, because I was on that for quite awhile (and then became addicted). Not fun getting off of that. Advil barely takes the edge off. Anyway, I want to be as healthy as possible right now, and am just wondering what kind of extra vitamins I should be taking. Thanks!! Roxie

[RiceGuy]

If you search the board for methylcobalamin, you'll get plenty of threads on B12, deficiency symptoms, and so forth. In short, I'd highly recommend it. Research suggests methylcobalamin is the best form of B12 to take, and it most certainly does have tremendous importance for nerve health. Searching Google will turn up places where you can get it. Another important nutrient which I'd recommend is magnesium. This turned out to be even more beneficial to me for addressing the muscle and nerve pain than was the B12, though both together have been practically miraculous.

As for lupus and such, many people are being misdiagnosed with all sorts of things, when all along Celiac is the real issue. So I personally find it difficult to take such diagnosis seriously. After all, something has to cause these things, just like something causes cancer, diabetes, etc. It's just that modern medicine has yet to figure it out. I've seen many posts from members who had been diagnosed with severe fibromyalgia, only to discover later that they're gluten intolerant. Once gluten-free, the fibro simply goes away. As you might readily detect, I'm not a fan of western medical practices, so I'd suggest each person make up their own mind.

I've only found one multi-vitamin so far that has methylcobalamin. Most seem to have cyanocobalamin, which is actually made by combining cyanide with B12 in order to make it an active form. Apparently, they say the liver can deal with the cyanide without much of a problem, but as for me, I think I have enough problems without adding to it.

[Guest hightop girl]

Hi Roxie,

I have to give myself B12 injections because I was so anemic and have some autoimmune thing with my stomach.

[roxie]

Do I have to do injections, or could I just simply take it in pill form? I also saw an add for B12 patches that would only have to be applied once a week.

[ravenwoodglass]

I would get sublingual B12 tablets. They bypass the gut the same as the injections. They are absorbed through the membranes in your cheek and gum. Most of us need B12 supplementation because the same area that is damaged in our guts is needed to produce something called intrinsic factor. Without that our gut can't use B12 from food or supplements. B12 can help brain and nerve function and repair a great deal as well as helping with energy.

[MaryJones2]

I think all of the B Vitamins are very important and it never hurts to have a little extra. I also give myself B 12, complex and folic acid injections and can tell when I skip one.

Odwalla makes a great fruit smoothie product called Blueberry-B Monster that is very high is B Vitamins. It's a staple in our house - expensive at $8 for about 1/2 gallon but we don't eat meat so we are lacking in the B dept. I mix 1 cup of Blueberry B with 1 cup of Living Harvest Hemp Milk in the AM.

[darlindeb25]

Be very careful with B6, you can take too much B6 and it will do more harm than good. It can cause more pain. Read up on it before adding it to your diet.

B12 is very important to most celiac's. I read, not to long ago. our biggest source of B12 comes from grains, mostly from wheat. So, yeah, I'm pretty sure we all need B12. Methycobalamin is the best source of B12, cynacobalamin is much harder for us to absorb and we lose too much of it in the process. I get my B12 from www.Lame Advertisement.com. I get Biochem by Country Life, I take 3000mcg daily now, I started out 3 yrs ago taking 1000 mcg. I have peripheral neuropathy and I do feel the B12 has slowed the progression. The Biochem B12 I take has 400 mcg of Folic Acid and 50mg of Vit C with it.

As for B Complex vitamins--taking too much of them is a waste. Our bodies only need the recommended daily doses and the rest is eliminated. My sister is celiac and a dietician and she told me that B Complex vitamins just leave our body daily, so don't waste my money on them.

[RiceGuy]

I read, not to long ago. our biggest source of B12 comes from grains, mostly from wheat.

I don't know where you read that, but it's not correct. There are no plants which produce B12. In fact, no animals produce B12 either. Animals only have it because their foods have microbes, fungi, etc on them. It turns out that only certain microbes have ever been found to produce B12. Now if your grain happened to be contaminated with fungi or something, then it might have some B12. I think this was perhaps true before modern man decided to use pesticides on crops, killing off what is obviously important to us. Ironic, isn't it?

[Cynbd]

My B12 was on the low side (in the low 200s) and I waited a year to see how my body would handle the changes after going gluten free. After a year, my B12 was even lower (below 200). My doctor told me to start taking GNCs sublingual B12. She said she had patients on injections with little improvement and after going on GNCs sublingual 1000 mcg their numbers finally improved.

I don't feel like I have had any symptoms from being B12 deficient, but I guess if I start to feel better, then hindsight might get me

[roxie]

I just recently started taking B12 (tablet form), and magnesium for my muscle pain. I'm feeling pretty good after only about a week. I can't remember for sure who suggested the magnesium, but THANKS!!!

[mommida]

Pernicious anemia is an auto-immune disease with conections to Celiac.

The gut lacks the intinsic factor, leads to iron defiency, and the lack of B12.

Recent studies have shown sublingual B12 supplements are as effective as B12 injections/shots.