Updated August 19, 2013
If a trashed liver, freaked-out nervous system, or fried digestion makes you super-sensitive to various supplements, you might try another delivery method or formulation. These are the ones I know about, although I do not have experience with all of them. Let me know if there are others. See also the post on badly-designed supplements.
- iron –> lactoferrin. This doesn’t seem to require as much processing by the liver.
- magnesium –> magnesium spray or epsom salt baths. Absorb it through the skin and bypass those pesky organs.
- vitamin B6 –> P5P. You’ll read all over the place that 1 mg of P5P equals 50 mg of vitamin B6, but that never helped me at all in figuring out dosage. Nor did taking a small amount of P5P make the rest of the (regular) vitamin B6 dose work better. Just try all of it in P5P form and be done with it.
- vitamin D –> a vitamin D lamp. Or just go outside, duh. Do not use tanning beds for this.
- arginine –> citrulline. Low-oxalate dieters will be familiar with this one. Some people who react badly to arginine do better on citrulline.
- niacin –> niacinamide. If you can’t stand the flush, or have had too many embarrassing moments caused by misjudging the timing of the flush, use niacinamide. However, I think this form does not have the cholesterol-lowering effects that plain old niacin does.
- thiamine –> Authia cream. This topical application reeks of garlic, but if you’re desperate, you’re desperate. Some users say that taking 10 mg (10,000 mcg) of biotin solves the odor problem.
Injections are also available, vitamin B12 being the most common. I’ve also heard of vitamin B6 injections. Traditional doctors will in dire cases give iron injections to patients not responding to iron supplements, but you might end up with a little gray dot on your arse for the rest of your life. The B12 injections are very easy to do yourself — you don’t need to find a vein, just a well-padded area. I found it very difficult to find an alternative practitioner who would give me the high dose I wanted, though.
Intravenous (IV) treatments are pretty much the arena of alternative medicine clinics. Usually a whole mess of other nutrients are also included in the drip. Vitamin C is very popular with this application. I had several IV treatments of thiamine, but it turned out not to be any more effective than the tablets for me.
DMSO is a chemical available at health food stores that will carry anything it’s mixed with through the skin. So far I’ve heard of it being used to deliver vitamin C and B12 transdermally, but there might be others. I believe you have to be careful with preparation to avoid absorbing any random insect parts or dirt. And that is the sum total of my knowledge on DMSO.
____________________
Image of geisha by Kris Barnes.