bloodwork monitoring
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 3:37 pm
welp i've been feeling a bit on the crap side and some of the answers are coming in now. most levels look great; the main news so far is serum magnesium on the low side of normal. looks like some regimen juggling is in order!
update: high normal ferritin and copper with low normal zinc. see this is why you need data not guesswork. i was imagining i was tired from low ferritin. not even close. bring on the zinc!!
dec 11 update (background: had had some significant challenges starting at the end of october - coincidentally, just before/as the bloodwork results came in - into early december, mainly sudden onset right-sided spasticity and right-sided head to toe numbness):
off to the doc first thing tomorrow. still working hard on the self care management details, as informed by last tests.
subjectively everything keeps getting better day by day. daily waking fatigue cleared up first. then the right sided spasticity/numbness, although pre-existing chronic paresthesia (not ms origin) - is still present. i had been feeling confident about driving again for a long time, but had first opportunity to try it today. no probs
dec 18 update:
got the new requisition. not without a bit of push back from the relatively new-to-me doc. but i have it in hand, and we shall see what fruit my recent efforts may have borne. subjectively, things are much better now to see if updated data matches how i feel.
jan 20 update:
great news from the lab way better zinc and ferritin status after corrective efforts in nov dec and early jan. improved copper-zinc ratio (see 4th/last study in viewtopic.php?t=30764&start=105#p255324), with room to do even better.
jan 30 update:
still all on the up and up. have done more research to assess how long will be safe at higher than usual zinc intakes. will go back to the doc in a couple months. might ask for the new requisition then, even if i don't run the tests till a bit later on.
feb 8 reflection:
overall, this experience of spasticity was unlike any previous. maddening. glad it's long gone now. magnesium might have contributed somewhat to improvements last year, but it was clearly not the main player.
feb 28 update:
weird! i had started to run low on zinc so was down to one a day (in addition to the multi) for a bit. noticed a couple of symptoms that i now am clear are linked to my zinc status. since i stocked up and bumped up the daily dose, things seem better. whew!
apr 10 update:
so alongside everything else, last yr at physical my doc found a lump and sent me for first super fun mammogram and ultrasound, results of which indicated possible concerns to revisit with a follow up in 6 months. after that came the events described above - the unsatisfactory bloodwork results in oct, followed by the whole annoying episode in nov-dec, and a whole lot of targeted supplemental nutrition effort. then in jan, feeling better, improved bloodwork. last month, the 6 month followup ultrasound. and finally, as of yesterday, results relayed on the phone by my doc. all clear. i would have been okay if not thrilled with no ominous change. instead, nothing abnormal whatsoever. love it.
apr 30 was the last day of high-ish dosing zinc (couple pills plus a couple multis) until i can get some updated bloodwork.
as of yesterday, i'm back to standard daily upper limit via supplements for the forseeable future.
update: high normal ferritin and copper with low normal zinc. see this is why you need data not guesswork. i was imagining i was tired from low ferritin. not even close. bring on the zinc!!
dec 11 update (background: had had some significant challenges starting at the end of october - coincidentally, just before/as the bloodwork results came in - into early december, mainly sudden onset right-sided spasticity and right-sided head to toe numbness):
off to the doc first thing tomorrow. still working hard on the self care management details, as informed by last tests.
subjectively everything keeps getting better day by day. daily waking fatigue cleared up first. then the right sided spasticity/numbness, although pre-existing chronic paresthesia (not ms origin) - is still present. i had been feeling confident about driving again for a long time, but had first opportunity to try it today. no probs
dec 18 update:
got the new requisition. not without a bit of push back from the relatively new-to-me doc. but i have it in hand, and we shall see what fruit my recent efforts may have borne. subjectively, things are much better now to see if updated data matches how i feel.
jan 20 update:
great news from the lab way better zinc and ferritin status after corrective efforts in nov dec and early jan. improved copper-zinc ratio (see 4th/last study in viewtopic.php?t=30764&start=105#p255324), with room to do even better.
jan 30 update:
still all on the up and up. have done more research to assess how long will be safe at higher than usual zinc intakes. will go back to the doc in a couple months. might ask for the new requisition then, even if i don't run the tests till a bit later on.
feb 8 reflection:
overall, this experience of spasticity was unlike any previous. maddening. glad it's long gone now. magnesium might have contributed somewhat to improvements last year, but it was clearly not the main player.
feb 28 update:
weird! i had started to run low on zinc so was down to one a day (in addition to the multi) for a bit. noticed a couple of symptoms that i now am clear are linked to my zinc status. since i stocked up and bumped up the daily dose, things seem better. whew!
apr 10 update:
so alongside everything else, last yr at physical my doc found a lump and sent me for first super fun mammogram and ultrasound, results of which indicated possible concerns to revisit with a follow up in 6 months. after that came the events described above - the unsatisfactory bloodwork results in oct, followed by the whole annoying episode in nov-dec, and a whole lot of targeted supplemental nutrition effort. then in jan, feeling better, improved bloodwork. last month, the 6 month followup ultrasound. and finally, as of yesterday, results relayed on the phone by my doc. all clear. i would have been okay if not thrilled with no ominous change. instead, nothing abnormal whatsoever. love it.
apr 30 was the last day of high-ish dosing zinc (couple pills plus a couple multis) until i can get some updated bloodwork.
as of yesterday, i'm back to standard daily upper limit via supplements for the forseeable future.