All about me - Page 2

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by whoMe

I haven't learned about vitamin D conversion yet, so I'm no help there...

Sugar is supposed to affect blood calcium, per Melvin Page, but I haven't been able to track down any studies confirming that. Umm... vit K puts calcium into bones, maybe a deficiency would leave it in the blood? the vitaminK yahoo group has a bunch of people dealing with high blood calcium levels...

The other reasons that like to pop up (cause they're easy) are hormone secreting tumors, but it seems like that would be more of an acute issue?

Interestingly, it's not a new problem for me. When I was little (around the same time I got my first filling), my mom noticed a "growth" on my collar bone which my dentist said was from too much calcium. She decreased my dairy intake and the bump (which hurt) stopped growing... I still have it but it's not as noticeable 20 some years later as it was back then.
Maybe I should check out the yahoo group. I wonder what would cause low vitamin K... I know I did research on it not long ago but I've forgotten already.

ETA: But if I had low K, I wouldn't have been growing calcifications would I?

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Interestingly, it's not a new problem for me. When I was little (around the same time I got my first filling), my mom noticed a "growth" on my collar bone which my dentist said was from too much calcium. She decreased my dairy intake and the bump (which hurt) stopped growing... I still have it but it's not as noticeable 20 some years later as it was back then.
Maybe I should check out the yahoo group. I wonder what would cause low vitamin K... I know I did research on it not long ago but I've forgotten already.

ETA: But if I had low K, I wouldn't have been growing calcifications would I?

I'm under the impression that k2 just magically knows where calcium should and shouldn't be. You were talking about warfarin wrt vit K earlier, was that what you're thinking of? Do you think the bump started growing before the filling? Have you ever had a bone scan? Have you ever tested your blood calcium levels? I wonder if there are any common polymorphisms that affect calcium somehow? What about vitamin A? That's what I keep coming back to, since it's the main one I know for lowering calcium.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by whoMe

I'm under the impression that k2 just magically knows where calcium should and shouldn't be. You were talking about warfarin wrt vit K earlier, was that what you're thinking of? Do you think the bump started growing before the filling? Have you ever had a bone scan? Have you ever tested your blood calcium levels? I wonder if there are any common polymorphisms that affect calcium somehow? What about vitamin A? That's what I keep coming back to, since it's the main one I know for lowering calcium.

I don't remember. It was nearly 25 years ago.
I don't remember ever having a bone scan. I've never had my blood calcium levels tested that I recall, no.
I have no idea how I am for A, except that my prenatals contain 100% of the DV (2/5 as palmitate and 3/5 as carotenes).
Now I'm wondering though.. Where does vitamin E fit in all of this? I remember my mom putting me on vitamin E around the same time (at my granny's insistence)... Hrmm...

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

I don't remember. It was nearly 25 years ago.
I don't remember ever having a bone scan. I've never had my blood calcium levels tested that I recall, no.
I have no idea how I am for A, except that my prenatals contain 100% of the DV (2/5 as palmitate and 3/5 as carotenes).
Now I'm wondering though.. Where does vitamin E fit in all of this? I remember my mom putting me on vitamin E around the same time (at my granny's insistence)... Hrmm...

I have no idea on vit E.

Do you have any idea when the thyroid issues started? Cause there's a known issue with carotenes and hypothyroid, so if that's been an issue a long time, A could easily have been low for a long time. Also, if you go with the WAP stuff, our real RDA for vit A is way higher than what the government believes.

[ellasmama2007]

JR, i just wanted to let you know im sending you good vibes. im reading away and wishing i could input, but you all are pretty well over my head! basically, i understand what you are saying, but i couldnt have inferred any of it on my own.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by ellasmama2007

JR, i just wanted to let you know im sending you good vibes. im reading away and wishing i could input, but you all are pretty well over my head! basically, i understand what you are saying, but i couldnt have inferred any of it on my own.

Thanks, Margo.

Just putting this here from the supplements thread:

The kind of funny thing I have to say about this is that it occurred to me the other day that maybe part of the reason I need more sulfur than most people is because I'm part Icelandic (and, according to my Gran, look just like my Affi- which I can totally see... DS1 looks A LOT like me and there was a picture of my Affi around his age at my Gran's funeral that everyone kept asking "Why is there an old-time picture of DS1 in this montage?" My aunt kept having to explain that it was her DAD when he was a kid. ).
In case that's confusing, Iceland has a lot of volcanoes.

