Bloods back

[Claire67]

Ok have just managed to get my bloods back and being told everything is normal after arguing with the receptionist about why I want them lol (none of her business ) anyway as follows:

B12 - 160l ng/L (197 - 771) Abnormal

Folate 13.8 ug/L (3.6 - 18.7)

Ferritin 22.6 ug/L (13 - 150)

Apparently my Vit D wasnt done.

My question is do I need to up any of these or lower my supplements I am taking:

1000mg Vit C x 2 a day

200mcg Selenium 1 x a day

B Right B Complex 1 x a day

Vit D3 3000 IU+ K2 MK7 115 mcg 1 x a day

Methyl B12 lozengers 5000 mg 1 x a day

Plus on NDT 1 1/2 grain a day split .

All suggestions will be appreciated xxx Thanks xx

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Claire67 I'm not sure how she can say they're normal!

B12 is way over the top, you should aim for 900-1000 so I'd leave that off for a while then maybe in a few weeks just take 1000mcg daily as a maintenance dose. It really is pointless re-testing B12 unless you leave off supplementing for 5 months.

Folate is fine so I would continue with your B Complex to maintain it.

You need to know your D3 level as any excess is stored and can't be excreted. Retest with City Assays as your GP hasn't done it vitamindtest.org.uk/vitamin... and keep level between 100-150.

Your ferritin is very low, are you not supplementing that? Your ferritin needs to be half way through the range so you need to supplement with Ferrous Fumarate which you can buy from Amazon. Take 1 tablet twice daily with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation. Take iron 4 hours away from Levo and any other medication or supplements as it will affect absorption. When you've finished the box re-test your level as you don't want it getting too high.

[Claire67 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hi Seaside Suzie, Ok so I will stop using the B12 lozengers for a while and carry on with the B complex, now I have the floradix liquid which to be honest Ive had in the fridge and forgotten about should i take a 10ml of that with my vit C tablet ? Its says before morning and evening meals is that ok ? I have already ordered a private blood testing kit for the end of October as need to see what my levels are after taking NDT for a month so my Vit D is in that one.

Now what I am confused about is the Magnesium , Zinc, Copper and Iodine I think you have explained this to me before but I am a bit stupid so need reasurance what I am doing with these. Can you recommend any that praps have it all in and when to take them etc, I am finding taking all these and when to take them a bit daunting.

Thanks for your time xx

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Claire67]

Claire67

If the Floradix is this one florahealth.com/product_cat... then just use the bottle (follow the instructions and you could take your Vit C at the same time) and don't buy any more. It doesn't have much elemental iron compared to Ferrous Fumarate (10mg compared to 65mg) so will take much longer to give you any benefit, plus it contains B12 in the form of cyanocobalamin and we shouldn't use that form - see naturalnews.com/032766_cyan...

Magnesium - see naturalnews.com/046401_magn... and see what may suit you, then take the dose recommended on the pack. Evening is usually best as magnesium is calming.

Iodine - don't supplement unless tested and you know there is a deficiency.

Zinc and copper - again I would test before supplementing but I don't know much about those.

Multi's aren't always a good idea because they tend to have too much of one thing and perhaps not enough of another, or contain things we don't need, so it's best to test for deficiencies and supplement those.

[humanbean]

Whatever happens don't let your doctor frighten you about your B12 test. High levels aren't dangerous if they are caused by supplementing.

You might be wasting your money by continuing to take a separate B12 supplement. Just carry on with the B Complex for a while. In, say, 6 months, you could re-test your B12 again and see if it has dropped a lot. If it has you might want to take a supplement again at a lower dose than before.

Having said that, if you notice definite symptoms when you drop the separate B12 then perhaps you could re-start at a lower dose, say 1000mg per day. Or just take the 5000mg supplement you have two or three times a week.

Just experiment, and see what happens.

[Marz]

The B12 result only tells you what is circulating in the blood and not the amount reaching the cells where it is needed. In fact only around 20% of your result can reach the cells.

B12 and its workings are very complex and if you have symptoms of B12 D I would keep on dosing ....

[Claire67]

Thanks everyone xx

[Ruthi]

Ummm, the B12 is 160l, as in lima, yes? So below range. Or is it a typo?

[Claire67 in reply to Ruthi]

This is actually 1601 ng/L I think I wrote it wrong originally so its way over the range lol xx At least I know the supplemments are working even though i have too much lol

[Claire67]

This is actually 1601 ng/L I think I wrote it wrong originally so its way over the range lol xx At least I know the supplemments are working even though i have too much lol

[Ruthi]

Ah! Right!

Mine went to over 2,000[the max they can measure] due to supplements that I didn't even notice contained B12! If its sky high there is a theoretical possibility that you have either liver or kidney dysfunction. But much more likely is that you are overdoing the supplements. But since optimal is 1,000 according to the PAS I don't think you need to worry too much.

Were your readings low before?

[Claire67 in reply to Ruthi]

It was 187 -2 months ago xx

[Gambit62 in reply to Ruthi]

apologies - PAS has not identified 1000 as optimal

PAS did a survey of people being treated for PA on where they felt their levels needed to be for them to work well and the average was 1000 but there was a lot of variation. High levels of B12 in serum can lead to an auto-immune response which interferes with the mechanism that transfers B12 to cells leaving people deficient at the cellular level - its a bit like having a dam in a river - the only way of really making sure that enough B12 gets over the top of the dam is to keep levels really high. One study in denmark implied that around 30% may have this response so it will have skewed the results towards the high end. I know that my levels have to be permanently over the top of the range for me to feel okay after having loading shots - same for my mother - but my brother and aunt both manage perfectly well on much lower amounts of B12 (not formally diagnosed but highly symptomatic).

Serum B12 isn't a good guide to what is happening at cell levels as Marz says above - you need to look at symptoms not at levels. I would strongly caution against supplementing B12 just based on levels of serum test - please always look at symptoms (though I know this is difficult with the significant overlap in symptoms between thyroid and B12).