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The Importance Of Vitamins

JustNana

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JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted

I'm sure the topic of vitamin and mineral supplements is covered somewhere but I am just learning how to navigate the threads. Please share or point me to other sections.

I was DX's 7 weeks ago and shortly after learned I had Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. Lads also show some serious vitamin deficiencies. Especially B12, B6, D, folks acid and zinc. My Dr says my symptoms could all be from or worsened by the malabsorption or the low thyroid. I would love to hear from you who are battling or have overcome these issues. Also I started a RX of Flagyl today and know I need Probiotics. I am most concerned about my B12 after reading about it and have had a couple of shots and am taking 2500 sublingual daily. Some say it takes quite a while to reverse the effects of deficiencies.

Thanking you in advance for taking time to share.

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JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted
  • Author

Ugh

Sorry for all the typos guys. I am posting on an iPhone with a dubious autocorrect feature and my fingers are clumsy.

And I'm OLD! LOL

Bubba's Mom Enthusiast
Bubba's Mom
Posted

I'm sure the topic of vitamin and mineral supplements is covered somewhere but I am just learning how to navigate the threads. Please share or point me to other sections.

I was DX's 7 weeks ago and shortly after learned I had Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. Lads also show some serious vitamin deficiencies. Especially B12, B6, D, folks acid and zinc. My Dr says my symptoms could all be from or worsened by the malabsorption or the low thyroid. I would love to hear from you who are battling or have overcome these issues. Also I started a RX of Flagyl today and know I need Probiotics. I am most concerned about my B12 after reading about it and have had a couple of shots and am taking 2500 sublingual daily. Some say it takes quite a while to reverse the effects of deficiencies.

Thanking you in advance for taking time to share.

It sounds like you have villi damage with those deficiencies? It will take a while to heal to the point that you can absorb these vitamins/minerals from your diet alone.

Supplements are a good idea. Be sure to read the ingredients to avoid gluten. A good multivitamin, probiotics, D3, fish oil, and a B complex. A calcium with magnesium and zinc would be good too?

Honestly, the supplements I take are keeping me functional. I just don't absorb what I need from my foods, and even with them, my numbers are low in some of them.

lesliev523 Rookie
lesliev523
Posted

I recently found out I was vitamin deficient, and I am currently waiting for my celiac panel to come back. I have had stomach issues for years, but over the last year I was extremely fatigued, joint pain, chronic colds and sinus infections, fevers, and I was emotionally all over the place.

I have been on supplements for about three weeks and am marginally improving. I actually hoping for a positive celiac test because I am anxious to go gluten free. I really think that will help with a lot of my other issues. I tried gluten free a few months ago, loved the way I felt... but then life got in the way and I started to cheat. I kept telling myself that I really didn't HAVE to be gluten free. But the more gluten I ate the worse I have felt.

Anyway... that is my experience so far with vitamin deficiency. :)

pricklypear1971 Community Regular
pricklypear1971
Posted

I'm sure the topic of vitamin and mineral supplements is covered somewhere but I am just learning how to navigate the threads. Please share or point me to other sections.

I was DX's 7 weeks ago and shortly after learned I had Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. Lads also show some serious vitamin deficiencies. Especially B12, B6, D, folks acid and zinc. My Dr says my symptoms could all be from or worsened by the malabsorption or the low thyroid. I would love to hear from you who are battling or have overcome these issues. Also I started a RX of Flagyl today and know I need Probiotics. I am most concerned about my B12 after reading about it and have had a couple of shots and am taking 2500 sublingual daily. Some say it takes quite a while to reverse the effects of deficiencies.

Thanking you in advance for taking time to share.

Yes, it can take a long while to correct the deficiencies.

I'm 9 months gluten-free and last labs showed they are going up but not where they need to be. It takes time.

JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted
  • Author

Thanks all for your input. My Dr has me on a potent B Complex, additional B12 sublingual, D3, Calcium, Magnesium, zinc, folic acid and C. He says I am low in just what he would suspect in someone whose had malabsoption for a long time.

I am grateful he is as knowledgeable as he is. He is a GP working til 9:00 or 10:00 six days a week, much of it pro bono.

Bubba's Mom Enthusiast
Bubba's Mom
Posted

Thanks all for your input. My Dr has me on a potent B Complex, additional B12 sublingual, D3, Calcium, Magnesium, zinc, folic acid and C. He says I am low in just what he would suspect in someone whose had malabsoption for a long time.

I am grateful he is as knowledgeable as he is. He is a GP working til 9:00 or 10:00 six days a week, much of it pro bono.

I know it seems like you're already taking a lot of supplements, but I also highly recommend a good fish oil or krill oil. They feed your brain and are such healthy fats.

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Silencio Enthusiast
Silencio
Posted

Do you guys have problems with your teeth shifting? I thought it was a problem with low vitamins but I had my vitamin levels checked and I havent heard back from the doc.

JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted
  • Author

Bubba's Mom

It's funny you suggested the fish oil. I have been craving sardines for a while now. My favorite Tiny Tots brand is a little pricey so I will certainly look into the fish oil supplement. I will still splurge on the sardines once a week! Luckily my husband loves them too so the temporary cat food breath isn't so offensive. :-)

Thanks for your suggestion. And for many other great posts of yours I have read.

Metoo Enthusiast
Metoo
Posted

I am struggling with a Vitamin D deficiency. This is going on year 2 of my struggle with it. I was first at only a level of 14, my doctor had me taking 10kIUs a day, I got back up to 55, and then 5,000IUs as my maintenance dose, but my level started dropping and by this winter I was back down to 23. They don't seem as concerned this time, but I am aware now that my fatique is a direct correlation to my vitamin D levels. I am taking 4,000IUs now a day and feeling much better.

i have never been specifically checked for B12, but I have started to wonder if it is low and started supplmenting. I also had my thyroid tested but everything checked out.

birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted

I take B12 sublingual, D3, and Magnesium. For those taking cal-mag, my doc strongly advised me to not take them together. There's conflicting info on the web but the conventional wisdom says that the calcium blocks the magnesium absorption. I started with a cal-mag supplement and was still having issues. Once I switched to mag only I saw improvement.

JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted
  • Author

Metoo,

Wow! Your levels have been worse than mine. Mine was 19 six weeks ago. I am taking 5,000 units a day. It's good to know that the symptoms are so strongly correlated to the D levels. Keep me posted. I'd love to hear how you are doing. I am getting B12 shots once a month and taking 2500 sublingual a day. The symptoms of low B12 are many and varied. Chronic deficiency can lead to mental issues, nerve damage, fatigue and weakness, pernicious anemia, etc. One good thing is B12 supplements are not expensive, the sublinguals taste good and you can start taking them without a diagnosis as they are a water soluable non toxic vitamin. I say go for it!

JustNana Apprentice
JustNana
Posted
  • Author

Birdie

Hmmm. I am taking a typical Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc supplement. Your post made me do some research. Thanks so much. :-) I am probably going to start taking them at different times and also taking more magnesium just before bed. May I ask what specific symptoms you were able to treat?

Luddie Newbie
Luddie
Posted

I know it seems like you're already taking a lot of supplements, but I also highly recommend a good fish oil or krill oil. They feed your brain and are such healthy fats.

If you get fish oil, make sure you get the triple strength otherwise you are really getting more omega 6s than you want to. We get enough of that in our regular diets, and we're usually short on the omega 3s. Triple strength is a better balance. Also, flax seed oil used to be considered a good source of omega 3s, but my doctor says current evidence has shown that humans do not metabolize it the same way as the lab rats studied do. So, he recommends either fish oil or algae oil, if your a vegetarian.

Luddie

birdie22 Enthusiast
birdie22
Posted

Birdie

Hmmm. I am taking a typical Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc supplement. Your post made me do some research. Thanks so much. :-) I am probably going to start taking them at different times and also taking more magnesium just before bed. May I ask what specific symptoms you were able to treat?

My doc suggested 400-500mg of chelated magnesium to help with headaches and an ache in my thighs. While not completely resolved, I did see improvement (less frequent episodes) once I ditched the cal-mag and went straight mag. I take 500mg.

aliceintown Newbie
aliceintown
Posted

Aren't vitamin B12, iron and zinc the main deficiencies? Magnesium deficiency is probably an important one to consider too, isn't it?

Glutinator Girl Rookie
Glutinator Girl
Posted

Here is a fabulous site about thyroid managemnet

Open Original Shared Link

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    • SamAlvi
      High TTG-IgG and Normal TTG-IgA

