Topic: I'm Beginning to Think Supplements are a Waste of $$$
seekhelp
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 15067
posted
Upon the advice of a holistic doctor, I started supplementing 6,000 IU of Vit D3 per day. The product is Bio-Mulsion D. My Vit D levels were always borderline low - 23 if 25-70 was normal range or maybe 29..you get the idea.
After 2.5 months of taking 6,000 IU a day, I had my Vit D tested again through LabCorp. Normal range is 30-100. Mine was 35. My doc was stating how well absorbed this product is.
It makes me wonder if all vitamins/herbs are just flushed out of our system. it's nice to see verifiable results at times too.
Posts: 7545 | From The 5th Dimension - The Twilight Zone | Registered: Mar 2008
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cactus
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7347
posted
It is frustrating to see such slow progress.
I've been taking Vit D for a while - and not seeing huge jumps either. I started out low, and have increased to borderline low, now I think I'm on the low end of normal.
Each time I get a low result, LLMD Rx's 50,000 IU once a week for a month, along with my usual 2000 per day.
Not sure if this is normal for others or if you and I are just going very slowly...
-------------------- �Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?� - A.A. Milne Posts: 1987 | From No. VA | Registered: May 2005
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aklnwlf
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5960
posted
I'm on 50,000 once a week too.
-------------------- Do not take this as medical advice. This comment is based on opinion and personal experience only.
Alaska Lone Wolf Posts: 6138 | From Columbus, GA | Registered: Jul 2004
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METALLlC BLUE
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 6628
posted
Your thoughts are both correct and false. What is at stake isn't the supplement market as a whole (all supplements) but rather individual manufacturers. How can you tell the good from the bad?
What matters is who is making the product, what are their standards and intentions?
There are a lot of excellent supplements that do in-fact work, but you have to do your homework and research them carefully. Vitacost offers you the ability to review reports from people who used various supplements that you may be interested in. Those which are ineffective and don't work, are usually given the rating they deserve. They're held accountable, and their product will not sell for long if people see that others are having negative experiences!
The same goes for doctors. If you've had a lot of bad experiences with physicians, then you may have grown cynical and unhappy with your level of care and that could bleed into your future. Websites like ratemd.com provide you with the opportunity to read directly what patients had to say about their experience with doctors.
I have a list of physicians who treat Lyme Disease and associated diseases. A number of years ago I felt that what was missing was that very need, ratings. Patients have a right to hear the experiences of other patients. They have a right to ask questions, to have their expectations respected and discussed. For too long supplements have gone "unchecked" -- accountability has been nearly nonexistent.
Not only did I feel that patient reports(ratings) were necessary for the LLMD list, but I felt physicians who "associate" with LLMD's -- who are "Lyme Friendly" -- be listed and rated. How many of us looked for a specialist in a particular disease that was associated with our infection (i.e. M.S. Lupus, Chronic Fatigue), but couldn't find someone to zero in and provide options and treatments to help us manage symptoms and provide us with a better quality of life while the underlying infection was treated by the LLMD?
And what about questions? Even if you do find a doctor, and you know the experience of other patients, what about your own ability to sample the service? Well, I drew up a tips list for patients so they could ask questions. Call the LLMD, challenge them -- tell them "I want to talk to you before I waste my time and money to come in and consult you in an actual appointment!" Ask the office questions "Does the doctor see patients with this disease? How does he/she feel about that disease? Do you accept my insurance? Will I be treated with compassion? Would you see this doctor if your kids, husband, boyfriend or loved ones were ill with this particular illness?
You have a right....
Research your supplements carefully and ask people a lot of questions before you accept buying and then putting something into your body.
-------------------- I am not a physician, so do your own research to confirm any ideas given and then speak with a health care provider you trust.
GiGi
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 259
posted
The best thing I ever did was getting a Biotensor, and learn how to use it. You will know almost instantly what your body needs and likes and what it does not need at this time. You will also be able to establish the dose - for the day. You will know when your body has enough.
I have posted about this many times. Many people coming in to see Dr. K. for testing of their supplements are finding out how bad some are for them and what the body really needs and wants. He uses ART for that. You can do that at home at a fraction of the cost - with a good biotensor.
We have literally discontinued the majority of supplements. I don't take any at all, except on rare occasions. My husband still takes some for binding/liver/drainage support. Biochemistry is not the solution to many problems. Mosdt of it does not find its way to where it is needed. And you are right, a lot of it goes down the drain.