[lil_miss_understood]

Iron and bile salts are co-factors in the conversion of beta-carotene to vitamin A in the body.
Vitamin E prevents Vitamin A from being chemically changed in the intestine.

From wiki:

The ratio of conversion of β-carotene to vitamin A has changed over time from 6:1 to 12:1 and currently is estimated to be 21:1 from recent studies and experimental trials carried out in the developing nations. The implication of the current ratio is that large quantities of β-carotene are needed for conversion to yield the desired dietary requirement of vitamin A for deficient group of the population.

Could this be due to the lack of vitamin E in our diets?

[kjbrown92]

I've got to ask my mother again even though her memory/creativity often are hazy (she tends to make stuff up then think it's real; she's a doozy).

When my brother was about 12, he was hospitalized for stomach issues, and I think it was that he lacked the enzyme(?) to convert B-carotene? And last time I asked her she said there was something about the villi. This was back in about 1977... he then went on 1-2 CUPS of mineral oil a day to help him move his bowels. He's always had trouble with constipation. And I'm sure he has food intolerances but he won't do an elimination or anything. Whenever someone mentions B-carotene, I think of his issues and how it could relate.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by kjbrown92

I've got to ask my mother again even though her memory/creativity often are hazy (she tends to make stuff up then think it's real; she's a doozy).

When my brother was about 12, he was hospitalized for stomach issues, and I think it was that he lacked the enzyme(?) to convert B-carotene? And last time I asked her she said there was something about the villi. This was back in about 1977... he then went on 1-2 CUPS of mineral oil a day to help him move his bowels. He's always had trouble with constipation. And I'm sure he has food intolerances but he won't do an elimination or anything. Whenever someone mentions B-carotene, I think of his issues and how it could relate.

Mineral oil would prevent the absorption of vitamin E... If his E was too high, his conversion from B-carotene to A would've been low.
This would point to most people getting TOO MUCH vitamin E... hmm.

[lil_miss_understood]

My calcification and tartar issues as a kid were probably due to a phosphorous deficiency rather than too much calcium because I hardly ate any MEAT.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

I added vitamin C back in today. I got a lot done and am feeling less stressed, though perhaps it's just because I had a really great break yesterday. We'll see.
TMI ALERT
I've been having very difficult bms lately and managed to have a decent one today that I didn't have to strain to have a tiny little bit come out.
END TMI
I've been forgetting to take my CLO. I took it today and my stomach is totally unimpressed. Maybe I should just leave it out? I take 2,000iu of vitamin D3 alone plus getting vitamin A in my prenatals, so I'm really just taking it for the vitamin E and EFAs... Maybe I should just find something else for those? Thoughts?
Probably going to copy this to my thread.

Just sticking this over here.

[tanyalynn]

The only problem with the A in your prenatal is that half of it is beta-carotene and hypothyroid people have serious problems converting it. I'm not sure if people who are supplemented correctly can do it--my dog was having problems most of last year (I had to give her liver). Did you mention a selenium connection? I need to check her feet, by this point I've given her lots and lots of brazil nuts. ... I just checked, and I'm not sure what it is, I guess it's either the selenium or the zinc (I've given her more selenium via brazil nuts than zinc), but my dog's hyperkeratinization is very mild, and I haven't been consistent with the liver lately at all. Either way--I think a different A source is reasonable.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

The only problem with the A in your prenatal is that half of it is beta-carotene and hypothyroid people have serious problems converting it. I'm not sure if people who are supplemented correctly can do it--my dog was having problems most of last year (I had to give her liver). Did you mention a selenium connection? I need to check her feet, by this point I've given her lots and lots of brazil nuts. ... I just checked, and I'm not sure what it is, I guess it's either the selenium or the zinc (I've given her more selenium via brazil nuts than zinc), but my dog's hyperkeratinization is very mild, and I haven't been consistent with the liver lately at all. Either way--I think a different A source is reasonable.

