Vitamin Questions: Deficiency in Vitamins K and E, B6 is sky high, please help!

Hi Guys,

I'm having some problems with some of my vitamins. I had my DS 7 years ago and went from 250 pounds to about 135. I was having major gas and diarrhea after having my gallbladder removed about 6 months ago and so I started taking Creon 3 times a day, which has really helped, not 100% but things are better.

I follow Vitalady's plan and just had my labs done and it turns out my Vitamins K and E are low, and my B6 is sky high (twice what it should be!). Does anyone know what these vitamins do? I feel pretty good but my hair has been falling out like crazy, and I see the beginnings of bald spots I have been taking Biotin for about 3 months now.

I take Vitalady's B Complex 55, which I guess I will stop taking because of the B6 being so high, but will this make me deficient in the other vitamins it provides? Should I take something else instead, that doesn't have B6 in it? I'm worried about the B6 because I've heard it can cause neurological damages, and last year I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis so I guess I'm at a higher risk for that?

Here are my complete labs (normal ranges are in parenthesis)

Vitamin K: 76 (80-1160)
Vitamin E: 5.6 (5.7-19.9)
Vitamin B6: 42.7 (2.1-21.7)
Vitamin D: 48 (30-100)
Vitamin A: 88 (38-98)
Copper: 122 (70-175)
Zinc: 90 (60-130)
Vitamin B1: 25 (9-44)
Magnesium: 2.0 (1.5-2.5)
Calcium: 9.1 (8.6-10.2)
Vitamin B12: 1039 (200-1100)
Ferritin: 66 (10-154)

Here is Vitaladys plan I follow, just for refernce:

Morning 1 Vitamin C 1,000mg
5 Tender Iron 60mg or 2 Polysaccharide = 300mg (elemental) (see note 1)
1 Copper 2mg

Mid-Day 1 Vitamin A 25,000IU
1 Vitamin B-12 5,000mcg
2 Calcium 300mg = 600mg (elemental)
1 B Complex (see note 2) (see note 3)
1 Vitamin E 400IU
1 Multi Vitamin/Mineral (see note 4)
1 Zinc 50mg or 2 each 23mg

Evening 2 Vitamin A 25,000IU = 50,000IU
1 Vitamin E 400IU
2 Calcium 300mg = 600mg (elemental)
1 Multi Vitamin/Mineral (see note 4)
1 Vitamin D3 50,000IU
1 Zinc 50mg or 2 each 23mg
1 Vitamin B-9 Folic Acid 1,200mcg

Bed Time 2 Calcium 300mg = 600mg (elemental)
1 Vitamin A 25,000IU
2 Magnesium Citrate 140mg=280mg (elem)
1 Vitamin C 1,000mg

With this plan you will be supplementing with the following daily vitamin and mineral dosages: Vitamin A 100,000IU; Vitamin B-12 5,000mcg; Vitamin C 2,000mg; Vitamin D3 50,000IU; Vitamin E 800IU;
Vitamin K-1 1,000mcg; 1 B-50 Complex;
2 Complete Multi-Vitamin/Mineral; Calcium Citrate 1800mg (elemental); Copper 2mg; Iron 300mg (elemental);
Magnesium Citrate 280mg (elemental); Zinc 100mg;
Vitamin B-9 Folic Acid 1,200mcg

Thank you in advance for your help, I appreciate any advice you can give me!

Hope you guys have a Happy 4th of July!!!

I  had high B6 levels and mediocre B1 too, so I only take the B-complex once a week and I take a B1 capsule I get from VitaminShoppe every day. You can take more vitamin K1 capsules than the one per day on Vitalady's plan. You might take 3 a day. Perhaps try taking 2 capsules of K1 in the middle of the night if you get up naturally. Many folks seem to absorb A, D, E or K better (depending on what they're having trouble with) if they take it away from all other vitamins and away from food.
Your ferritin is a little bit low-ish. How is your iron serum, hematocrit and hemoglobin?

--gina
 

Hi Gina,

Thank you for your reply. I forgot to post about the iron, also a little low:
RBC Count: 3.77 (3.80-5.10)
Hemoglobin: 11.9 **** 15.5)
Hematocrit: 34.7 (35.0-45.0)
Iron, Total: 119 (40-175)
Iron Binding Capacity: 344 (250-450)
% Saturation: 35 (15-50%)
Prealbumin: 30 (17-34)
Hmm I dont see anything about iron serum, is it included in the numbers above?

Do you know if the B1 from Vitaminshoppe has sucralose or milk or any other artificial sweetners in them? I once tried taking a vitamin that had those and it gave me major gas so I would really like to avoid those ingredients if at all possible. And Im lactose intolerant.

That is a great idea to take it in the middle of the night. Can I take the Vitamin K and E together then? Or should they really be taken separately?

Also, my doctor said to retest in 6 months, but I kind of think it'd be better to retest in 3 months because that should be enough time to make a difference, right?

Oops, not sure what happened with the hemoglobin number up there but mine is 11.9 and normal is 11.7 to 15.5

My laptop is broken and Im using my galaxy tablet and its hard to type lol

3 months would be plenty of time to retest. I think I'd just try to get the K1 up for the next 3 months. Once that's up, start on the E by taking it in the middle of the night.  You can take a capsule of D3 with your big batches of vitamins for 100,000IUs a day.

If you're already on the Tender iron from Vitalady, I'd also add Proferrin ES. You may be able to get a prescription for Proferrin Forte. Proferrin is heme iron and I've had really good luck with a combo of Tender and Proferrin.

--g
 

Add one more E, K and D3 to your regimen.  Your D is too low.  Optimal is 80-100.  You need to get that up as well.  Get rid of the B complex and supplement B1 seperately.  What kind of Cal Citrate are you taking?  Just check to make sure there are no added B vites in the cal citrate supplement.  Costco brand has lots of B vites in it and made my B6 skyrocket so I had to change. 

As for the hair loss....what are your protein levels?  What are all of your iron levels?  Low protein and anemia can cause hair loss.  Do you have those numbers?

Great points. I forgot to ask after protein. 

--g

Hi,

Thank you for your reply. Ok, Im going to add one more of the E, K, and D3 and also the B1 (do you know of any brands that dont have sucralose/milk/artificial sweetners in them?). I take Vitaladys Calcium and Centrum Silver Women's Multivitamin, which I just looked and saw that it has a ton of B vitamins in them! Hmm, I'm going to switch, any recommendations for a Multivitamin? Does Costco's have too many B vitamins in them too?

I just replied above with more numbers, I think I wrote everything, am I missing any?

I agree with checking the protein levels.  I find my hair loss more directly related to protein and iron than anything else. 


Sharon

I don't see any dry K in your regimen. I recommend to add that (vitalady sells it).
The hair coming out is probably due to telogen effluvium, which starts a few months after a traumatic event to the body (gallbladder surgery) lasts a few months and stops. Other than that, I would guess malnutrition. How's your protein consumption? My money's on the effects of the gallbladder surgery though.