I had an x-ray taken when I had some back problems, now a long time ago. The tablets were still visible in the x-ray down below, ready for departure at my next bathroom visit - totally undissolved.
There are other threads on Biotensor use - you may want to read them.
Good luck and take care.
Posts: 9834 | From Washington State | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Good Points Mike - Also ask the new doctor - Do you treat new Lyme - or Chronic Lyme. Some say they treat Lyme - but use IDSA guidelines and treat for only 14-20 days and say you are cured.
Also be aware of some vitamins shipped in from over seas containing metal in them - especially nickel. Be careful with imports from China and go with a reputable supplier. Vitacost has been a good source for me and has reasonable prices. -p
Posts: 641 | From So. CA | Registered: May 2008
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Hoosiers51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15759
posted
My chiropractor muscle tests me on my supplements, and I tested well for the NOW brand Vitamin D3. They are teeny tiny softgels.
I didn't test well for another D3 supplement. She said the NOW brand was probably testing well because of the soybean and corn oil in the capsules (they are technically "soft gels"), which might be helping the D3 be absorbed or stay fresh or something.
Just something to keep in mind. So if you can, maybe go for the swishy ones that look like those Vit E pills that are so common. It you crack them open, they ooze out oil. I think that makes sense, i hope.
Posts: 4590 | From Midwest | Registered: Jun 2008
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Cass A
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11134
posted
If you have a dysregulated Vit D metabolism, your 25D--which is the only test you're getting--will continue to be low.
You could be giving yourself hypervitaminosis-D, or have it already as a result of systemic infection.
The solution probably is not more vit D supplements.
You could get your 1,25 D tested.
Best,
Cass A
Posts: 1245 | From Thousand Oaks, CA | Registered: Feb 2007
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Lauralyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15021
posted
A possibility that supplements are not being absorbed is acidosis in the body.
We are all extremly acidic.....I think a possible key in getting well is reversing the acidity and becoming more alkaline.
Google acidosis and especially notice the symptoms...very similar to lyme symptoms. It's easy to blame everything on lyme when it is other systems malfunctioning/compensating.
-------------------- Fall down seven times, get up eight ~Japanese proverb Posts: 1146 | From west coast | Registered: Mar 2008
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djf2005
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 11449
posted
gigi-
HOW DO YOU USE A BIOTENSOR?
the movies on you tube make no sense.
some old guy waving a wand, wants us to believe the wand picks the pattern of up or down which= positive or negative and then should be applied to the product in question?? is this how it works?
derek
-------------------- "Experience is not what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you."
they cost me $1,000 and NONE of the 22 supplements helped me at all in 6 months usage.
left me with fatigue, and fatigue is MUCH WORSE NOW!
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Tracy9
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7521
posted
When I was extremely ill in January/February, I was literally too weak/sick to lay out my supplements when the ones I had in the pill containers ran out. Therefore I didnt' take any for two months.
I did not notice a single bit of difference.
However, I am currently swallowing over 60 pills a day just to be on the safe side.....but as these run out I will surely discontinue lots of them.
13 years Lyme & Co.; Small Fiber Neuropathy; Myasthenia Gravis, Adrenal Insufficiency. On chemo for 2 1/2 years as experimental treatment for MG. Posts: 4480 | From Northeastern Connecticut | Registered: Jun 2005
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posted
The best way to get vital nutrients is to let your body extract them from the foods that they naturally come in, if that food comes from a natural, organically maintained source. Any food that comes from the industrial complex, forget it.
Go to local farmers markets and identify those farmers who follow organic practices, ie: no pesticides or insecticides, no chemical fertilizers, only manure.
No hormones or antibiotics for livestock. No roxarsone(an arsenic compound) in chicken feed, it inhibits the growth of parasites in the chicken, but some gets absorbed into the bird and the rest goes into the chicken manure, which is then sold to farmers to manure their fields, tainting the soil. Truly organic food costs more, but when you are healthy, you need less of it.
The 50,000 IU vitamin D is most likely Drisdol, or vitamin D2, rather than D3 which we make from sunshine. It is almost completely worthless.
If you are having trouble raising your D level, it is imperative to figure out why. It could be underabsorption, as people with gut mucosal inflamation might have, it could be a distribution problem, as D is fat soluble and someone who is obese, might be drawing it into their fat compartment, or it is a consumption problem, which Cass alluded to; the D3 is rapidly turned into the 1,25 form due to overactivity of those enzymes.
Posts: 442 | From Biddeford, ME | Registered: Nov 2007
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