Vitamins/supplements

[Tommyb]

Hi all,

Couldn't see a thread on this.. basically I'm looking to "put myself first" and "take care of myself" a bit better this year after a pretty bad mental health crisis.

One thing I'm looking for is vitamin recommendations. I'm a woman and 30+.

I am b12 deficient and would ideally like vit d, ZMA and something for hair/skin/nails.

Can anyone recommend any brands?

Also any good hair care out there? I have long hair but it gets dry and needs some damage control.

Incase anyone is interested I have also:

Started daily walks for 30 minutes
daily 10 - 20 minutes YouTube workouts
8 glasses of water a day
Batch cooking instead of buying food on the go
Massage/facial every 3 months
Read a book for at least 2 hours a week
Listen to music everyday
Watch something funny everyday
Keep my spaces clean and organised


Feel free to add any self care tips etc.

 

[futbolista]

Hi all,

Couldn't see a thread on this.. basically I'm looking to "put myself first" and "take care of myself" a bit better this year after a pretty bad mental health crisis.

One thing I'm looking for is vitamin recommendations. I'm a woman and 30+.

I am b12 deficient and would ideally like vit d, ZMA and something for hair/skin/nails.

Can anyone recommend any brands?

Also any good hair care out there? I have long hair but it gets dry and needs some damage control.

Incase anyone is interested I have also:

Started daily walks for 30 minutes
daily 10 - 20 minutes YouTube workouts
8 glasses of water a day
Batch cooking instead of buying food on the go
Massage/facial every 3 months
Read a book for at least 2 hours a week
Listen to music everyday
Watch something funny everyday
Keep my spaces clean and organised


Feel free to add any self care tips etc.

I’m older so my hair has gotten dry as I have aged. All my gfs are going through this. Lately I have been using oils and I add them to the ends before I sleep. Argan or jojoba. And before I wash my hair - usually once or twice a week max because go to gym a lot - I oil my scalp. Let the oil sit and then do a double shampoo to wash it out. My hair was softer and felt amazing. I went to Morocco once and the girl did a warm Argan oil treatment and my hair for rest of week was insane.

for regular vitamins - I take a high dose b12 once a week bc I’m plant based. cyanocobalamin that is sublingual or dissolved under the tongue.
i take vitamin D bc I am indoors a lot and wear sun factor daily.
calcium bc I don’t eat dairy.
Magnesium - helps with sleep and other functions. Sometimes I take a zinc and a omega 3

I went a bit crazy for a couple weeks tracking my nutrition to see if my diet was well rounded and if was getting a nice variety of vitamins and nutrients. It was a good reminder to eat diff colour veg and fruit as well as nuts and seeds. I eat a lot of high fibre foods - fiber really helps prevent a lot of health issues when people are older so I try to make sure I eat enough. Getting my nutrition in a good place along with regular daily exercise has changed so much - my mental health, physical health, confidence. It took years but that’s all that mattered - that I started taking care of myself

 

[adviseplz]

I bought Hycosan Extra today. Can’t believe I’ve lived my life so far thinking Optrex is the only option

 

[Winthropp Tuesday]

For the folks with dry eyes - my Dad and I both have dry eye syndrome, the optician he sees gave him a supplement to try called MacuShield which I think is l-cartinine based, to help ‘moisturise’ his eye balls. Now his is worse than mine as he also has AMD, but he seems to think it’s helping.

MacuShield | 90 capsules | Lenstore

Buy MacuShield from Lenstore.co.uk – We ship 93.6% of orders the very same day

www.lenstore.co.uk

 

[BashmentLady]

I’ve heard good things about symprove but it’s quite pricey.

I never thought dairy could be a problem as I do eat a lot of dairy product. Maybe I’ll start there.

thanks so much!

Don't want to give you false hope as our skin is all so individual, but cutting out milk made my acne manageable to the point of gone. I still have a lot of blackheads and oily skin, but a bit of tinted moisturiser and I'm good to go.

Has anyone tried Lion's Mane supplement in either powder or capsule form?