Yes, the enzyme responsible for conversion of carotenes to vitamin A is selenium based, from what I was reading.
Perhaps I should cut down on my D supp then- just take 1,000ius from a separate source than the CLO, although that still leaves me "wanting" about 600ius/day. I don't want to be ODing on my D supplementation either.

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

Yes, the enzyme responsible for conversion of carotenes to vitamin A is selenium based, from what I was reading.
Perhaps I should cut down on my D supp then- just take 1,000ius from a separate source than the CLO, although that still leaves me "wanting" about 600ius/day. I don't want to be ODing on my D supplementation either.

Hey, it's fat soluble, you could take extra once or twice a week to make up the difference (I was about to write something totally different when that occurred to me). Did your ND have a suggested maintenance dosage? Cause you've got good blood levels, right? That is so cool.

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

Hey, it's fat soluble, you could take extra once or twice a week to make up the difference (I was about to write something totally different when that occurred to me). Did your ND have a suggested maintenance dosage? Cause you've got good blood levels, right? That is so cool.

I do have good blood levels now! : We just had them tested a couple of weeks ago. His suggested maintenance dosage was 2,000iu per day.
Adding more on certain days makes things more complicated. I have a hard time remembering what to stick in each little pill compartment as it is, and it's the same everyday.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

TMI ALERT
I've been having very difficult bms lately and managed to have a decent one today that I didn't have to strain to have a tiny little bit come out.

We've got something similar happening over here. Normally it's a too much calcium/too little mag thing. What's interesting is that our mag hasn't changed, but I think our cal is really high due to increased vitamin D from the sun. We've got all sorts of other little things pointing to high calcium, which I'm thinking is high vitamin D, and so I'm really wanting to push the vit A. It sounds like it could easily be the same thing for you, too. (I agree with what Tanya's saying about the beta carotene and conversion. And add that we're talking about levels more in line with WAPF than RDAs for A and D here, so 100% RDA for A isn't really much compared to that much D)

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by whoMe

We've got something similar happening over here. Normally it's a too much calcium/too little mag thing. What's interesting is that our mag hasn't changed, but I think our cal is really high due to increased vitamin D from the sun. We've got all sorts of other little things pointing to high calcium, which I'm thinking is high vitamin D, and so I'm really wanting to push the vit A. It sounds like it could easily be the same thing for you, too. (I agree with what Tanya's saying about the beta carotene and conversion. And add that we're talking about levels more in line with WAPF than RDAs for A and D here, so 100% RDA for A isn't really much compared to that much D)

So it's not really that D is too high, but that A is too low, you think?
I've been taking Epsom salt baths once a week for the mag (and sulfate) and don't take any calcium besides what's in my prenatal (200 mg). Our diet is also pretty low calcium (a fact I need to change with 2 growing children).... So I'm probably losing a whole bunch of bone mass right now.

[Theloose]

Originally Posted by JacquelineR

So it's not really that D is too high, but that A is too low, you think?
I've been taking Epsom salt baths once a week for the mag (and sulfate) and don't take any calcium besides what's in my prenatal (200 mg). Our diet is also pretty low calcium (a fact I need to change with 2 growing children).... So I'm probably losing a whole bunch of bone mass right now.

That's the WAPF theory of things... That vitamin D 'toxicity' is really vitamin A deficiency, and vice versa. Knowing that A inhibits D's effect on calcium absorption, that's making sense to me. I'm also going with my approach of 'no toxicity, just deficiency' and that I'm massively deficient in all sorts of things...

(said like dd's, 'no birthday party, just bloons')

[lil_miss_understood]

Tanya, I was just reading over on ithyroid and came across this:

In my subsequent studies I found that taking very large amounts of vitamin C can deplete copper.

So should I be concerned about copper intake? Particularly since I'm also supplementing with zinc? Could the vitamin C and zinc supplementation partially explain my fatigue, since copper is another metal implicated in anemia? My iron is fine, according to my latest bloodwork, though... And I just started with the vitamin C again...
Hmm.

[lil_miss_understood]

iThyroid.com:

The conversion of T4 to T3 is influenced by insulin, which is probably the reason why diabetics have low thyroid function

*sigh* I need to look up more about this.