vitamins

Hello everyone - It's been quite a while since I've been to the board.  I was just reading some posts and had a question about the vitamins.  I've don't know why but I haven't taken them since my first my first year of surgery but all of my levels have been perfect since.  I had surgery 12/15/04.  I have to admit that I am tired all the time, but when my doc checked my blood all of my levels were perfect.  Anyway I was curious does this mean that I have no problems with absorbtion?  Any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Candy
12/15/04
270/143/168

 In my humble opinion,  it means you've dodged a bullet and you should get on track immediately.  The long term consequences of vitamin deficiencies are devastating and you don't want to go down that road.  The fact that your levels have been good to this point indicate that what they are looking for is fine, but lots of damage can go unseen until a major problem arises.  Taking vitamins is not a big deal, not taking vitamins can be a huge deal, so don't mess around.

Thanks - I started taking them again today.

I have to agree with the above poster~you've gotten  VERY lucky and I would urge you to start on a vitamin routine right away!!!! Also, there are some things, like calcium for example, that might not show up with a low number until the damage is already done~your body will just keep using it and using it essentially depleting itself over time and osteoperosis doesn't sound like any fun to me. Good Luck to You!!!

Me either - I started taking them today - thanks for the input.

Oh no...Trust that you do malabsorb...

I didn't take my vits regularly either, but I did take them when I remembered now and then...and totally stopped taking iron at all. By year 4 is when it all caught up to me and I was not only anemic, but so many of my vit levels were sooooo low or I was actually deficient.  It took a long time to get things straight again...and I have been on track taking my vits and supps daily for a year now....but have to have labs every 6 months to make sure things are good...

I was even put on 2 months of bed rest for my malnutrition and anemia...I was lucky I was able to raise my levels in a fairly short time...because it could have been much worse than it was! (brain damage, heart failure) Oh yeah...I was already having heart palpitations, anxiety attacks, foggy headed, tiredness, dizziness severe muscle cramps, hair loss, low body temp... along with several other symptoms... It took 6 months to get things close to normal...I do not want to go thru that again!  PREVENT it!  It's sooooo easy to just take a few vitamins!  The weirdest thing is that at first the symtoms were so dim that I didn't really feel it...I knew I felt a little lazy and depressed maybe...forgetful and just blah...The some symptoms I just thought were old age creeping up on me...Then I got on my vitamins and OMIGOD!  I had NO IDEA how bad I was until I began to feel better!  Night and day difference!  I thought I felt fine...Not even close! 

Get copies of your labs and keep in a binder of your own to compare and watch...Docs don't usually take time to see if you are slowly dropping into lows...As long as you are in the normal ranges, that's all they tell you...So by year 4-5 when you are totally deficient, you can't figure out why....Look a little closer at your labs...Are they even doing all the vitamin labs yearly ?  Mine was not!  I would have never known if I hadn't looked at my medical records myself!  NOW, I specifically ask for the vitamins I want tested, just to make certain they are testing me...I get copies.  I up my vits when they drop or look low...I try to stay in the mid to upper normal ranges in most of my vits and minerals...Some vits are toxic so you have to keep an eye on that too...It's a little harder than it seems especially since you got soooooooo lucky so far...You would be shocked how one deficiency can send all your levels into a downward spiral!  I know...Been there!

Don't risk it...Prevent it....Go get vitamins and labs...

Thanks Anita,
Actually it's kind of scary that I do recognize some of those systems.  The reason they took all of my labs is because I was complaining of constant extreme fatigue for the last year.  Recently I had a couple heart palpulations, but they can't find anything.  I feel like a pin cousin I've had so many blood test.  I started taking the vitamins today, I hope I see a change in my energy level soon - how long did that take?  I've never taken iron, my levels were great.  Maybe because I eat so much fresh spinach and steaks.  Thanks for you knowledge!
Candy

Candy, I agree with ALL of the other posters, it's not an option honey you are so lucky right now if in fact everything is fine.......do you know what labs are being drawn and where each range is from the last text or even the first lab results?

I strongly suggest you get copies of all your labs and track them yourself.  Just because doctors tell us "it's fine" doesn't necessarily mean you aren't in danger of suffering some serious deficiencies.

Are you having your ferritin, Vitamin D, PTH, Vitamin E, Vitamin A done along with thyriod, CBC, CMP, B-12, B-1, B-6......and a host of other labs drawn? 

Please start supplementing today and know where you do stand by having copies of your labs in your hands.  I do have a list of suggested labs from Vitalady that I can send to you if you are interested.  Send me your email address in a PM.

Thanks Dana,
They did take about 8 vials of blood - it all came back normal.  The reason they took it is because I've had constant fatigue for about two years now.  But they couldn't find any answers.  I started taking vitamins again today.  I would love to have that list but I don't know how to send the pm.

My answer differs from the others..............


Your doctor didn't run the RIGHT tests!!!!!!!!!!

If he had, you'd have shown deficiency!

No way around that -- in my opinion.

You'll need 11-15 vials of blood drawn to test for it all.

If that didn't happen, you were not given the justice nor the health care you deserve.