 

[Sacha20]

Not at all! I love cheese! For me it was milk in tea, cereal, and also a glass every now and then like a big kid! Also I noticed that my generally clogged sinus totally cleared up too. I now use unsweetened soya milk in tea and cereal, but not in coffee because it goes into this weird spongey gross looking yoke (if you see it you'll understand).

I think it's something that's worth trying, because hey if it doesn't work, oh well, that's one thing tested and done. But if it does, it's a very easy change to make these days

I gave up cows milk in tea coffee and cereal because I found I felt bloated and uncomfortable when I did have it. I have oat milk now and I feel so much better for it, I would like to give up dairy completely but I’m too lazy lol

 

[FakeSmile]

What drops do you use? This sounds like me but my optician just bumps up my prescription every time (I’m going to go to someone else next time)

They gave me Hycosan Extra which I’ve been using for a couple of days. My eyes definitely feel fresher after use so hoping for some improvement. It’s definitely worth a try - I thought my eyes had deteriorated badly but actually the optician only made the smallest tweak to my prescription! And eye drops are definitely cheaper than new glasses!

For the folks with dry eyes - my Dad and I both have dry eye syndrome, the optician he sees gave him a supplement to try called MacuShield which I think is l-cartinine based, to help ‘moisturise’ his eye balls. Now his is worse than mine as he also has AMD, but he seems to think it’s helping.

MacuShield | 90 capsules | Lenstore

Buy MacuShield from Lenstore.co.uk – We ship 93.6% of orders the very same day

www.lenstore.co.uk

That’s great thank you, I’m definitely going to look into this!

 

[hannahsaurusrex]

My late brother was an optician, and he recommended hycosan for dry eyes- I tried it and it made a huge difference!

 

[Nocomment20]

Iron now apparently best absorbed if taken only every second day too, so that's worth a shot if you aren't already doing it.

 

[Tommyb]

Hello hoping to revive this thread! I’ve always had low iron but atm it’s so low, just had tests yesterday and the range is 10-300 and mine is at 16.5. I take a multivit and iron tablets but clearly I’m not absorbing it. I need to ring the GP to discuss the results but just wondered if anyone recommended anything for increasing iron levels substantially please? I feel exhausted all of the time, I’m quite pale and I do suffer with light headed-ness.

make sure your doctors next step is a ferritin test to see if you are actually capable of absorbing iron. It is crucial they get to the bottom of why your iron is so low. Take vitamin c with your iron as it helps absorbing.
Food and drink wise:

Apple juice or orange juice
Spinach, kale, watercress
Beef, lamb, ham, chicken, eggs, fish

Focus on iron tablets and vitamin c tablets and making sure your diet is iron heavy.

Hope you feel better!

 

[ChilliBean]

I’ve recently started taking magnesium tablets at night (just ones from boots) and I’ve noticed a huge difference in my energy levels the next day

 

[FakeSmile]

My optician mentioned it would be beneficial to take omega 3 supplements for my dry eyes.
I was wondering if this is good? It doesn’t mention dry eyes on the write up https://www.boots.com/boots-omega-3-fish-oil-1000-mg-food-supplement-180-capsules-10149643
A lot of places say you need to buy high quality supplements and I’ve looked at different websites but it’s like 30 days for £30 which just isn’t feasible for me.

It’s interesting that you say this as my optician this week told me I have severe dry eye which is causing blurriness rather than my prescription like I thought. He just gave me eye drops to use 8 times a day for the next couple of months and didn’t say anything about supplements. Definitely something to look into!

 

[susan1375]

Hair care wise I use body shop Shea range. They do minis so it isn’t a huge outlay to see if it suits your hair type.
I have started taking super green powders and capsules which replace your five. Day . I use the next gen u range from Amazon. I also take their mango energy vitamins which I buy from eBay but not their eBay store as their cs is rubbish. I have noticed my skin is a lot fresher and brighter in the past month and I have more energy.
Good luck with your health kick.

