Blood test results

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SARABAND
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Blood test results

Post by SARABAND »

Hi everyone,
I have MS since 11 years ago. Had two relapses over these years with full recovery and have never taken any medication (despite my neurologist's advice)

Since 1 year ago I have changed dramatically my diet: No gluten, no dairy, no red meat, loads of vegetables, little sugar and calcium. Swim 3/4 days a week, pilates, mindfulness and take few supplements on a daily basis:

Vit D 10000uI since 3 months ago (before that 2000uI)
DHA 500 (2-3 )
Lactoferrin 300mg
Magnesium (citrate)600 mg
Zinc 15mg
Curcumin
Ginger
Ginkgo biloba 120mg (on and off)

Today I got my blood test results and are as follows:(reference values)

Vit D : 76ng/ml (>20ng/ml) ( was 40 three months ago when I was taking 2000uI)
Mg :2.0mg/dl (1.4-2.4)
Zinc : 83.5ug/dl (60-150)
Calcium: 9.6 mg/dl (8.2-10.6)
Albumin: 4.1 g/dl (3.5-5.2)
K: 4.7mEq/l (3.5-5.1)
Vit A : 0.54 mg/l (0.3-0.7)
vit B12 : 359 pg/ml (211-911)
Vit E : 11.5 mcg/ml (5-20)
PTH ( intact parathyroid hormone): 22pg/ml ( 15-65)

I was expecting vit D to be higher after 3 months of taking 10000units ( it has increased 36ng/ml). Not sure if I was correct assuming that or it is more than an acceptable increase.

I have also noticed that since not eating red meat (I do eat poultry) vit B12 has dropped as well as haemoglobin (13.3g/dl). Maybe I should add Vit B12 to the list?

I have been reading several posts regarding the connexions amongst Vit D, PTH, Mg, Zn, Ca but having into consideration my blood results, do you think I should modify my daily intakes in any way?

Any ideas are more than welcome
Many thanks and have a wonderful weekend!
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jimmylegs
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Re: Blood test results

Post by jimmylegs »

hi sara. excellent detail on your provided info.

magnesium looks low; to match healthy controls aim for 2.3-2.7 mg/dl. deficiency exists within most of the reference range. some studies show healthy subjects with levels as high as 3.2 mg/dl. toxicity begins closer to 4.0 (don't have specifics at fingertips atm)

mag supplement form (citrate) not optimal for absorption. consider magnesium glycinate.

magnesium status is a limiting factor for d3 absorption/utilization. throwing high dose d3 into a low mag body system can waste both time, and money spent on both the lower quality mag and the higher dose d3. at 2.0 mg/dl you may be symptomatic for mag deficiency.

might be an idea to drop back to 2000 IU of d3 per day for a while, do some background work on d3 cofactors, and see what improving your overall nutrient status might do in support of an improved d3 level. three months of high dose d3 with middling quality mag will have been safe enough, but you want to monitor carefully. i and others have suffered the consequences of not doing so, and they are unpleasant.

excellent that you have a zinc level. .83 also low - a match for levels seen in ms patients. with a better level, you can expect to be able to consume modest amounts of gluten or dairy. to match healthy controls, aim for serum zinc 120 ug/dl.
with more zinc on board, you can expect improvements to d3 and to b12 status.
more specific info is needed re your 15mg zinc regimen

b12 is certainly on the low side. quality red meat is not the bad guy - excess and low quality are more problematic. we risk losing the baby with the bathwater when we cut out certain whole foods entirely. one 3oz serving per week of grass fed beef or game will have benefits that extend beyond those available via an isolated b12 supplement. eg will contribute health omega 3s (not if grain fed, mind you)

vitamin E: what form? it's the ratio of alpha to gamma that is of interest (why vit E should come first from dense food sources and if needed in supplement form, from a natural source natural ratio E8 complex containing all 4 tocopherols and tocotrienols.

per an old ms protocol, hemoglobin should be at least 13 so your level does look borderline. i would expect red meat (and other dietary iron / vit C sources) to improve hemoglobin levels, but not b12.

other than that as for the regimen pls consider a high quality multivitamin and multimineral.
and check if you can get a referral or just sort out an appointment with a dietitian, to help ensure that your dietary routine will allow you to meet daily recommendations. in prep for that, you can start on a journal of foods, fluids, any meds and supplements. content should read like a recipe, not a menu.

hope all that helps!
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SARABAND
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Re: Blood test results

Post by SARABAND »

Hi jimmylegs,
Many thanks for your prompt and detailed response. It is much appreciated.

Magnesium: I was advised that Mg citrate was highly absorbable .Taking atm PhiNaturals Mg citrate but do not feel much at all. Felt much more energized with other brands. I shall discontinue it and try glycinate instead. Any good brand Mg stearate free if possible?

As for Zinc, taking every other day 30mg of Now Zn glycinate. I shall take at least 1 daily to see if I manage to up its level.

Vit E form is Alfa-tocoferol, which seems to be ok 11.5mcg/ml

I forgot to mention that Copper level is 81.6 ug/dl (80-155) which seems a bit borderline. And Uric Acid seems a bit low too: 2.3mg/dl (2.4-5.7)- just read your post regarding the association of low uric acid levels with endothelial dysfunction..

