vitamin D Archives • Avoiding Rx

20Sep 2012 by Marjorie 3 Comments

This is your nail bed on cholecalciferol: my fingernails and vitamin D3

Further to my earlier post on supplements that helped to grow my fingernails, I can report that 15,000 IU of vitamin D3 a day for two weeks did amazing things. It basically did the same thing that 8 mg of methylfolate did, although the folate seemed to work faster. The weird thing is, the shape actually changed: the V-shape in the cuticle across the bottom straightened out to more of a U and the nail narrowed -- it no longer separated from the nail bed (and thus widened) as far down as it had before. The cuticle also retreated a bit and lengthened/deepened the nail. This is probably something only I would notice, and none of this applies to my index fingers, which remained as pathetic as ever. I had…

17Jul 2012 by Marjorie No Comments

50,000 IU doses of vitamin D might not be such a great idea

supplements

A commenter (Blake) on a recent post directed my attention to Dr. Stasha Gominak's series of videos on her work treating sleep disorders with vitamin D. The videos run more than an hour, but here's a summary of some of her points. One of her points -- of course, not covered on the summary -- is that those whopping 50,000 IU vitamin D pills that some doctors give to their patients to take once a week are not as effective as taking it daily in smaller amounts. I'm not sure if she was referring to the fact that the majority of those 50,000 pills used to be in the D2 form, which is not as effective, or to a claim I've read elsewhere that past a certain dose, the larger…

19Nov 2011 by Marjorie 1 Comment

A list of supplements that don’t work very well in the versions sold in the US

nutritional therapy, supplements

Updated October 22, 2020. Originally posted November 19, 2011. Over the years I've learned that some of the nutrient supplements on the shelves in the US don't work very well, either because a significant part of the population can't process them, or because the version used is poorly absorbed by the body, or because they are so cheaply formulated that the filler would make you sick before you could get enough of the active ingredient to resolve your deficiency. Here's everything I know so far. Needless to say, the better versions are more expensive and harder to find. Folic acid Processing this synthetic vitamin into its active form requires methyl groups and those of us who are methyl-challenged (low methylators) need to use the methylfolate version. Some sources say that…

07Sep 2011 by Marjorie No Comments

Diagram of how various deficiencies can egg each other on

interactions, symptoms and conditions

Soon after I discovered that typical guidelines about iodine are outdated and wrong (1), I came across information about vitamin K that made me realize the amounts I had been experimenting with were pathetically small. Also, it is possible that vitamin D supplements affect vitamin K, which for me would explain a lot (2). This is yet another example of how difficult it is to find reliable info about all the nutrients and how they work in the body and interact with each other. Here's a diagram of how I suspect my iodine, vitamin K, vitamin D, zinc, and iron deficiencies have been interacting. 1: You can find a list of iodine references at the bottom of this Breast Cancer Choices' iodine investigation page. 2: From the World's Healthiest Foods…

27Aug 2011 by Marjorie 4 Comments

Back to the ’70s for asthma treatment

nutritional therapy, side effects, symptoms and conditions

Update July 2022: This problem improved a lot when I started doing vagus nerve stimulation exercises. I also noticed that on days following activity that involved lifting very heavy (for me) items, my breathing would be easier. About six years ago I realized I was getting very tired every time I visited a home with a resident cat. It was annoying but easy enough to avoid. Then, after a round of weekly 50,000 IU vitamin D doses, I got a day-long burning-lung, wheezing, iron-vise-on-the-ribs reaction that made me wonder if my appointment with my maker had been moved up. Off I was sent to yet another fancy-ass specialist for blood tests and breathing into a bellows thing and x-rays, which had to be taken twice because I apparently have "really…

18Aug 2011 by Marjorie 12 Comments

Seven fomenters of brain fog

nutritional therapy, symptoms and conditions, treatments

Several factors combined together to cause me years of spaciness and difficulty concentrating. Highlights of this period included giving the wrong last name when called on in class and almost getting my head wedged between two floors of a department store while riding the escalator. Most of the causes were ferreted out after I went gluten-free, and now I can face a big project and a tight deadline without sweating it too much, given enough Pepsi. The problem is that metabolizing an acre's worth of high-fructose corn syrup when you're 25 is one thing; now it's quite another. I'm still looking for the final pieces to this puzzle. The main causes were: 1. and 2. High histamine, caused at least in part by low iodine I discovered this by accident…