time to re evaluate our supps. Please help!

[gigismom]

we are all doing quite well at our house. however, our bank account isn't! we need to find alternative supps that are less expensive and effective. we are currently taking the following in activated drop form which is supposedly very easily absorbed and effective:

methyl-b12
adenosycobalamin-b12
folinic acid

these each cost average about $50 each and the methyl b12 and folinic acid last less than 3 weeks and the other one about 5 weeks as our dosage is lower on that one. I would like to switch to a good childrens multi that includes the above. any good children's multi that is dairy and gluten free to suggest? I think there was some discussion on a multi by claire labs in chat... vita spectrum. how would this be? does anyone know if the caps of the vita spectrum have the bioflavinoids? Should i get some sublingual b12 to add in addition to a good multi for them?

ds has the more serious allergies and gut issues. i would like to keep him going on the positive path he is on but simply can't afford these supps for him. do you all think he would be ok to switch to a good multi and maybe an additional b12? ds also takes natural calm for mag and I was thinking of adding some moly and b6 to help him tolerate sals more. this may be present in a good kids multi but am not sure if it will be at the dose necessary to help with his sals issues. i know that he can not tolerate bioflavinoids or herbs of any sort.

we also have started taking fclo. i bought half a bottle from a friend of mine whose kids wouldn't take it. we went through it in 6 days! with 4 of us taking it, it went so fast! i saw this on the gapsdiet website for $40 plus shipping. anybody have any ideas of where to get this cheaper? we can't take it if I can't get it less expensive...

We also take the HLC Mindlinx probiotic and everyone seems to be fine with it. We will need to order this soon also and have always used rockwellnutrition.com for that. I would love to be able to order as much as possible from one place and save on shipping. I think rockwell has free shipping on orders over $50 and they also carry the vita spectrum.

i realize there are very difficult questions to answer without knowing us very well but ask away any questions and i am willing to share! i also know that wanting to save money on supps is something that we all desire and the fact is that they are expensive. however, we can not continue if we can not find less expensive options.

we have had so much positive happen since begining these supps last november.... dd2 has NO more seasonal allergies or eczema, ds has gained 4 lbs and grown over 2 inches, all of our kp (bumps on the back of arms) is gone, i have energy and less intense emotions and periods... the list could continue but you get my drift. i don't want to go backwards. HELP!

jen

[mamafish9]

No idea what "activated drops are" - I'm currently using the B12 drops off Dr. Yasko's website (holisticheal.com - the "mega" drops). 350 drops x 1000mcg each drop, is a lot of B12, for $35. Not sure how much B12 you are giving, but it's the best deal I've found for the adenosyl B12 for sure.

I'd definitely stick with some sort of drop/sublingual B12 - way better absorbed than swallowing.

The only decent kids multi's I've found, with low sals, are powder multi's designed for autistic kids. Most kids' multis are candy. GIPro health has one, with good forms of folinic/folate. But it's not cheap ($30 for a one month supply). And you'd need to give more mag separately, so it isn't competing with calcium for absorption. If your kids swallow capsules, even small ones, I'd get a Thorne multi capsule and repack it into smaller capsules - cheaper, and good forms of most things. Then add sublingual B12, and separate mag.

For fCLO, I give smaller amounts (2mL adults, 1mL kids) and then use cheaper A & D capsules derived from fish oil for the rest. That way I figure they get some of the fCLO benefits, without all the cost.

Pharmax probiotics are great, but very expensive. I really like the ones from customprobiotics.com - the up front cost is higher (big bottle of powder), but per dose cost is way, way, way less than the Pharmax. I think for a big family, it would be the ideal solution.

[Koalamom]

We got Thornes Methyl-folate for around $10 on ebay, not even an auction. And the same seller has methyl-b12 drops for a great price too. Perhaps $12? Not sure if that is something you are looking for. Same seller has mloybdebum cheap and has lasted up forever.

We are on a really tight budget and actually stopped and FCLO. We just eat fish and liver sometimes and take flax oil for the omega 3's. I know that We are missing the already converted omegas, but I am just trusting that with my budget, this is the best we can do. And good thing about the summer, so we can now get our Vit D for free!

For probiotics, we get that free as we use water kefir and it costs almost nothing to make a ton.

We don't always take the folate since we drink tons of green smoothies, drink nettles infusions (and put the in smoothies to)and have lentils almost every day and a huge pile of steamed greens. I just feel we are alright without it sometimes. And free wild edibles out right now.

We are now focusing more on digestion so that the foods that have the nutrients we need get absorbed. And because of this we take less supplements.

[gigismom]

thanks to both of you for your input. i am looking into all of your suggestions and appreciate your points of view. mamafish... the drops you mention are 1000mcg for drop and ours are 99.75mcg per drop so 10x more concentrated. i am trying to figure out now the cost comparison per dose. i just need more that 10 seconds of sitting down to be able to figure this out and that is tough with the 3 munchkins around! bluebirdmama... i appreciate your thoughts about looking to foods more for nutrients. i think i need to do this but it is hard to depart from what we are currently doing because we are all doing so well. if i could be assured that i could get the nutrient dense foods prepared and into the kids regularily enough i would feel more comfortable going for it without the supps. we will see...

jen

[Koalamom]

I am not saying you should stop the supplements, but I am just saying that I know how it is when finances are tight and if I am going to eat kefir, I may not need the bottled probiotics. Or if I am going to get enough bone broth, nettles, or other calcium, I need to trust that I do not need to buy a calcium supplement. Sure it would be nice to have that to take too, but when money is tight, then I need to trust that we are getting enough of some nutrients. Yes there are some things we still supplement with that we need higher amounts of than food can supply, but some things we get enough of. Molybdenum is one we find we need extra of no matter how many beans we eat.

[gigismom]

i hear you... i should have said to go with fewer supps instead of without the supps. i too feel like we need more of some nutrients than we could currently get from foods right now