Vitamin and mineral results advice please

[Topaz33]

I only supplement with ferrous fumarate and nothing else. Symptoms are:

Crippling fatigue

Muscle cramps in legs

Periods flooding my clothes

Hands and feet going so cold they turn white and tingly

Breathlessness

Pins and needles in legs and feet

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Joint aches and pains

Hair loss

Eyebrow loss

Gritty eyes

Clumsiness

Dizziness

Hypertension

Tremor

Swollen legs

Low confidence

Brain fog

Swollen ankles

Puffy eyes

Looking washed out

Ferritin 16 range 15 to 150

Folate 3.6 range 4.6 to 18.7

Vitamin B12 151 range 180 to 900

Total vitamin D 20.3 range below 25 severe vitamin D deficiency. Patient may need pharmacological preparations

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Topaz33

Has your GP actually seen these results? If so, what has he said?

Ferritin 16 range 15 to 150 - I can see you take Ferrous Fumarate. Hopefully one tablet twice daily. Are you taking each tablet with 1000mg Vit C to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.

Have you had a full iron panel to see if you have iron deficiency anaemia?

Folate 3.6 range 4.6 to 18.7 Vitamin B12 151 range 180 to 900

These two work together. Both are under range. If your GP has ignored these he is being negligent. Please take these results over to the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum here on Health Unlocked for further advice. You may need to be tested for Pernicious Anaemia and you may need B12 injections. When you have discussed the PA forum's advice with your GP, let us know what he says.

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

Total vitamin D 20.3 - recommended level is 100-150nmol/L. You are severely deficient. Your GP should be offering you loading doses followed by a maintenance dose of D3. Discuss this with him then tell us what he says. You may be offered insufficient amounts to help. We can point you in the right direction in that case.

When taking D3 there are important co-factors

vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2 directs that calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed rather than arteries and soft tissues where it can cause problems. D3 and K2 are fat soluble and should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day. D3 should be taken 4 hours away from thyroid meds.

Magnesium comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds

naturalnews.com/046401_magn...

[Topaz33 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks yes I have had iron panel done and the levels were normal. I only take 1 iron tablet a day. Doctor has not seen results. She has given me antidepressants instead.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Topaz33]

Topaz33 You must take those results and discuss them with your GP, my reply above makes it pretty obvious why you need the discussion.

Also, check the patient information leaflet for the Ferrous Fumerate and you will see that for the prevention of anaemia is one tablet once or twice a day. You are not 'preventing', you are 'treating' a dire ferritin level. You should be taking one tablet twice a day, not once a day.

Why have you been given antidepressants?

[Topaz33 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I was given antidepressants because in late 2016 I was diagnosed with a nervous breakdown and again last month because I felt faint after getting up from sitting down and the doctor said I had a panic attack. I have an appointment this evening to discuss results

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Topaz33]

Feeling faint after getting up isn't necessarily a panic attack, it could be low blood pressure - did she check that? Were you on anti-depressants at the time or had you come off them? Seems rather a flimsy reason to re-start antidepressants if you'd already come off them.

If you feel that you no longer need them and that the incident in the doctor's surgery was not a panic attack, then there is every reason to come off them, under supervision I would imagine.

Can you take someone with you to yor appointment this evening, for moral support and as a back up if necessary? Someone who understands how your symptoms are affecting you on a day to day basis, and to assert that you need those dire deficiencies treated.

As you haven't yet posted on the PA forum, I would do so as soon as possible in order to try to get some advice from them before seeing your GP later on, if you go along with advice from a reputable source with suggestions as to how to proceed, hopefully your GP will do something.

[Topaz33 in reply to SeasideSusie]

I had blood pressure checked and I thought it was high it was about 130 over something I can't remember. I came off the antidepressant by myself but I became quite ill after I did this. She then renewed the prescription when the dizziness happened. I have no one I can take with me tonight. I will post on the PA forum now thank you

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Topaz33]

130/ something isn't particularly high. I'm very pleased if mine is only that!

I think 'normal' blood pressure is something like 120/80 and over 140/ they start to think about 'high'.

By the way, dizziness is a sign of low B12 and yours is deficient!

[Topaz33 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Ok my blood pressure is usually in the 100s so I was a bit worried about that

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Couldn't agree more Londinium Why investigate when you can write a prescription for a pill!

[Topaz33]

I have had various sorts of pain for a very long time. Period pain since I started at 15, hip pain since 2008 and I was given painkillers for about 3 years before X rays showed I had an impinged hip joint and had corrective surgery another year after that. I have had pain in other parts of my body but it just migrates

[bluebug in reply to Topaz33]

If you have low vitamin and iron levels then one of the symptoms is pain. Added in thyroid problems and it is not surprising you hurt.

As the others have said go back to your doctor and show him/her your test results. Make sure you have a copy for the doctor and a copy for yourself in the consultation, as the doctor will take it off you.

Start with each of your results in turn and go through the logically, asking the GP how are they going to treat it.

If you have any difficulties with your GP come back here and people with give you other strategies to try to be taken seriously.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I've no faith in any of them any more. I saw a referral form from my GP to a consultant, (they must be new, they used to be letters), and there was one section of the form that asked for notes from the last few consultations. One of mine said "Had a chat"!!!!!! No clue as to why I went or what we chatted about!

My son was seeing a neurologist, had actually paid the first time to bypass the very long NHS wait because the GP had queried brain tumour. He wasn't a particularly nice consultant, (rather miserable) not even when being paid privately. After the first consultation my son was transferred to his NHS list (brain tumour ruled out). On one of his visits, he hadn't even sat down and was handed a prescription. Son asked what it was for, was told it was a painkiller. Son said I don't want the problem masking, I want to know what is wrong. (Son is OK now ). Just goes to show, even when you see the so called specialists all they want to do is dish out pills rather than investigate