Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 4:57 am
hi alicia, i don't know if they would test your nutrients in the usual course of things, even in what they call 'complete' bloodwork. maybe they would do b12 but i think that's about it. possibly iron but not necessarily!
anyway. for both of you it might help to have some nutrient numbers.
i think d3 is a more important test than iron or zinc (although both of those are worth knowing too - zinc is low in ms-ers and zn really helps your liver do super important stuff like processing ammonia into uric acid [antioxidant] status up into the optimal range). looks like selenium is important too and low selenium (a typical finding in ms) can elevate your T4.
i have only just started getting selenium tests done myself but i have a decent handle on the d3 aspect. if you can get your hands on some d3 numbers that would be a very good starting place. d3 is typically quite low in ms-ers and you want to be at least 100nmol/L (or equivalent in other units - the number's about 40 but i can't remember the actual unit part off the top of my head)
personally i aim for 150 nmol/L myself. the other day i think it was peekaboo posted an article where a particular source is advising at least 150 for d3 status. you don't want to go over 250 though as you start to see patients getting hypercalcemia when d3 is that high.
these are for fish and rats but you can see the implications...:
Diets deficient in vitamin D effected a significant increase in plasma triiodothyronine (T3) concentration in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri); different levels of dietary calcium exerted no effect on plasma T3 levels. These effects of vitamin D deficiency on plasma T3 levels appeared to be reversible, vitamin D supplementation after a period of vitamin D deficiency lowered T3 levels... vitamin D3 appeared to be more effective than vitamin D2... Plasma T4 levels were not affected by dietary vitamin D deficiency.
In selenium-deficient rats, peripheral T4 to T3 conversion is markedly decreased ...Despite the marked increase in circulating T4 that results ...serum T3 concentrations in selenium- deficient rats remain in the normal range. In euthyroid rats, selenium deficiency caused the expected loss of 5'D-I, with a 52% increase in serum T4...
anyway. for both of you it might help to have some nutrient numbers.
i think d3 is a more important test than iron or zinc (although both of those are worth knowing too - zinc is low in ms-ers and zn really helps your liver do super important stuff like processing ammonia into uric acid [antioxidant] status up into the optimal range). looks like selenium is important too and low selenium (a typical finding in ms) can elevate your T4.
i have only just started getting selenium tests done myself but i have a decent handle on the d3 aspect. if you can get your hands on some d3 numbers that would be a very good starting place. d3 is typically quite low in ms-ers and you want to be at least 100nmol/L (or equivalent in other units - the number's about 40 but i can't remember the actual unit part off the top of my head)
personally i aim for 150 nmol/L myself. the other day i think it was peekaboo posted an article where a particular source is advising at least 150 for d3 status. you don't want to go over 250 though as you start to see patients getting hypercalcemia when d3 is that high.
these are for fish and rats but you can see the implications...:
Diets deficient in vitamin D effected a significant increase in plasma triiodothyronine (T3) concentration in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri); different levels of dietary calcium exerted no effect on plasma T3 levels. These effects of vitamin D deficiency on plasma T3 levels appeared to be reversible, vitamin D supplementation after a period of vitamin D deficiency lowered T3 levels... vitamin D3 appeared to be more effective than vitamin D2... Plasma T4 levels were not affected by dietary vitamin D deficiency.
In selenium-deficient rats, peripheral T4 to T3 conversion is markedly decreased ...Despite the marked increase in circulating T4 that results ...serum T3 concentrations in selenium- deficient rats remain in the normal range. In euthyroid rats, selenium deficiency caused the expected loss of 5'D-I, with a 52% increase in serum T4...