Vitamin levels

[Emits]

How long before So I need stop supplementing before a test of Vitamin D, b12, Ferritin, Folate? I'm taking multivitamin and ferrous fumarate 210 and 10mcg b12. Is it important to stop our Can I just continue supplementing until the day before?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Emits City Assays, who do Vit D testing, say that you don't need to stop taking D3, on the day of the test just take it after the test not before.

Iron supplement leave off for a week.

B12 you would need to leave off for 4-5 months to see what you are holding on to, otherwise the result will show that you are supplementing, but I find that can be useful to see if you are taking enough or maybe too much.

Folate, not sure but I would just take after the test like D3.

By the way, multivitamins are a waste of money, they tend to contain not enough of anything to help and usually contain the cheapest and wrong form of ingredients. Much better to test and see what you need then supplement those with a decent brand, avoiding H&B, Boots or supermarket own brands.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

I'm not Solgar's greatest fan, in fact the only Solgar product I use is their sublingual methylcobalamin.

NBTY owns Solgar, H & B plus a few others naturesbountyco.com/OurBrands , possibly mainly US brands we don't see much of here in the UK

[Emits]

Thanks for all your answers. Would it be a good idea for me to supplement b12 and if so how much. Last test showed 550(200-950)

But at that Time I was taking a multivitamin containing the daily recommended dose of b12. So it might be a bit scewed.

Would the multivitamin cover the other b vitamins (has the rdi) or Do I need larger doses?

Thanks

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Emits]

Emits I would dump the multivitamin. Which one is it? Does it also contain any minerals eg iron, calcium, iodine? If not contains iron then it affects absorption of any other supplements taken at the same time so nothing else will be having any effect.

If I had a B12 level of 550 I would want it at the recommended level of very top of range, even 900-1000. So I would be taking a sublingual methylcobalamin 1000mcg daily and if retested and at the top of the range I would then reduce to a maintenance dose of a lower strength daily or keep that strength and take alternate days.

A B Complex is a good supplement for us Hypos and a multivitamin containing the RDI won't be enough. Find a decent one, avoid H&B, Boots or supermarket own brands, they are cheap because they use cheap and often the wrong form of ingredients as mentioned above.

[Emits in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks!

My Folate was 13 when tested and on the multivitamin. Will it not be too much to take a strong b-vitamin complex?

I was planning to order from nature's best. So you know if that is a good place?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Emits]

As you haven't given the range for folate, I don't know whether 13 is low/high/mid-range. Folate should be at least half way through it's range. A high in range folate is not a problem if B12 good. A 'good' B Complex doesn't necessarily have to be a 'strong' one.

Nature's Best is a good brand, made by the same people as Lambert's. However, which one are you thinking of? Their Multi B Complex is very low in some of the Bs but rather high in others, their B50 has 50mg or mcg of most things so quite a lot more, and 400mcg folic acid. Methylfolate would be a better choice rather than folic acid. I take this one amazon.co.uk/d/Vitamins-Min...

[Emits in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you very much for your advice!

The Folate didn't come with a reference range just >4.5

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Emits]

Ah OK, folate is good then.

[Gambit62]

Emits

if your level was okay taking 10mcg supplement a day then it is very unlikely that you have a B12 absorption problem - the usual cause of a B12 deficiency - this is a very small dose.

Are you symptomatic of a B12 deficiency? - know it is hard to tell when symptoms overlap with thyroid and vitaminD but B12 serum isn't a test that can be used as a single marker on its own. It misses 25% of people who are deficient but it also picks up 5% who aren't actually deficient - people vary so much when it comes to the amount of B12 that they need.

You should certainly avoid taking any large doses of B12.

if you want to know more about B12 and B12 deficeincy please take a look at the PAS forum

healthunlocked.com/pasoc