Before you all groan thinking this has been covered , as I well know slightly different.
More just feedback from ones on Adalimumab which I started last week, do any of you take supplements while on this? In particular Biotin, Cod liver oil, and Glucosamine Chondroitin?
I will enquire via RA advice line once holidays are out of the way. I did ask the training nurse for my Adalimumab but she didn't know or wish to direct me to take them.
Hope you're all as well as can be?🙂
Here I go again! …Please don’t take any supplements when you are on prescription drugs…without running them past the doctor who orescribes your meds. You have a sensible rheumy nurse…most people who have a good diet won’t need supplements..& if you do…your rheumy will prescribe what you need.
I used to follow this view point but I’ve done a lot of learning and I think it’s outdated now. There is a lot of research into the benefits of supplements. It can take 20 years from initial positive studies to be proven to the point of being recommended by the nhs. For example studies in the 70s showed that folic acid was important for pregnant women but it wasn’t recommended until the 90s. They knew that a processed diet was bad in the 70s but it’s not until a couple of years ago that the nhs started recommending the Mediterranean diet publicly. Iron levels are different all over the world but most countries accept that iron deficiency is a ferritin lower than 30. In the UK the drs won’t recommend supplements until it’s under 15. There’s also research into the higher nutritional needs of people with autoimmune diseases and research into how food now isn’t as nutritious as it once was due to intensive farming so it stands to reason that a healthy diet alone might not be enough.
If you read my post again you will see I did not just say “don’t take supplements “ full stop.
What I said was don’t take them without asking the clinician who prescribes your medication that it as OK.
I’m sure a lot on here sake supplements quite safely…but on the other hand some come to grief.
So I stand by what I said…Ask before you add anything to prescribed medication.
I'm not taking the supplements, the ones I was on were passed by my RA nurse, now I've started the new meds I have stopped them till I discuss with my RA team. My questions was if others are taking them while on Adalimumab?
I do have a good diet but it's not preventing hair thinning while on MTX hence why I took Biotin. Er no they don't prescribe but do advise what I can take.
Thanks however for your feedback.
Sorry i can't help you darling. xxx
I do take supplements an own brand multivitamin with 100% RDA iron because I have borderline anaemia....and in the beginning the GP used to repeat by bloods a lot because of it although my iron is always higher on fasting bloods so mostly I get them done early now and eat breakfast after.Also a glucosamine supplement with 1500mg in it because I read in some verses arthritis support literature that whilst evidence is slight they think this is the level you need.
The most important thing I do though is to staying active, I saw a registrar yesterday and she allowed my bone density was great for someone who's been on a lot of steroids for seven years and I think it's because I walk every day dispite frequently being very sore and I swim. I try to eat healthy, lots of fruit, not sure I'm brilliant at that though.
You could also ask a pharmacist about any possible interactions between the supplements you intend to take and your medication. They can quickly and accurately consult the correct sources for you.
Interactions are the main thing to avoid, but most of us on a good mixed and 'mediterranean diet' would be wasting our money, for example, large doses of Vit C are just peed out again.
There was an article in the press yesterday (always to be read with doubt however) about the increase in the number of people attending A&E who had stopped their prescribed medication, (like thyroxine!) and were taking things like magnesium supplements instead for their 'tiredness'.
Supplements are big business and poorly controlled.
I am due to start this med too so I asked about Vitamin D and fish oil which I had been taking.
I have learned it is best to ask these questions when you are talking to them anayway about something else, I agree that it is impoirtant to check but nobody replies on the helpline for such a trivial question and I get hurried off the phone when I ask this kind of thing.
Fish oil, nobody I ask says it is contraindicated. And nobody is willing to recommend it either. I started taking it after watching a good NRAS talk about diet. They do agree NRAS is a reputable source of info.
Vitamin D where I live especially in the winter it is highly unlikely I get enough of this. Rheumatology said to stop taking it and another person said to take it. The last one I asked said not to take more than 100% RDI and it is fine to continue. so?
Interestingly they said to buy from a reputable source as they are not regulated.
Thanks for your reply.
One of the rheumatology nurses told me to take Vit D at a strength of 4000 units per day. Years ago, a GP recommended 1000 in summer and 2000 in winter but maybe now I'm older and creakier I need more. Last report I read from blood tests said my Vit D level was 'not low'. Assume that means it's not too high either?
And a couple of eye specialists have urged me to make sure I was getting enough Omega 3. I don't eat fish so I'm now taking Bare Biology Life and Soul ones which seem to tick all the boxes.
When I checked with rheumatology I was almost brushed off with 'yeah, yeah that's fine'.
Humira/adalimumab experiences
mtx and adalimumab/ Idacio
supplements 
Eye side effects on biologics for rheumatoid arthritis 
Could I be in remission 
