What/how much to supplement?

[SkyeJ1]

Vitamin D 24.9 (<25 severe vitamin D deficiency) I take 20,000IU of vitamin D

Folate 4.1 (2.5 - 19.5) I take 400mg folic acid

Vitamin B12 207 (190 - 900)

Ferritin 18 (15 - 150)

Any advice appreciated. Thank you

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

SkyeJ1

Vitamin D 24.9 (<25 severe vitamin D deficiency) I take 20,000IU of vitamin D

If you are taking 20,000iu then you are having loading doses totalling 300,000iu over a number of weeks prescribed I would imagine. When these are finished it's essential to retest, either with your GP or privately. When you have your new result, post on the forum for further advice as to what dose you need to follow on.

Folate 4.1 (2.5 - 19.5) I take 400mg folic acid

Again, this is being prescribed I presume for folate deficiency maybe (?), if so then it's up to your GP for how long and how much you take.

Vitamin B12 207 (190 - 900)

What has your GP said about this?

Many people with B12 in the 300s have found to be in need of B12 injections.

You should check for signs of B12 deficiency here:

b12deficiency.info/signs-an...

If you have any then list them to discuss with your GP and ask for further testing for B12 deficiency/pernicious anaemia. You may need B12 injections.

Ferritin 18 (15 - 150)

This is low enough to suggest possible iron deficiency anaemia. You should have an iron panel and full blood count.

[SkyeJ1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Sorry, yes I have folate deficiency. The GP was happy with my folate being range from it being deficient in 2016. Nothing was really mentioned about the B12 but I do have microcytic anaemia as well.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Vitamins are dire because you are extremely under medicated

Previous post

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[HLAB35]

From your 1st post it's clear you're undermedicated, plus you have such dire deficiencies that your gut isn't working properly... that's not going to help one bit especially wrt. B12 and iron absorption. It's important you get a PA assessment and a full iron panel, because I suspect your serum iron (not ferritin - which is already dire) could actually be below range. With so many deficiencies it'd be worthwhile having screening done for Coeliac disease.

I recommend posting these results on the PA forum as well and ask for their advice about B12 and folate deficiency.

[humanbean]

To work out how much vitamin D you need to supplement it can be done with the aid of two links online.

Firstly, you need to know what your vitamin D level is in ng/mL (nanograms per litre).

If your result is in nmol/L (nanomoles per litre) you can convert it to ng/mL with this link :

grassrootshealth.net/?post_...

(I'm assuming your result is in nmol/L, which is what it usually is in the UK.)

A result of 24.9 nmol/L is the same as 10 ng/mL.

...

With a Vitamin D level of 10 ng/mL you need to plug your details into this link :

grassrootshealth.net/projec...

I'm going to pretend that you weigh 140 lbs (10 stone), but obviously you should put in whatever is accurate for you.

With a weight of 140 lbs and a vitamin D level of 10 ng/mL your recommended vitamin D supplementation level from that second link is somewhere between 4000 iU and 6000 iU per day. There are many products to choose from online that come in a 5000 iU dose and this is probably your best best. See posts by SeasideSusie that discuss good brands to try and sites that are good value.