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Rebecca's Log
If you take vitamin D, make sure to check both forms of vitamin D, not just the inactive form. One test doesn't tell the whole picture and is misleading.
@viktor thank you for the suggestions. I was scared of eating a lot of things now (especially cheese & yogurt). I picked some cheese and non-fat yogurt up last night (this yogurt said 0mcg/IU vA from what I found when searching). I ate small amounts of low fat shredded mozzarella, low fat cottage cheese, and the non-fat yogurt. Let me tell you, I felt great this morning! Don't know if it's placebo or not... I felt a little weird in the head while eating the cottage cheese, but I ate SLOWLY and stopped when I felt like I had enough. I'm going to start off eating cheese every other day to see how that works. Anyway, thanks for the coaxing on that issue! 🙂
Question: I am taking around 2 magnesium flake baths a week and I've also started spraying magnesium oil under my arms in the morning and before bedtime (per my sister's direction lol). Does this help my magnesium or should I supplement? I eat cashews nearly every day, and I eat almonds a few times a week (but in small doses). I also eat brown rice, and I've started back incorporating black beans into the diet. Do I really need to supplement magnesium if I do all this?? Oh, and I just got some chia seeds last night also!
I don't know a thing about K2 so I'll research some K2 foods.
Recently been treated for vitamin D deficiency and was tested again, levels look good there... I have never heard of 2 kinds of vD (or inactive vD??)
Quote from Rebecca3 on February 7, 2024, 10:52 am@viktor thank you for the suggestions. I was scared of eating a lot of things now (especially cheese & yogurt). I picked some cheese and non-fat yogurt up last night (this yogurt said 0mcg/IU vA from what I found when searching). I ate small amounts of low fat shredded mozzarella, low fat cottage cheese, and the non-fat yogurt. Let me tell you, I felt great this morning! Don't know if it's placebo or not... I felt a little weird in the head while eating the cottage cheese, but I ate SLOWLY and stopped when I felt like I had enough. I'm going to start off eating cheese every other day to see how that works. Anyway, thanks for the coaxing on that issue! 🙂
Question: I am taking around 2 magnesium flake baths a week and I've also started spraying magnesium oil under my arms in the morning and before bedtime (per my sister's direction lol). Does this help my magnesium or should I supplement? I eat cashews nearly every day, and I eat almonds a few times a week (but in small doses). I also eat brown rice, and I've started back incorporating black beans into the diet. Do I really need to supplement magnesium if I do all this?? Oh, and I just got some chia seeds last night also!
I don't know a thing about K2 so I'll research some K2 foods.
Recently been treated for vitamin D deficiency and was tested again, levels look good there... I have never heard of 2 kinds of vD (or inactive vD??)
There are many forms of vitamin D but 2 main ones. The one that is routinely tested for is for the inactive form, 25 D. The other form is 1,25D. 1,25 D is the form that actually interacts with the vitamin D receptor.
You can have low 25D and normal or high 1,25D. A low 25D usually indicates that your body is activating an immune response by converting 25D to 1,25D.
Supplementing with D3 is immunosuppressive and counter productive.
I'm really glad you're doing fine with cheese, at the least with the first "dose" - knock on wood!
If you hit your upper limit faster than expected and start having symptoms, it's alright. We should expect our tolerance to be lower than most people without vitamin A issues, and you should be back to normal on a low A diet in a matter of days. It's reassuring to know that it's not like we CAN'T eat certain foods other folks can, the problem is that our sensitivity to them is potentially higher.
Per the magnesium question - I believe that magnesium salt baths and topical magnesium work. The real question is, how much do you get from it? I don't think there's a reliable way to tell that, and this is why I personally prefer magnesium pills. By the way, the cheap and much hated magnesium oxide is a great form with a high absorption rate (confirmed by studies), so supplementing magnesium isn't that costly. However, I can't take magnesium supplements more than several days in a row. Longer than that, and I start having low cortisol symptoms (sluggish, cold, slow digestion, low libido, apathy and lack of excitement). I eat plenty of sodium and calcium, those aren't much help in the long run. My serum and saliva cortisol are fine, though. I'm still going to figure out why I'm having this reaction to magnesium but I've found multiple posts on Reddit from people with the exact same problem.
I think if you are doing fine with the amount of magnesium you get from topical application, baths and diet (congrats on keeping it so healthy, by the way!), you're probably good to go.
As for vitamin d tests, what was your last reading? Please be sure to specify the units your lab uses. I want to hit 50 ng/mL, and then keep it at that level for some time. I have lots of mutations that prevent me from having adequate vitamin D levels according to my genetic testing, so I need to supplement higher doses. Even with taking 20-30k IU weekly, I can barely pass over 40 ng/mL. Now I'm totaling 50k IU of sublingual D3 a week. Honestly, I feel great right now. I'm convinced that it was my chronically low vitamin D levels that predisposed me to vitamin A toxicity in the first place. I live in a climate where we only get there-four sunny months a year, during which skin vitamin D synthesis is possible (daytime shadow smaller than one's height). It probably wouldn't help much anyway given my bad genetics with regard to vitamin D3. All doctors, even naturopathic ones, advised me to test the 25-OH D and base my intake on that.
