This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

If one is having trouble getting enough magnesium, I always highly recommend one of the topical forms of magnesium because they:
1) do not cause stool softening
2) do not depend on the digestive system for absorption - digestive issue? NO problem for Mg that is absorbed though the skin
3) allow one to get a lot more Mg into their system

THX1138

Lab results still not in >:(

Jimmy,
What are your thoughts on lactoferrin? Iron is still doing the funny thing in my head so I was wondering if my tibc is down...sending free iron everywhere when I supplement. Do you suppose lactoferrin might help? How would you get your binding capacity up? Don't really want to go to germville for more blood tests...would rather just test the lactoferrin.

heya, I have a couple deadlines to worry about so won't be able to do much til next week or even the week after. in the meantime, a first thought..

Zinc status relates to hematological deficits in middle-aged women
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9627918
"Normocytic anemia with low TIBC levels may serve as a good indicator of a marginal Zn deficiency"

Good thing I got zinc tested. Might make sense as my zinc was good when I started supplementing iron and it didn't give me funny head. Maybe it went low...

Happy rushing to meet your deadlines!

would make sense - I am sooo tired and I don't understand what to do for my deadline tomo :S arg

jimmylegs wrote:would make sense - I am sooo tired and I don't understand what to do for my deadline tomo :S arg

Take a break?? Do something physical (how's the knee?). Maybe it would energize mind and body. Whatever you do, don't poll us. Lol

Doh! I continue to be difficult.

Vitamin d 27.6 should be easy to bring up
(calcitriol results delayed)
Zinc 135 high by one point. Bummer! That's w/o supplementing ('cept today and yesterday...Grrr!)
Mag (rbc) 5.7mg/whatever range 4.2-6.8
Iron 33 low by 2 pts
Ferritin 9! Lower than ever!
Uric acid 4.7
Calcium 9.5
Everything else boringly normal or irrelevant.

Off to buy lactoferrin.

that is so weird. ok so iron pills make you feel yicky, what about when you eat iron-rich foods? had any clams lately? I suppose it's too much to hope for, that you might have had a change of heart about spinach???

I do like spinach! Raw.

It is weird. I've not had clams lately...they aren't zincy are they? Haven't noticed any reaction to foods other than the salmon the other night. Odd that my iron is less out of whack than ferritin. I've got the lactoferrin so I'm going to give that a shot. It's got iron and it binds free iron too. We'll see what happens.

That mag level is good right?

heya! tough to get the volume you'd need with raw, but good idea to eat lots if you can with vit c foods of course
clams aren't as zinc-y, they definitely have an iron emphasis.
as for the mag. I can't tell you much when it comes to rbc tests. most of what I read has to do with serum. I think I recall there being a study or two looking at rbc levels in healthy controls but I don't think I added it to the summary page, so would have to hunt them down again in order to provide comment on your result.

A quick google yields rbc mag <6.0 is deficient. 6.5 is optimal. Claims weren't linked to any studies. I can work on it while getting iron and ferritin up. I think d3 will have to wait.

I think I've got to find a way to supplement just iron as my big iron rich foods are usually zinc rich too and I don't want high zinc! I've read the lactoferrin should work with iron supplement if ferritin is too low so I'm trying just the lactoferrin on its own and will add iron if nothing weird happens. If weirdness prevails, I'll get checked for hypothyroidism even though I don't think I have that issue.

Lactoferrin bonus? It's antibacterial, anti-viral, and antioxidant. Couldn't find anything about it being bad or good for msers.

Back to work, you!

good ol google eat yer spinach hehe! it's definitely not zinc rich. and clams are definitely iron first, zinc distant second.

Welp. I blew another theory. My ferritin is lower than ever at 9 and my calcitriol is down in the normal range at 64.3. Huh. Will probably retry vitamin d after done dorking around with lactoferrin (so far so good).

Jimmy,
Perhaps you could make my insane numbers a special project for your advanced class. This has to make sense somehow!

More weirdness for you...

I tried the lactoferrin with my usual iron supplement and got funny head again. So I stopped the lactoferrin and changed iron supplements to one with heme iron and didn't get funny head but started feeling worn out after working even if I tripled the dose. It wasn't working as far as I could tell. I added 3mg/day copper and changed back to the funny head iron supplement. My hands feel much more normal. I'm not getting worn out. And I'm not getting funny head. It's only been a few days so maybe the funny head will return. Maybe my copper level went low and that's why the iron that was working started giving me funny head?

Copper is essential to iron absorption and transport AND remyelination. Low copper causes neuro symptoms as well. I wonder if we shouldn't be a bit more reverent of our copper levels and careful with zinc dosing. I've only taken low doses of zinc balanced with copper sporadically (15 zinc, 1.5 copper) and have been able to get decent zinc/copper levels without diet changes. (May have been influenced by rituxan since my zinc was low by Jimmylegs standards prior to it. Post rituxan my zinc gradually went high with very little and seldom taken zinc supplement. I did not measure copper last round so I have no idea where it is).

Take that with the grain of salt that should accompany any of my thinkings.

nice detective work definitely could be a copper issue - it's something I like to measure when I do other bloodwork. when was your last copper test anon, and what was the result?