Gastro questions/B12 elevated/fatty liver/Calcium constipation

Hey there. Doubt if any of my old buddies are still here. Had DS in 2005 and am having a few issues from malabsorption & nutritional deficiencies. Wondering if anybody has any of the following:

1. Calcium and no constipation? I'd be in heaven if they could fix this problem with a calcium infusion like they do have for iron deficiency (venofer)

2. I've got consistently high levels of B12

3. Recent fatty liver diagnosis. Haven't touched a drop of alcohol since 1986.

I'm going to see a Gastro and am trying to decipher what to ask them for? Never been before. Id love to see if they can give me anything either to inject or via IV. Has anybody every been given calcium thru IV?

Feeling brain ? fog ? & fatigue.

Thx for any suggestions.

Well hello there!

Lots of us have high B12. It's water soluble and the first thing to do is stop taking it. Get a multi with no B's and check all the rest of your pills too. Just for example Kirkland calcium is loaded with B6. Many of us had to stop taking it for that reason. B12 levels are a snapshot in time. Our bodies don't store B12 and you would need to be tested multiple times to be sure it's really high!

The liver thing. How was it diagnosed? High ALT/AST? If that's it, you may or may not have fatty liver. We metabolize a lot of fat every day and it's not that unusual to have high liver enzymes. But it should be followed up! I have heard about this happening to quite a few of us. One person was even put on a transplant list maybe 10 or so years ago. In the more than 20 years I have been around this community I only know of one person who died from liver failure and that would be right in sync with the normal population as a whole. Maybe even a little less.

Yes there is injectable calcium. I have never heard anything about it being used for deficiencies. Or instead of taking pills. Usually it's used for cardiac problems/muscle cramps, and sometimes insect bites.

I also have always had very high B12 - haven't taken it for years. I think my multi has a small amount.

Do you take any fiber? I add a scoop of really good organic fiber to my morning beverage to help keep things regular. I take massive amounts of calcium and have never had issues with constipation. Hope you find some relief.

High B-12 isn't going to cause any harm. Stop taking any extra and you should be fine.

Are you eating enough fat to help with your constipation? If I get stopped up, it's because I'm not taking in enough fat. Also maybe some miralax daily would help

Thx for the help guys. I'm still pondering this high b12 thing. Read an interesting article on it. http://www.yourhealthbase.com/B12overload.htm

It's interesting because I went to a nutritionist who did blood work through a company called Spectra Cell that measures the amount of each vitamin/mineral is actually being absorbed by my cells. This report came back saying that I'm actually LOW in B12 & other B's incidentally which means that even though I've got Vit B12 floating around in my blood, it's not actually being absorbed. All this lead me to discover that I have the Mthfr gene mutation that doesn't allow my body to absorb B or folate in top of having our surgery- oy vay! Thought it may be useful to all of us to read the article at least.

Do some research on Spectra Cell and their kind and you find pseudo science at best. A lot of people are paying a lot of money for this right now and I don't think it is even close to legitimate.

Normally I'm a naysayer too, but these results were in fact pretty right on. And it makes sense that I'm not able to absorb the B vitamins so there just sitting in my blood. It makes me wonder if the people who have elevated B12 on this board all have the very common gene polymorphism MTHFR mutation? Time will tell for sure once I start supplementing with what they suggest, if it makes my symptoms go away. But I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water on Spectra Cell yet.

I also have fatty liver and sky high b12 levels--and according to genetic testing I'm a hetero compound MTHFR mutant. What did you decide to do, if anything? I'm new to MTHFR but have started taking folate and donated my old cheap Centrum tablets in favor of a different multi without folic acid.

Hi,

Yes, I had RNY in 2002. I now have osteopenia, from not absorbing calcium. The majority of calcium is absorbed directly after the pyloric sphincter, at the very beginning of your duodenum. This area never sees food anymore (an entire meter of absorption area) and consequently we never absorb calcium again. The professional supplement company I use is Quicksilver Scientific, Liposomal and is absorbed in your mouth. I'm just about to order the patches from PatchMD to see if it raises my levels.

The constipation is probably, from what you are feeding the bacteria in your digestive tract. They love sugar and starches, but they also love beans, legumes, nuts, and seeds, along with other hard to digest foods. They become food for specific strains of bacteria in our digestive tract. When they eat, they have a party. The constipation can come from the bacteria's metabolic waste. There are other reasons this can happen, but this is very common. The types and amounts of bacteria and other pathogens, like viruses and amoebas that are causing damage and stealing our much needed nutrients. A functional medicine practitioner can test for these.

Non alcoholic fatty liver disease can be from sugar. For instance, a can of soda does the same thing in your body as a beer, you just didn't get the buzz and the alcohol causing leaky gut.

I also have 3 known autoimmune diseases that I manage through my diet and lifestyle. In an effort to learn all I can to save myself, I have gone into nutrition. You will find answers if you start researching in those areas. There is a couple of really great podcasts that explain a lot for why this is happening to you. I might urge you to consider seeking out a functional medicine practitioner (they test for things your conventional medical doctors can not test for, insurance will not cover it. Great places to do research Chris Kresser, Evan Brand, The Gastric Health Show, The Paleo Mom, Autoimmune Wellness) A nutritional therapy practitioner, educated at the Nutritional Therapy Association are educated differently and will be more capable helping you with what you need, in my opinion. No, it doesn't mean vegan or vegetarian. One of the times my autoimmune was out of control was when I went vegan about 10 years ago. Never, never again. Lots and lots of properly raised, grown, or prepared, whole food diet. Healthy fats, protein, vegetables and some fruit. I leave the packaged stuff behind 99% of the time.

Anyways, I hope this helps and I didn't bore you with specifics. Yes, I am a professional, which is why I can give you this information, but I am not advertising my services here.

I hope you find all the answers you seek.