Once again, if someone knows more about different forms of vitamin D or has a different experience, that's totally cool. I'm just saying that in my case upping my weekly vitamin D3 dosage seems almost like a game changer for now.
@armin I tested for 25D and my levels were 20.3 on Nov 17 and then 49.6 on Jan 18. My nurse practitioner gave me D2 to supplement (1 pill a week for 8 weeks). I was scared to take the full 8 pills because the ius seemed like a bit much for me, so I only took 6 pills. I am scared to death of vitamin toxicity now. I feel a little silly but I didn't want to take all 8 until I had another test to see the reading. Was it fruitless to take the D2?
@viktor I feel SO much better knowing I can consume a little cheese now. What a relief! I love cheese so much- I always say I never met a cheese I didn't like lol But yes, it is comforting to know that we can eat a little "normal" food, maybe not often, but sometimes. And I can live with that!
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little worried to even take supplements right now. I might just try taking a 1 or 2 magnesium pills a week. I don't think I need to take anything every day, as I already try to incorporate some nutrients in my diet already (some of those pills/supplements have always worried me, even before this happened to me. They seem a bit much.) Since I entered adulthood, I've always been interested in healthy food and some exercise, no matter how light. Kind of ironic because I've also struggled with drugs and alcohol... Not proud of it, but I've done much better for myself the last 9 years..!
I guess some people do need that many IU a week!! I would be scared to death lol I'm glad it is working for you!! My levels were (as mentioned to Armin) 20.3 ng/mL on Nov 17 2023 and then recently 49.6ng/ml last month. I only took 6 of the 8 vD2 pills she gave me because I wanted to see my levels first. They were 10,000 IU I believe. I'll have to go home and check the bottle. I'm a little worried about getting natural sunlight because I work inside 5 days a week literally all day, and then a lot of times on the weekends, it's either been freezing or raining. I seem to do much better in the summer and I try to go outside on the weekends more (I try to ride as much as I can).
I'm glad you are feeling much better! Thank you so much for the advice; I do listen 🙂
Quote from Rebecca3 on February 7, 2024, 4:01 pm@armin I tested for 25D and my levels were 20.3 on Nov 17 and then 49.6 on Jan 18. My nurse practitioner gave me D2 to supplement (1 pill a week for 8 weeks). I was scared to take the full 8 pills because the ius seemed like a bit much for me, so I only took 6 pills. I am scared to death of vitamin toxicity now. I feel a little silly but I didn't want to take all 8 until I had another test to see the reading. Was it fruitless to take the D2?
@viktor I feel SO much better knowing I can consume a little cheese now. What a relief! I love cheese so much- I always say I never met a cheese I didn't like lol But yes, it is comforting to know that we can eat a little "normal" food, maybe not often, but sometimes. And I can live with that!
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little worried to even take supplements right now. I might just try taking a 1 or 2 magnesium pills a week. I don't think I need to take anything every day, as I already try to incorporate some nutrients in my diet already (some of those pills/supplements have always worried me, even before this happened to me. They seem a bit much.) Since I entered adulthood, I've always been interested in healthy food and some exercise, no matter how light. Kind of ironic because I've also struggled with drugs and alcohol... Not proud of it, but I've done much better for myself the last 9 years..!
I guess some people do need that many IU a week!! I would be scared to death lol I'm glad it is working for you!! My levels were (as mentioned to Armin) 20.3 ng/mL on Nov 17 2023 and then recently 49.6ng/ml last month. I only took 6 of the 8 vD2 pills she gave me because I wanted to see my levels first. They were 10,000 IU I believe. I'll have to go home and check the bottle. I'm a little worried about getting natural sunlight because I work inside 5 days a week literally all day, and then a lot of times on the weekends, it's either been freezing or raining. I seem to do much better in the summer and I try to go outside on the weekends more (I try to ride as much as I can).
I'm glad you are feeling much better! Thank you so much for the advice; I do listen
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/health/vitamin-d-bone-fractures.html
Low 25D levels aren't the cause of your disease but rather a sign of your disease. Pumping up the levels of 25D will not and has not resulted in resolving any illnesses. 25D is low due to disease as the body turns it into 1,25D, the active form.
Vitamin D is really a hormone and your body really doesn't like you messing around with those. They are tightly regulated and dumping more into the system is just as bad as too much Vitamin A, potentially worse. It is immunosuppressive, so you may feel good temporarily.
Quote from Armin on February 7, 2024, 6:28 pmQuote from Rebecca3 on February 7, 2024, 4:01 pm@armin I tested for 25D and my levels were 20.3 on Nov 17 and then 49.6 on Jan 18. My nurse practitioner gave me D2 to supplement (1 pill a week for 8 weeks). I was scared to take the full 8 pills because the ius seemed like a bit much for me, so I only took 6 pills. I am scared to death of vitamin toxicity now. I feel a little silly but I didn't want to take all 8 until I had another test to see the reading. Was it fruitless to take the D2?