I shall take your advice and get a good quality multivitamin and mineral ,some red meat at least once a week and nutritional advice.

I used to have chronic paresthesias, a weird feeling of pins and needles,in both my limbs and since I started these nutritional adjustments they have disappeared completely. I have been really strict about it, maybe it is time to be a bit more lenient and see what happens!

Kind regards and thank you!
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jimmylegs
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Re: Blood test results

Post by jimmylegs »

no probs.

re mag i started with oxide (was so depleted from high dose d3 it was like a miracle at first, lifesaving, but only at low doses - otherwise, nightmare). then moved on to citrate, then bisglycinate (yikes did that wrong) and finally over past decade, have settled on glycinate.

i've tried higher doses of both citrate and glycinate. my personal xp/tmi: with citrate, it's the runs - a marker of poor bioavailability. with glycinate, it's sluggish muscles - that stuff is *reallllly* absorbing.

you don't need to quit mag citrate, keep it and take at same time as any d3 supplement. the d3 will 'use it up' in interactions, and then you can take the glycinate at a different time - for absorption and the sake the other few hundred of your body's mag needs (aside from just dealing with d3).

at the moment i use orange naturals mag glycinate. i use the gelcaps which have mag stearate but the straight powder is mag stearate free
http://orangenaturals.com/essential/mag ... te-powder/

re vit E. is it l-alpha tocopherol or dl-alpha tocopherol. either way, alpha tocopherol on its own messes with natural vit E ratios in your system, interfering with the tumour suppressing activity of other important vit E fractions. if you ever hear that vit E causes cancer, the comment likely stems from the SELECT trial in which they were using isolated synthetic alpha tocopherol instead of a natural source, natural ratio product. shortly after dx i had great improvements from a older megadose multinutrient therapy which included isolated alpha tocopherol. it helped and was safe enough in the short term (main benefits were felt in three days but i kept it up till the bottles of everything were done). these days i emphasize vit E rich foods, and if i take a supplement it is definitely an E8 complex.

re zinc, if copper is low you'll need to be careful. your levels for both are typical for ms patients and to match healthy controls, consider pushing copper up to around 115 while kicking the zinc up to 120.

zinc interacts with copper. when i was zinc deficient, adding zinc somehow helped copper come up with it. but zinc excess is a problem too - high zinc intakes over time can deplete copper. another balancing act.

your copper zinc ratio is decent (target 0.7-1.0; yours is ~81/83 so about .98, good. they say the ratio is more important than the level, but only to a point. too low is just too low.

to get the benefits of both zinc and copper, and avoid any risk associated with zinc use alone, blended products are helpful. i am not familiar with your zinc product but my current one is also by now foods - L-Opti zinc. has some copper, it's a bit below 25:1 zinc copper ratio which i would prefer, but i'm diligent about consuming a variety of nutrient dense foods to provide both zn and cu in their natural context as well. <2020 update> over time i have learned that concerns with copper depletion resulting from high zinc intake tend to involve intakes well over 50 mg per day (ie 100-300mg per day) for at least a year. i used blended copper zinc for a long time and now getting my copper levels down where i want them in relation to zinc is looking like a long term project.</2020 update>

OUCH that uric acid level is LOWWWW. as i think you'll have noted from the other post, to match healthy controls aim for more like 4.5-5. improving zinc (carefully) should help push things in the right direction. i'll be interested to see any future bloodwork results if you pop back in.

your symptoms were worth taking action for, and your dietary changes will have allowed for improved nutrient absorption BUT in the long term moderation, nutrient dense food choices, careful attention to beneficial food combinations and preparations, plus supplementation if and as needed, can definitely allow for a little more food flexibility and freedom. clarification re the red meat - avoid anything processed!
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SARABAND
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Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2014 4:47 am

Re: Blood test results

Post by SARABAND »

Hello jimmylegs,

I will do so: I will alternate both Mg forms. Will make sure I get Mg glycinate. as well as L-Opti zinc.

As for Vit E it only says Alfa-tocoferol. I don´t supplement it, I get it from food. I do consume everyday half avocado as I was adviced to do so.

Not sure why I have such low Uric acid..I do consume quite some shellfish, prawns, salmon, tuna..

Another odd value :triglycerides. Six months ago I had 74 mg/dl , three months ago it went down to 51mg/dl and now I only have 27 mg/ml. Not sure if the increase of Vit D from 2000uI to 10000uI has something to do with this in any way.. If I continue this exponential trend I will have none in three months time!

Thanks again. You are very helpful!
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jimmylegs
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Re: Blood test results

Post by jimmylegs »

hi again, all sounding good :)

ah i didn't look closely enough at labwork vs regimen for the vit E; sunflower seeds are another great dietary source.

among shellfish, i think it's really only oysters that are profoundly rich sources of zinc. by working on zinc in part to increase uric acid, we support the krebs cycle and the body's ability to bring *down* toxic serum ammonia levels. i don't think anyone's yet looked at serum zinc, serum ammonia, and multiple sclerosis all in one study, however.

looks like a reasonable idea re high d3 affecting triglycerides. sounds beneficial but only up to a point right! definitely a good one to keep an eye on.

http://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com ... S0261-5614(14%2900254-4/abstract

ttfn!
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