After all the great advice after my first post 6 months ago I am looking for confirmation of next steps regarding vitamins.
1) Vitamin D: prior to previous post, I was taking Vitabiotics D3 (1000 IU) daily. My Blue Horizon result last July was 69 nmol/L (adequate!). I started the BetterYou D+K2 spray, 3 sprays daily (3000 IU). Retested with Monitor My Health in January, only given the graph and result of 114 nmol which has just crept into the red “excess” area on the graph – advice given was to stop supplementing (if I did). I immediately dropped to 1 spray per day and plan to retest in a few months. Does this sound like the right plan? I didn’t want to stop completely as they suggested. Think I may end up on two sprays per day.
2) Vitamin B12: following BH result of 208 pmol/L (145 – 569) last July, I started Boots B12 spray once a day, 250 ug (actually “mu”g but don’t know where to find a “mu”!). MMH result from January is 135 pmol/L, shown on graph as normal. "Low" looks like <40 on the graph. Still some room for improvement here I think – is that right? I haven’t started to supplement folate yet. Will a good B complex improve my folate level whilst adding a bit more B12, if I carry on with the B12 spray too? If so, I know Thorne Basic B is recommended here but I can’t be doing with big capsules, so I thought I saw some smaller (B complex) tablets recommended a few weeks back but didn’t jot down the name.
3) Ferritin came back high in July, GP did full iron panel and all came back normal. MMH result last month was fine too – a little above the half way mark in the normal range on the graph.
4) Thyroid: working on gradually increasing levo dose with a surprisingly cooperative GP, who doesn’t seem to know a lot but seems willing to learn!
5) Had a “medication review” last month with the surgery pharmacist (telephone). He wanted to prescribe me a PPI as I take clopidogrel – I refused! Has anyone else had this happen with no input from GP?
Thank you if you’ve managed to read this far! Any advice on the Qs above will be gratefully received.
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rambler123
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1) result of 114 nmol which has just crept into the red “excess” area on the graph – advice given was to stop supplementing (if I did). I immediately dropped to 1 spray per day and plan to retest in a few months. Does this sound like the right plan? I didn’t want to stop completely as they suggested.
You will need to decide who you are going to take notice of.
It is an NHS lab based at an NHS hospital in the West Midlands. You will see from the link that they say 50.1-220nmol/L is "adequate" and above 220nmol/L there is a risk of toxicity. I have added below an image of a sample report.
The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml), with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L (50ng/ml).
As these are dedicated Vit D sites they are my choice and I follow their advice.
As I originally had severe Vit D deficiency of 15nmol/L I try to keep my level as close to 150nmol/L as I can and the lab I use has never reported this level as a problem. I don't understand why your MMH report advises to stop supplementing, they certainly don't agree with their NHS colleagues.
Presumably you are taking D3's important cofactors - magnesium and Vit K2-MK7 as advised previously?
2) Vitamin B12: following BH result of 208 pmol/L (145 – 569) last July, I started Boots B12 spray once a day, 250 ug (actually “mu”g but don’t know where to find a “mu”!). MMH result from January is 135 pmol/L, shown on graph as normal.
I think we might be talking about two different tests here. The BH test is Total B12 which measures the total amount of B12 - both inactive/bound B12 and active/unbound B12. The Active B12 test is done by MMH according to their website. This is said to be the better test as it's Active B12 that is available for the cells to use. So you can't compare the results of these two tests.
I don't know the range for the MMH Active B12 test but if it had been done by Medichecks the range would be 37.5-188. If the MMH range is similar then your result is good, we always say for Active B12 then aim for a level over 100.
Can you post an image of the graph so that we can see where within the green zone your level lies. Is it possible that the range is shown by numbers against the different coloured zones on the graph.
I haven’t started to supplement folate yet. Will a good B complex improve my folate level whilst adding a bit more B12, if I carry on with the B12 spray too? If so, I know Thorne Basic B is recommended here but I can’t be doing with big capsules, so I thought I saw some smaller (B complex) tablets recommended a few weeks back but didn’t jot down the name.
When you posted 6 months ago this was your folate results:
Serum Folate 9.60 8.83 - 60.8 nmol/L
and it was suggested to supplement with a B Complex after you'd established whether you were B12 deficient and supplements for B12 started. You really should have started a B Complex back then after starting your B12, this is because we need to keep the B vitamins balanced and this is what B Complex helps with. B12 and folate work together and it's possible that by supplementing with just B12 your folate level may have reduced.
The small B Complex tablet you are thinking of might be Igennus Super B. Be aware that this contains Vit C and B12, and these two vitamins should be taken 2 hours apart. It's possible that you wont get the benefit of any B12 in the Igennus and you should make sure that you take your B12 supplement 2 hours away from the Igennus B Complex.
You could always open a Thorne Basic B capsule and empty the contents into water. Or have a look at another B Complex members are using which is a softgel which is easier to swallow than a capsule
Here is my B12 graph. I tried to put it up yesterday but failed miserably!! But I managed today.
I looked at the soft gels via the links you sent - they still seem to be capsules to swallow and I couldn't get a sense of their size. But I found this - does it fit the bill for a suitable B-complex do you think?
Couldn't make it turn blue like a proper link - maybe it'll copy and paste? Ooooh - it turned into a proper link when I hit the reply button!
I hadn't really grasped the difference between Active and Total B12 so thank you for that clear explanation.
The vitamin D seems to be quite tricky to judge - I'll test again in 2-3 months and move up to 2 sprays a day if it has dropped. It's the one to be wary of, I feel, in terms of not having too much. Thank you for your insights there as well. The K2 is in the Vit D spray. I've been munching on "rich in magnesium" cashews but haven't gone for a supplement yet. Can you have "too much" magnesium or does the body get rid of any excess?
The picture of the B12 graph isn't very informative. Is there no pink band above the green to see how far up the green band you are? Are there no numbers at the side?
The Vitablossom/Yipmai capsules are 1.5cm and have rounded pointed ends to make swallowing easier, if you have plenty of liquid in your mouth, swish it around and swallowing the softgel shouldn't be a problem.
I don't suggest the Yipmai liquid because there is a big difference in the amount of active ingredients and it's the softgel that has the almost identical amounts to Thorne Basic B:
Softgel .. v .. liquid
B1: 110mg .. v ..12.5mg
B2: 10mg .. v .. 7.5mg
B3: 45mg .. v .. 10mg
B5: 110mg .. v .. 25mg
B6: 10mg .. v .. 7.5mg
B7: 500mcg .. v .. 500mcg
B9: 400mcg .. v .. 500mcg
B12: 500mcg .. .v .. 500mcg
Choline: 50mcg .. v .. nil
Inositol: 50mcg .. v .. nil
Too much magnesium from food shouldn't be a problem as our kidneys would excrete the excess in urine but if you took too much in supplement form you may experience diarrhoea, nausea, crampss. Too much magnesium from supplements or medications can cause Hypermagnesaemia the symptoms of which can be
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