What my doctor advised about vitamins and supplements

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  • lauragreenbaum
    lauragreenbaum Posts: 1,017 Member
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    I'm getting blood work next week so we'll see if I'm deficient in anything.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,368 Member
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    I come from a long line of women with severe osteoporosis so have always been concerned about my bone health. When an xray taken by another medical professional showed significant bone loss, I went running to my GP with the news, and was told to take Vit D (without checking my levels). I was hoping for something a bit more aggressive in the way of treatment but I supplement D and hope for the best.

    By the way, apparently 20% of the population lacks the ability to make D from sunlight anyway, and you have no idea which % you fall in.

    Eye dr recommended lutein to help prevent age-related macular degeneration (another one in my family history) so I've been taking a 50+ multi since my 40s as they have lutein.
  • thelastnightingale
    thelastnightingale Posts: 725 Member
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    I paid to get my Vitamin D and iron tested, because I felt pretty *kitten* all round. Unsurprisingly, I was deficient in Vitamin D (I've been indoors because of coronavirus) but my iron came back high! I was actually told to stop taking an iron supplement (I wasn't taking one), so have cut out all meat on a temporary basis to see if that helps naturally lower my iron levels. If I hadn't been tested, I might have been tempted to start taking an iron supplement, and that would have been a bad move.

    Currently just on Vitamin D and will get re-tested in a bit to check if the supplement is helping and/or if I need to adjust my dosage. I think it's important to check if you actually need vitamins before you randomly start taking them, or they could do more harm than good.
  • sirjamerie
    sirjamerie Posts: 40 Member
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    I think it really depends.
    If you're actually deficient in something, you need o take it. If you have a chronic illness and having supplements helps, take them.
    If you take a multi vitamin and don't feel a difference when you don't for a month, why continue taking it?
    All bodies are different and all diets are different. Everyones needs are different.
    Personally I have a chronic illness and take vit D and a Bshot every other week. It's drastically lightened my symptoms. I don't like taking them but I definitely feel the difference when I don't.
  • lauragreenbaum
    lauragreenbaum Posts: 1,017 Member
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    But do you necessarily "feel" a benefit? A couple years ago my blood work showed I was deficient in vitamin B, so my doctor gave me shots but honestly I didn't feel better or worse even though it was something I needed.

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