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Vitamin and Micronutrient Testing

I'm placing this in a post TX forum, but it also occurs to me that it may be useful for those who are considering treatment.  
(it may be off topic in this forum or thread, but it behooves people to make sure they are not vitamin deficient before treating- there are studies which show vitamin A or D can improve viral response)

Anyway...... people who are suffering post treatment issues might well look into doing some testing so that they are putting their best foot forward

Take one possible post TX issue....... neuropathy
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/peripheral-neuropathy/DS00131/DSECTION=causes
"Vitamin deficiencies. B vitamins, including B-1, B-6 and B-12, are particularly important to nerve health. Vitamin E and niacin also are crucial to nerve health. Not having enough of these vitamins in your system may cause  neuropathy."


http://www.news-medical.net/health/What-Causes-Peripheral-Neuropathy.aspx
"Vitamin deficiency states: Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin), Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin B1 (Thiamin) "

=======================
I'm just using these as examples, but I wonder if it makes sense while one has a specific issue, to see if you can get many of the recommended levels where they need to be via diet or supplementation.

I am going to start looking into these types of tests..... my sense is that they may be covered by insurance and that many doctors do not really start by looking for these micronutrient issues.  

I work in building trades..... and what carpenters, masons or other builders do is "work to your knowns".
.... you know..... you can't start building until a floor is flat and level.

My feeling is that if we take care of some of our deficiencies we may have a better shot at recovery.

It may also be that is we have certain areas of deficiency, that it may shed other light on other physical ailments we may have, or the effects of other certain drugs we are taking, or whether our digestive track is working.
Sometimes if we are not digesting well... (such as TX or antibiotics has changed our gut flora), we may not digest well.... which means we are not getting all the benefit of what we eat.

Anyway.... this is not intended to be an all inclusive article, but I thought I would put the idea out there..... a little food for thought...... and provide a few links so you can see what you think, if you have something to add.

I also...... well..... just as the front part of this almost suggests that you have to treat deficiencies...... there is the opposite situation; what if you are taking too much of a vitamin/microtutrient? They can also have bad effects, so that supplements such as Vitamin E, K, zinc selenium....... you know..... it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Take selenium for instance;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium (yeah, I know wiki is not the end all source of info......but just consider~W)
"Symptoms of selenosis include a garlic odor on the breath, gastrointestinal disorders, hair loss, sloughing of nails, fatigue, irritability, and neurological damage. Extreme cases of selenosis can result in cirrhosis of the liver, pulmonary edema, and death."
-------------------
Anyway....... many of us have those issues anyway, which means that some of these tell tale symptoms be be masked by symptoms of other treatments/drugs/ailments.

You get the idea.......

Oh yeah...... here is just one example, but you can do your own search.  It could be that the prices of these may be higher or lower, or some tests more comprehensive, or certain test provides more reputable.
(speaking of reputable.....and the topic of a different thread, do we think all vitamin mineral providers are of equal quality?)

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f38/spectracell-micronutrients-testing-66664.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQhfbO6HO_s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28HQ7T6oEU8

understand... I am not recommending this test, but there is ready information which conveys what I am trying to bring up as a potential issue.

Hahhahahaahahah....

one more thing....  : )

I had some issues before TX ......I had heart arrhythmia.
The reason I had heart arrhythmia.....possibly, in part was because I was drinking tonic water with my water... the tonic water contained quinine..... which in older people may cause the heart arrhythmia..
The reason I drank the tonic water was to cure my occasional nocturnal leg cramps......
guess what may have helped?
Magnesium
...... hey.... just maybe......

Once again....apologies for wiki.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_deficiency_%28medicine%29

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include: hyperexcitability, dizziness, muscle cramps, muscle weakness and fatigue.[1] Severe magnesium deficiency can cause hypocalcemia, low serum potassium levels (hypokalemia), retention of sodium, low circulating levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH), neurological and muscular symptoms (tremor, fasciculations, muscle spasms, tetany), loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, personality changes [2] and death from heart failure.[3] Magnesium plays an important role in carbohydrate metabolism and its deficiency may worsen insulin resistance, a condition that often precedes diabetes, or may be a consequence of insulin resistance.[4] Deficiency can cause irregular heart beat.

Anyway..... here is one more link on magnesium deficiency.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wtUn1gWgaw

=================
Well.....it's kind of interesting once you start looking into this,
and I think it is an area that many people really do not look. (doctors included perhaps)

willy

Best Answer
568322 tn?1370165440
Dear Emily:
Actually, I think the thread belongs in both the Pre treatment and post treatment sections.  Please allow me to explain why.

Willy mentioned low Vitamin B12.

And Hep C patients are known to have low Vitamin B12 which is a treatment negative.  It lowers treatment success (see first study link).

And treatment with interferon lowers Vitamin B12 even more (see second study link)

So it is a real possibility to end up with low Vitamin B12 after treatment, which can cause very serious problems including brain lesions (see third study link).

So this topic certainly pertains to post treatment. It could save someone a lot of suffering.  

Respectfully,

Co

Serum B12 levels predict response to treatment with pegylated interferon and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20196801

Vitamins B depletion, lower iron status and decreased antioxidative defense in patients with chronic hepatitis C treated by pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin.

http://www.clinicalnutritionjournal.com/article/S0261-5614(08)00202-1/abstract

Periventricular white matter lucencies relate to low vitamin B12 levels

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19286604
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317787 tn?1473358451
Will this is really good. I learned on here, after I relapsed from the first tx and before the second one that B12 was useful for treatment as well as the neuropathy, I started B12 shots for a while slowly graduated to sublingual B12.  I also learned about the Vitamin D and also diabetes or insulin resistance and how it could help me get to SVR.  Without all of those people talking about it back then I might not have gotten to UND much less SVR. Perhaps we are now the people who should discuss as HR and Gauf did back then.

The probiotics have helped me quite a bit since finishing tx.
I have suggested to people with pain, cramps that they could try calcium and magnesium.  It has helped me quite a bit.

And of course, water, still drinking the water to try to stay hydrated.

Thank you again :)
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