 

[susan1375]

Great thread. Thanks for posting it. I’m reading along and nodding - like many have already said about themselves, I’m constantly tired/fatigued, awful anxiety and depression, brain fog and menstrual/hormone issues. Generally got a lot of horrible stress going on in life at the moment so some of it can’t be helped.

Did an at home blood test which showed I was potentially deficient in vitamin D. My mother in law swears by a high dose D3 supplement, but I’m not keen on tablets etc.

Anyway, it’s a wee bit pricey but I’ve started taking Floradix Immune Support tonic https://floradix.co.uk/product/floradix-immune-support/

It’s a high strength Vit D, B6, B12 formula. Take it once a day before a meal, been on it a month and it’s not made me feel magically 100% better but I do think it’s helping so will give it another few months.

My gp reckons it takes at least 6 months for certain vitamins to work,

 

[theghosttown]

It depends what you are lacking. If you are lacking b12 then deffo b12 but if you are not sure a complex seems to be a good way to go. I was taking other b supplements but found no difference as in a complex it's less concentrated. But that's because I have a particular deficiency in b12. You could always take a complex b but increase b vitamin in your diet?

Thanks, that’s really helpful. I’m going to give it a go because my brain fog and memory recall is appalling. I am also on 100mg Sertraline but my doctor said it’s unlikely to be that (I’m not so sure) so I want to give it a go.

 

[FakeSmile]

I bought Hycosan Extra today. Can’t believe I’ve lived my life so far thinking Optrex is the only option

I hope that you see some improvement now!

 

[Woolmercardington]

Great thread. Thanks for posting it. I’m reading along and nodding - like many have already said about themselves, I’m constantly tired/fatigued, awful anxiety and depression, brain fog and menstrual/hormone issues. Generally got a lot of horrible stress going on in life at the moment so some of it can’t be helped.

Did an at home blood test which showed I was potentially deficient in vitamin D. My mother in law swears by a high dose D3 supplement, but I’m not keen on tablets etc.

Anyway, it’s a wee bit pricey but I’ve started taking Floradix Immune Support tonic https://floradix.co.uk/product/floradix-immune-support/

It’s a high strength Vit D, B6, B12 formula. Take it once a day before a meal, been on it a month and it’s not made me feel magically 100% better but I do think it’s helping so will give it another few months.

It's best to take a Vit D3 with K2 for better calcium absorption.

 

[LisaVita]

I don’t take probiotics but I do eat a lot of probiotic rich foods like miso soup, kimchi, etc. I eat a little bit daily and that has helped my digestion/gut health which has helped my skin, my overall health, immunity (never get sick) etc. read about gut skin axis. I also eat a lot of fibre rich food that are good for prebiotics. . I do get one hormonal zit sometimes but I change my skin care 2 weeks before period to focus on prevention.

I used to take crazy expensive probiotics and none ever helped me. But I have seen a girl I follow who swears by symprove probiotic but she also eats better for her digestion also.

a friend of mine cut dairy out and it’s helped her cystic acne. Not sure if that’s something you have tried.

I’ve heard good things about symprove but it’s quite pricey.

I never thought dairy could be a problem as I do eat a lot of dairy product. Maybe I’ll start there.

thanks so much!

 

[Lalalalaaaaaa85]

Don't want to give you false hope as our skin is all so individual, but cutting out milk made my acne manageable to the point of gone. I still have a lot of blackheads and oily skin, but a bit of tinted moisturiser and I'm good to go.

Has anyone tried Lion's Mane supplement in either powder or capsule form?

I tried Lions Mane and had a horrible allergic reaction. My skin was so itchy and red I felt like my skin was vibrating. Such a shame as I really wanted to feel the benefits you’re supposed to get from it. Turns out I have a mushroom allergy

 

[Tommyb]

Thankyou so much! It was actually the ferritin test that was so low. There are a few other iron ones that were tested but they all have different names so I’m not sure which is which

Ah I see. No wonder you feel like you do. The first thing to do is try and raise it with diet and have another test to see if it worked. however it is strongly linked to celiac disease and can be a sign of other stomach issues so it's important they get to the bottom of the cause so please don't let it drop. Do you have a diet low in iron ?