Deficient in all B vitamins, what does it mean?

[mkat83]

I just had some testing done with a very alternative osteopath.  I suspected I had some digestion/gut issues, and I wanted some help figuring things out.  My main motivation for looking into this is to help my DS who is 9.5 months old and ebf.  He's had various reactions for most of his life that I've been trying to sort out.

Anyhow, the most surprising thing that came back was that I am WAY deficient in almost all the B vitamins: B1, B2, B3, B6, B7, B9, and B12.  Yikes!  I am also very deficient in Vit. C, a-Lipoic Acid, and Zinc.  I am borderline in Vit. A, Vit. E, Magnesium, Manganese, and Molybdenum.

I eat a pretty good diet, a lot of whole food, traditional food.  Little processed food, lots of grass-fed meats, eggs, etc.  Based on my diet, the dr thinks I am not absorbing nutrients like I should.  I asked what causes this and how to fix it, and I didn't get much of a response.  He seemed to say that you can't really fix this-- you either absorb or you don't.  I don't buy that.

I've read some on B12 and intrinsic factor.  I need some help figuring out where to go from here to naturally (or as naturally as possible) start to fix my problems with absorbing.  

For now, I am going to be doing a vit B complex injection every other week for 3 months, and I'm going to supplement a-Lipoic Acid and Zinc.  I took Rainbow Light prenatal vitamins before and all through my pregnancy, but I quit taking them several months ago.  Not sure why I quit taking them, but I'm going to start them back up for good measure and because I still have a lot left.  

I haven't don't and research into B deficiency and nursing yet, but is it possible that I'm deficient because I'm nursing?  Like the baby is sucking all the vitamins out of me, lol?

I also had some IgG testing, and only showed high sensitivities to a few things (all beans) and very low or low to a few other various things.

If anyone has any insights, I'd appreciate it!

[sbgrace]

What kind of test was this? A blood test or something else? Do you have the lab slips/levels.

If you had a blood test and deficiency in all that I would be quite concerned. I'd be concerned enough I'd be asking for further testing (celiac testing for sure...maybe see GI for checking for other major issues that could damage absorption to that degree). But I'm not sure what test you had/how accurate this determination might be.

If it's accurate I'd supplement (a good zinc is optizinc, you have the injections, you can take folapro and a good b12 additionally if you'd like)

I'd look into ALA before supplementing. I'm not sure if it has some chelation properties. If it does I would not do it while nursing.

I'm really wondering what kind of test this was especially if you're getting injections in office (why not a pill you can get on your own) and if he's selling you the supplements.

If you're malabsorbing I'd look into digestive enzymes (houston are good) and maybe increasing stomach acid too (really low b12 would be a stomach acid issue I guess if you're not vegetarian). I'd also consider a stool test--metametrix comprehensive stool test maybe--to see if it can tell you if there might be an infection (bacteria or parasite) involved or low IgA or similar cause that might be treated.

[mkat83]

The test was called NutrEval from Genova Diagnostic.http://www.gdx.net/product/10051  It involved blood as well as urine sample.  (I was also tested for food sensitivities and a few other things, so I wasn't really sure which ones were using the urine and which were using the blood, but I think they drew at least 10 vials of blood!)  I do have copies of all the results.  Its like a book!

Celiac and wheat sensitivity were both something I was also tested for, but that came up negative.

The injections I am administering to myself after being given in office instruction.  (Wasn't nearly as bad giving myself a shot as I anticipated.)  The doctor wasn't pushy at all and told me I could try taking oral supplements if I wanted, or I could go the route of injections.  Since absorbption seems to be an issue for me, I knew the oral route might not be effective, so I opted for the injections.  The cost of the injections seemed like it would end up being comparable to purchasing supplements as well.

I've re-started up my digestive enzymes (had a bottle, just wasn't taking them regularly) and I will look into the stomach acid issue.  How do I go about increasing that?

Thanks for the ALA info.  I will definitely check on that before taking any.

I'm also now looking into seeing an ND to see if he can help me take this a bit farther since this can be difficult to sort out alone.

[sbgrace]

I haven't heard of that lab. If those low levels were blood, though, I'd be concerned and looking for the why for that degree of malabsorption. I'd be less inclined to be concerned if they were urine. I can't imagine how you'd get an accurate picture of vitamin levels in urine. I'm thinking they were blood, hoping for you they weren't.

I hope that ND is really helpful! If your all those are low I bet you're going to feel good when you get them corrected.

I just thought--have you had a 25 (OH) D test for vitamin D levels? If not you would want that done particularly since you're nursing.

[mkat83]

I'm thinking it must have been via the blood.  The results I have are pages and pages.  I'm sure if I studied them very carefully, I would find out which things were done via blood and which were via urine.  Actually, just looking at the test info on the website, it says, "the Amino Acids are measured in a convenient first-morning urine collection" so I guess everything else may have been via blood.

We saw the ND yesterday, but it was primarily an appointment for my son.  The appointment for me isn't until later this month, although we did talk about me a little.  

So far, no docs have been terribly alarmed.  I seem to be the one most alarmed.  It doesn't appear that my D levels were tested this time around, but I did have them tested before I got pregnant, and they were low.  Since then, I've been supplementing with D3 as well as taking FCLO, and being more diligent about getting out in the sun when the weather permits.  I'm probably still a little deficient, but hopefully not nearly as bad as I once was.

In doing some more research the last few days, I think the low zinc may be at play with interrupting my stomach acid and digestion process, which may be leading to absorbption issues.  For a long time I've felt like my digestion was not good, and I've been slowly working on trying to improve it.  So maybe that will be a key to solving things.  Unfortunately, solving this isn't going nearly as quickly as I would like!  I hate having to take a million supplements, but hopefully supplements will help get things back on track.

Thanks ladies for the feedback.  My biggest fear is that if I am deficient, it will be hurting my son as well.  Hopefully its more a matter of him sucking all the vitamins out of me!

[sbgrace]

Optizinc is a really good zinc supplement. It's much better absorbed than other forms. Maybe that is your key!