      By SamAlvi · Posted

      Thanks again for the detailed explanation. Just to clarify, I actually did have my initial tests done while I was still consuming gluten. I stopped eating gluten only after those tests were completed, and it has now been about 70 days since I went gluten-free. I understand the limitations around diagnosing NCGS and the importance of antibody testing and biopsy for celiac disease. Unfortunately, where I live, access to comprehensive testing (including total IgA and endoscopy with biopsy) is limited, which makes things more complicated. Your explanation about small-bowel damage, nutrient absorption, and iron-deficiency anemia still aligns closely with my history, and it’s been very helpful in understanding what may be going on. I don't wanna get Endoscopy and I can't start eating Gluten again because it's hurt really with severe diarrhea.  I appreciate you taking the time to share such detailed and informative guidance. Thank you so much for this detailed and thoughtful response. I really appreciate you pointing out the relationship between anemia and antibody patterns, and how the high DGP IgG still supports celiac disease in my case. A gluten challenge isn’t something I feel safe attempting due to how severe my reactions were, so your suggestion about genetic testing makes a lot of sense. I’ll look into whether HLA testing is available where I live and discuss it with my doctor. I also appreciate you mentioning gastrointestinal beriberi and thiamine deficiency. This isn’t something any of my doctors have discussed with me, and given my symptoms and nutritional history, it’s definitely worth raising with them. I’ll also ask about correcting deficiencies more comprehensively, including B vitamins alongside iron. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge and taking the time to help. I’ll update the forum as I make progress.
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Blood tests for thiamine are unreliable.  The nutrients from your food get absorbed into the bloodstream and travel around the body.  So, a steak dinner can falsely raise thiamine blood levels in the following days.  Besides, thiamine is utilized inside cells where stores of thiamine are impossible to measure. A better test to ask for is the Erythrocyte Transketolace Activity test.  But even that test has been questioned as to accuracy.  It is expensive and takes time to do.   Because of the discrepancies with thiamine tests and urgency with correcting thiamine deficiency, the World Health Organization recommends giving thiamine for several weeks and looking for health improvement.  Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.   Many doctors are not given sufficient education in nutrition and deficiency symptoms, and may not be familiar with how often they occur in Celiac disease.  B12 and Vitamin D can be stored for as long as a year in the liver, so not having deficiencies in these two vitamins is not a good indicator of the status of the other seven water soluble B vitamins.  It is possible to have deficiency symptoms BEFORE there's changes in the blood levels.   Ask your doctor about Benfotiamine, a form of thiamine that is better absorbed than Thiamine Mononitrate.  Thiamine Mononitrate is used in many vitamins because it is shelf-stable, a form of thiamine that won't break down sitting around on a store shelf.  This form is difficult for the body to turn into a usable form.  Only thirty percent is absorbed in the intestine, and less is actually used.   Thiamine interacts with all of the other B vitamins, so they should all be supplemented together.  Magnesium is needed to make life sustaining enzymes with thiamine, so a magnesium supplement should be added if magnesium levels are low.   Thiamine is water soluble, safe and nontoxic even in high doses.  There's no harm in trying.
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Neither of them were anemic 6 months after the Celiac diagnosis. His other vitamin levels (d, B12) were never low. My daughters levels were normal after the first 6 months. Is the thiamine test just called thiamine? 
    • knitty kitty
      Son's legs shaking

      By knitty kitty · Posted

      Yes, I do think they need a Thiamine supplement at least. Especially since they eat red meat only occasionally. Most fruits and vegetables are not good sources of Thiamine.  Legumes (beans) do contain thiamine.  Fruits and veggies do have some of the other B vitamins, but thiamine B 1 and  Cobalamine B12 are mostly found in meats.  Meat, especially organ meats like liver, are the best sources of Thiamine, B12, and the six other B vitamins and important minerals like iron.   Thiamine has antibacterial and antiviral properties.  Thiamine is important to our immune systems.  We need more thiamine when we're physically ill or injured, when we're under stress emotionally, and when we exercise, especially outside in hot weather.  We need thiamine and other B vitamins like Niacin B 3 to keep our gastrointestinal tract healthy.  We can't store thiamine for very long.  We can get low in thiamine within three days.  Symptoms can appear suddenly when a high carbohydrate diet is consumed.  (Rice and beans are high in carbohydrates.)  A twenty percent increase in dietary thiamine causes an eighty percent increase in brain function, so symptoms can wax and wane depending on what one eats.  The earliest symptoms like fatigue and anxiety are easily contributed to other things or life events and dismissed.   Correcting nutritional deficiencies needs to be done quickly, especially in children, so their growth isn't stunted.  Nutritional deficiencies can affect intelligence.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause short stature and poor bone formation.   Is your son taking anything for the anemia?  Is the anemia caused by B12 or iron deficiency?  
    • lizzie42
      Son's legs shaking

      By lizzie42 · Posted

      Thank you! That's helpful. My kids eat very little processed food. Tons of fruit, vegetables, cheese, eggs and occasional red meat. We do a lot of rice and bean bowls, stir fry, etc.  Do you think with all the fruits and vegetables they need a vitamin supplement? I feel like their diet is pretty healthy and balanced with very limited processed food. The only processed food they eat regularly is a bowl of Cheerios here and there.  Could shaking legs be a symptom of just a one-time gluten exposure? I guess there's no way to know for sure if they're getting absolutely zero exposure because they do go to school a couple times a week. We do homeschool but my son does a shared school 2x a week and my daughter does a morning Pre-K 3 x a week.  At home our entire house is strictly gluten free and it is extremely rare for us to eat out. If we eat at someone else's house I usually just bring their food. When we have play dates we bring all the snacks, etc. I try to be really careful since they're still growing. They also, of course, catch kids viruses all the time so I  want to make sure I know whether they're just sick or they've had gluten. It can be pretty confusing when they're pretty young to even be explaining their symptoms! 
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