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Give me your tips on correcting Anemia, Low functioning Thyroid, Adrenals, and low Vit. D

post #1 of 2
Thread Starter 

I had some blood work done the other day to check things out before we start trying for baby #2.  (I'm 1 year postpartum...going to start TTC in June-ish)  My naturopath has me on some supplements and we're supposed to retest in about 5 months, but I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can be doing (or avoiding?)....or that's worked for you, perhaps.

 

Supplements:

 

Vit. D3  7,000 IU/ day

Thyrocsin  2/day  (Thyroid)

Hemagenics  2/day  (Anemia)

GSF complex  2/day (Adrenals)

 

Other than that I'm supposed to go to bed earlier and get more sleep in general, drink less caffeine, eat more greens, eat red meat, and take multivitamin, DHA supp, and probiotics.  I'm also on 50 mg of Zoloft and we plan to wean from it 5 months.

 

 

Thanks for your input.

post #2 of 2
Edited to add:
I walked away for a while and realized this is entirely wordy and convoluted and might be overwhelming. Succinct isn't my strength and especially right now (brain on vacation it seems). So I thought I'd just say my main thoughts and then you could read the rest if you want more (convoluted and wordy) why:
1. I would take more vitamin D per day as it's safer to take more and easier to dose. I would take 10,000 IU 6 days a week and then 5,000 IU the 7th. You would only need 5,000 IU pills. You will correct faster with the higher dose.
2. I would not take a multi on top of those other supplements. If you discover you need more of something not in those supplements take it on it's own. You would be doubling (or tripling or..) up on lots of things with a multi.
3. I do not like the anemia supplement at all (though I usually like that company) because it contains things (copper, calcium) that inhibit iron absorption. I recommend a bis-glycinate form (highly absorbed) (Solgar Gentle Iron is the form I use) with a vitamin C. Take this away from all other supplements (including those in your list) and foods that inhibit iron.
4. Make sure the probiotic you select is proven to survive the digestive system and work. Otherwise it is wasted money!

Now for the wordy part:
Based on my experience I would up that D3 a bit. I did 10,000 IU per day on six days and then 5,000 IU on the 7th for a total of 65,000 per week compared to your 42,000. All the available research shows that up to 10,000 IU per day is safe for adults. I don't see any reason to dose 7,000. Beyond that, 10,000 is easier to dose--just two 5,000 IU per day and then on one day you just do one of them. Your dose isn't nice and even like that (not that it matters--but you'd need to take two different doses (5000 and 2000) each day. You'll correct slower too. I'd up it and did.


I don't like that Anemia supplement and I'm surprised because generally I like (and use) Metagenics. Here is my issue--they are using an absorbable form of iron and they have some other things that make sense. BUT--they throw in copper and calcium--both minerals which block absorption of iron (and vice versa). Further, most of us don't need extra copper. Those of us eating red meat as you will be doing certainly don't. I would not use this supplement. I would do a ferrous bis-glycinate (gentle iron by Solgar is great) also sometimes called by it's brand name Ferrochel. Take it with some vitamin C and maybe some extra riboflavin (will turn your urine yellow). Keep this supplement away from other minerals (your other supplements) and other things that block iron absorption (dairy, beans, greens, eggs, bright red fruits and fruit juices, nuts, seeds). Another note: your Thyrocsin also has copper (among other minerals). IMO you definitely don't want to supplement copper in what will, if you follow these instructions, be in three different supplements. Most people don't need it at all and too much is toxic (your doses here are not too much, it's the combination of these plus a multi plus red meat and other diet sources all while trying to correct anemia that would concern me).

Metagenics has a really nice b complex (with bioactive folate--your doctor is right in recommending that) called Glycogenics. I'd do that for your B's if you wan't/need them. They will also sell good folate supplements alone if needed. But those supplements you're taking have a lot of B's in various forms so you'll need to sort out what's needed and what is, maybe, too much.

A multivitamin is less than ideal. I'd dose needed minerals or vitamins on their own. The issue is minerals block absorption of each other and most multi's use less than absorbable forms to boot. If you do decide to do a multi I would look into ones from companies like Metagenics.

If you do a multi you will not likely want the b supplement--you don't want too much of certain b vitamins. Note: the hemagenics potentially gives you a bit of a problem in that regard as well--it doses select b vitamins high. That's fine except if you also do a multi you are getting (usually) the RDA of some of those via the multi. You could supplement particular b vitamins (say b12) in higher amounts if you wish.

Another problem with taking a multi is your Thyrocsin and the Adrenal as well both contain select minerals. Certain minerals you wouldn't want in excess especially in the forms typically in multivitamins. The ones you've listed, at my first glance at the mineral content, do not have problematic amounts of any minerals that I noticed. But if you add in diet and a multi (that I feel is unnecessary) you might get there. Example: both the adrenal and thyroid have zinc ...add a multi which could have 100% of RDA (likely) and then zinc (and copper) are going to be in your red meat well. Even if you're ok now you might not be when you add it all up. Note your thyroid has copper, zinc, and selenium...all of those are problematic in excess...none are too high in this supplement...you just want to watch your overall intake (diet and supplements). Your liver supplements (I think one has that) would have copper and other minerals as well.

If you want to check the Upper Tolerable Dosages for various things, I like the Pauling Institute for this--they have very good and accurate information. Again, I don't see anything problematic in amounts at first glance (I do not like the anemia one as I mentioned because of the combinations of minerals). You'll just want to make sure with other supplements (particularly if you do a multi) and diet combined you're not too high in the ones that can be problematic.

On probiotics--do you have a good company? I like Klaire labs. We use culturelle, epicore, and florastor here if you want "big guns" for probiotics. Lifestyle stuff and the rest sounds fine (less multi suggestion) to me.
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