Good Morning. Tweaking vitamins from labs

I got my last set of "little" labs my dietitian and I have been working on...my vitamin A and selenium were too high and my iron markers are a little high too. So, I had reduced my doses by half the last 3 months.

Labs:
AST 36 Range (10-35)
ALT 74 (6-40)

Tot Protein 6.7 (6.2-8.3)
Albumin 4.6 (3.6-5.1)
Prealbumin 45 (17-34)

Vitamin A (retinol) 123 (38-98)

selenium 261 (63-160)

Ferritin 288 (10-232)
hemoglobin 14.6 **** 15.5)
hematocrit 45.3 (35.0-45.0)

Tweaks
I think I'm going to leave the protein at 120 grams a day w/shakes. May need to make sure I'm only putting 30g of protein powder into my shakes each time. Maybe I've been a little heavy handed.

Selenium will be stopped all together. No idea if this level is dangerous. I've only been taking 50mcg 5 days a week and this level went up on my labs.

I'll stop Vitamin A all together for the next 3 months and retest. I'm thinking if I stop the vite A, my AST and ALT will come down too.

I think I'll continue doing what I'm doing on iron. 180mg Tender iron a day and an additional 1 Proferrin every other day.

Thoughts?

--gina

 

Ok - regarding the protein....  why only 30g per shake? 

My ALT/AST came way down - but then there was an * on the lab that said they changed their testing... huh?  so now they're in the normal range - go figure.. they've been high since surgery.

My Vit A was 1 pt above the bottom of the range - and I take 10K a day!  I'm thinking of upping that... 

As far as iron/ferritin - how do you feel with it high? 

Not sure what selenium does for us...

I think over 30g per shake is a little wasteful when my numbers are so good but when I go to only 90 grams a day my numbers drop.

That's why ranges drive me crazy. I wish they would also post what they think optimal levels are rather than just a range of their little corner of the world.

You could probably up it to 20,000IUs of dry A a day. 

I feel great with my iron markers this high. Not worried about these.

Since selenium is a mineral, I'm afraid it will accumulate and not wash out like a water soluble vitamin..(see Price's comments below).
 

I don't know where selenium gets dangerous for us but I know over dosing horses can be deadly.  Without it, they can get muscle/nerve problems.  With too much, their hair can fall out and they can have muscle/nerve problems. 

I know I really pack the protein into the scoop, not let it loosely go in.  I am probably getting more than 1 scoop when I do that.  I've never put it on the scale and seen what the difference is.  Prealbuimen is high but I'm not sure what that means.  I thought the others protein #s looked fine.

I tried to do a little research about over doing the selenium and I'm still in a safe range toxicity wise, but to too happy to be this high...took 4 years to get this high so it's not fast acting. I appreciate your comments on this.

Prealbumin is a measure of your nutritional status from what I understand. So, I'm nutritionally sound. lol



 

Gina
I'm so glad you are on this board.  For some reason when I start thinking about labs and numbers it just goes right over my head and it is like I'm in a daze.  I do the spreadsheet and keep it updated, look at the changes, but that is about all it means to me other than I know it is very important to keep up with.

What is selenium?  Where do we get it from?

I just had my liver enzymes retested and my PCP said they were back down alot.  She had stopped my Crestor due to the getting so high.  Evidently the Crestor was running them up.  Now I have to have my cholesterol checked the end of February to make sure it stays in a normal range, if not I don't know what I'll have to take because everything my insurance pays for affects the liver and the other medicines are so expensive.  I am still taking the Milk Thistle.

I did start taking my iron mid morning between my morning vitamins and my first batch of calcium so I was not taking it with my stomach medicine.  It was not as hard to change as I was afraid - I'm such a creature of habit.

When I run out of the Bariatric Advantage Iron, I'm going to try an over the counter that you recommended the other day.  Maybe that is what is causing so much of my bathroom issues!!

Sorry I can't give you any advise on your labs - sounds like you have it under control.

Linda

Selenium is a trace element that you usually can get from veggies grown in fertile soil that contains selenium or from animals that have eaten grains grown in selenium-rich soil. From what I was reading today, the Dakotas still have selenium-rich soils but not so much here in the south.

Swinging lizards for good cholesterol levels on your next labs. Sounds like things are coming together or at least making sense.
 

Gina,
Overall good labs. Wish I had your ferrirtin, LOL

After 3 weeks I called for the remainder of my labs yesterday and, after checking, was told the lab didn't run them. ARGH!!!!
About an hour later got a call that DLO "found" them. I was ready to go on the warpath. Now just have to wait for PCP to sign off then I'll get copies,

That would tick me off too, Gail, Glad they found them.

Selenium can be toxic, if the levels are too high. Like you said, it isn'****er soluble, so it can build up in your body, like Vitamin A and other minerals. It is found it meat products for one. Most good multivits contain selenium, so deficiency may not be that common, but with malabsorption surgeries, anything is possible. I wouldn't take more selenium, if my values were to high.

I had to stop one of my multivits/day, because my Vitamin A was too high. The bariatric internist recommended that I cut down to one/day. Many foods are fortified with Vit A, so it is possible to get too  much. My Vitamin A did come down, with reduction in my multivitamin to one/day


gail