What kind of Dr?

[caro43]

Hi. Do you all recommend seeing a hematologist or is there another Dr. who specializes in balancing the vitamins & mineral levels? I have the b12 shots and b1 methylfolate pills. I take sleeping medicine which depletes potassium, so that is an issue, as well. I want to do this right and get the right amounts and be monitored regularly by a Dr. I tend to do things on my own and that often makes things worse.

[fbirder]

All of the health professionals I've seen have been great - except for my haematologist who was an arrogant <bleeeep>. So I'm probably biased.

Have you asked your GP to test you for a full set of vitamin and mineral tests? Some supplements (like B12 and folate) are OK. Others (like iron, potassium, B6) can be nasty in high amounts. So it's really a good idea to know what, if anything, needs to have levels boosted.

Just out of interest, why do you use methylfolate? For over 90% of the population folic acid does just as well (some might say better) and it's a lot cheaper.

[caro43 in reply to fbirder]

Hi, I use methylfolate because I have the MTHFR gene mutation. I have had folate serum tested and it was kind of high at 17.7. Am I right to think that the folate in RBC is more accurate because that is what gets into the cells? My iron is ok, my ferritin dropped significantly recently, but is a decent level for me at 46. For years, it was around 10-12. How do I test potassium? Is it a serum test or RBC? What else should I look at? Thank you so much!

[fbirder in reply to caro43]

Are you homozygous (2 copies) or heterozygous (1 copy) for the C677>T mutation? It's only homozygotes that may require methylfolate instead of folic acid.

Serum or whole blood will make little difference. Folate doesn't really do anything inside the red blood cells. It's when the RBCs are being formed that folate and B12 are required in the parent cells. When the parent cells lose their nuclei to form RBCs then folate/B12 can't do anything more.

Potassium is a blood test, often done together with sodium as an electrolyte test. For small molecules blood/serum will make no difference as the molecules can easily pass in and out of the cells.

I would also ask for vitamin D as it's quite common for that to be low .

[caro43]

Is Vitamin D-hydroxy the correct test? Mine was in range. 61 range 30-100. Though that was 3 months ago, so may be lower now that it is not summer.

I am hetero for MTHFR.

Also my folate serum was 17.7 with a range greater than 3. If I followed your reply then this is accurate?