@viktor I feel SO much better knowing I can consume a little cheese now. What a relief! I love cheese so much- I always say I never met a cheese I didn't like lol But yes, it is comforting to know that we can eat a little "normal" food, maybe not often, but sometimes. And I can live with that!
I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little worried to even take supplements right now. I might just try taking a 1 or 2 magnesium pills a week. I don't think I need to take anything every day, as I already try to incorporate some nutrients in my diet already (some of those pills/supplements have always worried me, even before this happened to me. They seem a bit much.) Since I entered adulthood, I've always been interested in healthy food and some exercise, no matter how light. Kind of ironic because I've also struggled with drugs and alcohol... Not proud of it, but I've done much better for myself the last 9 years..!
I guess some people do need that many IU a week!! I would be scared to death lol I'm glad it is working for you!! My levels were (as mentioned to Armin) 20.3 ng/mL on Nov 17 2023 and then recently 49.6ng/ml last month. I only took 6 of the 8 vD2 pills she gave me because I wanted to see my levels first. They were 10,000 IU I believe. I'll have to go home and check the bottle. I'm a little worried about getting natural sunlight because I work inside 5 days a week literally all day, and then a lot of times on the weekends, it's either been freezing or raining. I seem to do much better in the summer and I try to go outside on the weekends more (I try to ride as much as I can).
I'm glad you are feeling much better! Thank you so much for the advice; I do listen
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/health/vitamin-d-bone-fractures.html
Low 25D levels aren't the cause of your disease but rather a sign of your disease. Pumping up the levels of 25D will not and has not resulted in resolving any illnesses. 25D is low due to disease as the body turns it into 1,25D, the active form.
Vitamin D is really a hormone and your body really doesn't like you messing around with those. They are tightly regulated and dumping more into the system is just as bad as too much Vitamin A, potentially worse. It is immunosuppressive, so you may feel good temporarily.
Wow...! Okay now I understand... I had no idea... And apparently doctors and medical providers don't either. I felt like taking it made me feel worse, but then I thought I was just overthinking and it was in my head. I feel okay now... I wonder how long it will take for my body to get rid of that excess D2 I was taking- for nothing??
This whole experience with Accutane, vitamin D, doctors, failed healthcare, exorbitant costs... makes me not want to take any medicine or supplements at all. I have lost all faith in our healthcare system. I guess it really is up to us to take our health into our own hands. I'll keep researching and learning. Thank you for helping...
Is vitamin D produced in response to UV radiation also immunosuppressive? I know in the Marshall protocol they also advise to avoid sunlight.
If you have digestive problems, bacterial overgrowth, and excessive fatigue, is it better to get lots of sun or to avoid it? I've heard it both ways.
Quote from Hermes on February 8, 2024, 12:42 pmIs vitamin D produced in response to UV radiation also immunosuppressive? I know in the Marshall protocol they also advise to avoid sunlight.
If you have digestive problems, bacterial overgrowth, and excessive fatigue, is it better to get lots of sun or to avoid it? I've heard it both ways.
I believe sunlight while on the marshall protocol would be immuno stimulating and create possible exacerbation and symptoms and making ones uncomfortable.
I don't think sunlight is even close to as bad as oral D3. The body doing the balancing and converting the compounds, like beta carotene to retinol, sounds safer to me personally.
I know sunlight for me can cause some neuro symptoms that can persist for a few days and be annoying. Anxious and brain foggy.
Well, I feel like I hit a setback. I always feel like it's my fault, like if I could eat the way Grant eats or be perfectly strict with the diet, then I would quit having headaches and the pressure. I have had headaches and discomfort every day for the last week. Over a week really. I'm guessing it's because I did it eating chocolate every day (my birthday and Valentine's are close together). It's either that, or I overdid it with the yogurt and/or chia seeds.
That's the only thing I can think I did differently. I've been eating nonfat yogurt (which claims no vA everywhere I looked on the internet) every night and I've been eating chia seeds at least twice a day. I don't know. Gonna start from scratch and start food journaling again. I get way too comfortable when I start feeling better... So I'll remove the yogurt and chia seeds for now.
I also had another confirmation on the coconut oil thing. Last week, I had the different kind of head feeling, the one that really gives me anxiety. The one that feels like someone's squeezing my prefrontal cortex and I'm about to go lights out. I was like "wtf have I ingested that brought this on?" (as I have already stopped using all lotions and moisturizers). Then it hit me. I was using Burt's Bees Wax Vanilla Bean lip balm. I guess after slathering it on for a entire day, it started to get to me. I google the ingredients, and low and behold, coconut oil (one of the first ingredients). Coconut oil makes me feel the absolute worst.
I feel the best in the mornings... I sleep on 2 pillows and 1 extra tiny flat pillow to keep my head elevated. It seems to help.
I struggle craving sugar and I'm trying to do better with my sugar intake. I've lost about 13 pounds since this all happened (I have a small frame, so I feel like a look like a rail or too zombie like). I struggle with weakness that I am sure is from not getting the calories I need. I struggle with eating when I have headaches or when I feel bad.
I don't know what I'm doing. Just documenting. I'm okay right now, just have a headache.