vitimin recomendations

[Foggyk]

Hi, does anyone have a reccomended supplement? I take D, selenium and zinc

plus b12 and iron. I can't find anything in one tablet that doesn't contain iodine and wondered if anyone had reccomendations please?

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Foggyk

I can't find anything in one tablet that doesn't contain iodine

You wouldn't really want a multivitamin anyway, they're not recommended here because they tend to contain too little of anything to help low levels, often use the cheapest, wrong and least absorbable form of active ingredients, plus they usually contain things we should test for first before supplementing, eg iodine, calcium, Vit D, iron.

Also, if it contains iron then this affects absorption of everything else as iron should be taken 2 hours away from other supplements.

So you're really looking at individual supplements for what you need and at the correct dose.

What are your current levels of

Vit D

B12

Folate

Ferritin

Selenium is often said to be OK but no more than 200mcg, personally I stick to 100mcg and have a break before I restock. I am currently taking 100mcg alternate days. You can get selenium tested.

Have you tested zinc? Zinc and copper ideally should be balanced, we hypos tend to have one high and the other low, so we really need to know our zinc and copper status to know what/if we need to supplement.

[Foggyk in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thank you. What a minefield.My levels are all fine except ferritin is low

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Foggyk]

My levels are all fine except ferritin is low

If your levels are fine then that suggests you don't need to supplement. However, if your levels are fine because you are supplementing then we need to know if you are still taking the correct dose or whether it needs adjusting to a maintenance dose.

Please post your result and their reference ranges.

Obviously if your ferritin is low, we need to know how low and whether it suggests iron deficiency and whether you need to do an iron panel to check for iron deficiency. Please also post this result with reference range.

[Foggyk in reply to SeasideSusie]

Ferritin ,29. Ref 5-204B12 510 ref 187-883

Folic acid. 12.8. Ref 3.9- 17. 6

Calcium 2.20. Ref 2.20- 2.60

Magnesium 0.9. Ref. 0.7-1.0

TSH 0.19. Ref 0.27- 4.2

Free T3. 4.5. Ref 4.1 - 6.8

Free T4. 15.8. Ref. 12- 22

I'm on 75 mg throxine

15 mg. T3

I take vitamin D

Iron

Selenium/mag/Zinc

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Foggyk]

Ferritin ,29. Ref 5-204

Is your iron prescribed?

Are you in the UK?

In the UK a level less than 30ug/L is classed as iron deficiency so GP should confirm this by an iron panel and also do a full blood count to see if there is any anaemia, and if iron is prescribed regular monitoring is necessary.

Do you take your iron 4 hours away from your thyroid meds and 2 hours away from any other medication and supplements?

B12 510 ref 187-883

Folic acid. 12.8. Ref 3.9- 17. 6

If you're taking B12 you should also be taking a good quality, bioavailable B Complex to keep all the B vitamins balanced.

If the unit of measurement for B12 is pg/ml or ng/L (they're both the same) then the following applies:

According to an extract from the book, "Could it be B12?" by Sally M. Pacholok:

"We believe that the 'normal' serum B12 threshold needs to be raised from 200 pg/ml to at least 450 pg/ml because deficiencies begin to appear in the cerebrospinal fluid below 550".

"For brain and nervous system health and prevention of disease in older adults, serum B12 levels should be maintained near or above 1000 pg/ml."

Magnesium 0.9. Ref. 0.7-1.0

Testing serum magnesium is unreliable. About 99% of magnesium is stored in bone, muscles and soft tissues, leaving about 1% in the blood. So testing what's in the blood isn't giving an accurate picture of our magnesium status.

A red cell magnesium test is the better indicator of magnesium status, not the standard serum magnesium test.

Calcium 2.20. Ref 2.20- 2.60

Right at bottom of range, which makes me wonder what your Vit D level is. Do you have a current result for Vit D? How much Vit D do you take? It's important to test Vit D twice a year when supplementing to ensure you're taking the right dose, too little wont help, too much gets stored and can lead to toxicity.

When taking D3 there are important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7, I see that you are taking magnesium but what about Vit K2-MK7?

[Foggyk in reply to SeasideSusie]

Again thank you.Yes, I'm in the UK. I'm not anemic, have tested regularly but ferritin low. I was prescribed ferrigrad c and take it regularly

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Foggyk]

OK, so as you're prescribed Ferrigrad then do please make sure that you are tested regularly by your GP. Also, to help raise ferritin you could try getting iron through diet, consider eating liver regularly, maximum 200g per week due to it's high Vit A content, also liver pate, black pudding, etc

bda.uk.com/resource/iron-ri...

everydayhealth.com/pictures...

[Foggyk in reply to SeasideSusie]

😳 I'm a veggie but thanks 🤣

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Foggyk]

Although liver and meat are the best sources, the lists include other foods besides meat.

[greygoose]

Most certainly not! The last thing you want to do is take all those supplements in one pill. For several reasons:

* iron should taken two hours away from everything else, except vit C - and you need vit C to help with absorption and protect your stomach

* vit B12 should be taken at least two hours away from vit C, because the C affects how our bodies use B12. However, it should be taken with a B complex to keep the Bs balanced.

* if taking vit D, you should also take magnesium because the two work together, and magnesium and zinc should be taken at least two hours apart. You also need to take vit K2-MK7 with vit D, because the D increases absorption of calcium from food, and K2 makes sure it gets into the teeth and bones and doesn't build up in the soft tissues.

Multi-vit/minerals are never, ever a good idea.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Couldn’t see any vitamin results apart from a post from 2 years ago

Recommend testing folate, ferritin and B12 annually

Test vitamin D twice year when supplementing