Vitamin D and B12 advice please.

[Emily78]

Hi there,

I am currently 13 weeks pregnant and hypothyroid, and have just had my vitamins checked.

My folate and ferritin are OK but my my vitamin D has dropped since my last test. It is now 81.2 (50-200) when it was previously between 100-150. I take around 1800iu vit D daily (800 iu is in prenatal which I may not be fully absorbing), but I have been getting much less sun exposure as I know skin can be more sensitive in pregnancy.

Can anyone recommend a good vit D supplement that will boost my levels?

Also, my endocrinologist has me taking Metformin this pregnancy (for insulin resistance not diabetes), and so far it seems to be saving my pregnancy as I've never got this far along before. BUT it is not helping my B12 levels. Latest results were 691 (211-911). I really want to get this back to the top of the range.

Hopefully I am not at the point of needing B12 injections yet, but does anyone know of a potent B12 supplement that might help? I currently take Metabolics B complex (just one daily) and also their liquid B12 (methylcobalamin) which I have been using sublingually. This amounts to about 420mcg daily. Maybe I should just increase the dose?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Hi Emily

If you have Hashi's then use the BetterYou D3 spray.

If not you could use a D3 softgel. I like Doctor's Best as it contains only 2 ingredients (D3 and extra virgin olive oil) and it's very good value. Or there's Now Foods softgel, again only 2 ingredients. You may only need 2000iu daily, or you could get the 5000iu (better value) and take alternate days, which is what I do. Are you taking D3's cofactors Vit K2-MK7 and magnesium?

Your B12 is at a good level so no real need to worry about that.

[Emily78 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks very much SeasideSusie.

Glad you think my B12 level is OK. One less thing to worry about!

I don't have Hashi's so will try the Doctor's Best. I always like minimal ingredients too, and safer for pregnancy.

I do take magnesium, but had reduced my K2-MK7 (to 100mcg 3 x week plus what's in my prenatal) as wasn't sure I should have too much in pregnancy. I think I'll go back to taking 100mcg K2 daily though as it's probably safe.

Thanks for your advice.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Emily78]

Emily

The best value I have found is with Dolphin Fitness dolphinfitness.co.uk/en/doc...

Very good company to deal with, and if you choose the free delivery option it can take about a week to arrive, earlier if you're lucky, but worth the wait for the good prices.

[Gambit62]

Emily78, B12 levels tend to drop anyway during pregnancy - one reason why diagnosing B12 absorption problems during pregnancy is very difficult.

- your levels are still very good. Unless you are starting to feel symptoms of B12 deficiency then I wouldn't worry.