Before I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in December of 2014 I was already seeing a naturopath 1 to 3 times a year. I started seeing my naturopath around 2010 or 2011 to fix digestion issues and help raise my energy levels. She worked with an MD in her clinic to requisition blood work so that she could better recommend vitamins & supplements to help optimize my body. A week after my diagnosis I met with her to ensure that what I was taking was ok based on my diagnosis and discuss what changes needed to be made to help my body fight this auto-immune disease.
January – April
- HMF Forte Probiotics: I was taking 2 capsules in the morning with my warm water & 1/4 fresh lemon juice to help heal digestion problems. I suffer from loose bowel movements (welcome to the TOO MUCH INFORMATION (TMI) section of the blog.)
- Now Vitamin D-3: I was deficient at the time of my diagnosis (less than 72 nmol/L in my blood work results in December) so we raised my daily IUs from 4,000 (which I wasn’t taking consistently) to 8,000 IUs daily. I was usually taking them all in the morning.
***I was able to raise my Vitamin D level to 166 nmol/L (which is deemed sufficient) in less than a month (from December to January) simply by being consistent with taking my supplement and increasing the dosage.***
- Now Vitamin B – 50: I was taking 1 capsule with my breakfast.
- Traumeel: I had bought the oral pills which help in reducing inflammation. I took 3 daily during the first 3 months of the year.
- NutraSea + D: I put 1 tablespoon into my daily green smoothie.
- Ubermag: I was taking 2 – 4 capsules a night based on how sore I was from workouts.
- Pure Encapsulations – NAC was a new supplement I started adding to my regime. I started taking 1 capsule a day. NAC is a free radical scavenger that helps create glutathione in the body. Glutathione is used for maintaining the body’s defence system (immune system).
Magnum Nutraceuticals Daily Supplements
- Primer: Multivitamin Pack – I take one pack daily (usually around lunchtime). This is my basic general health maintenance supplement.
- Rocket Science: Pre-Workout – 2 capsules before a morning workout or race
- Quattro & G (Glutamine): Protein shake post-workout with one scoop of G
- Mimic: I only take this on occasion for heavy carb meals to help my body process them better.
- Hi5: Daily during my morning or evening workout
In April, a friend recommended a new naturopath to me. Clinic Intrinsic is a mobile naturopath that actually comes to you. Dr. Rachel Corradetti, ND came to my condo for our first appointment. After a few months of non-stop health care appointments, this was a great alternative for me instead of taking time off work to attend another day appointment. She came to my condo one evening when I didn’t have a workout scheduled and we went over a large intake interview, reviewed my current supplements and discussed ongoing gut health problems and stress-related symptoms.
We optimized my supplement action plan again and from May to July I’ve been consistently taking the following supplements. I even downloaded the app MediSafe to remind me at 11 am & 9 pm every day of my supplements. I don’t know if this is actually good for me but it means that I’m actually taking my supplements vs. forgetting every other day.
Morning:
- Warm Water & 1/4 lemon juice (squeezed into water) – I just started adding a scoop of glutamine (Magnum G) in the past 2 weeks.
- Cyto-Matrix Probiotic: 2 capsules with my warm water – I just switched to Renew Life Probiotics when I ran out of Cyto-Matrix (which I bought after running out of HMF Forte)
- Fibre Smart: 1 scoop w/ 1 scoop of glutamine (Magnum G) – I started implementing this in the past 2 weeks to help solidify bowel movements throughout the day
Mid Morning (11 am):
- AOR B Complex: 2 capsules
- Pure Encapsulations – NAC: 1 capsule (I bought NFH NAC SAP after I ran out of my first bottle)
- CoQ10 PX: 1 capsule
- AOR Liquid Vitamin D3: 4,000 – 6,000 IUs in my green shake mid-morning.
Before Bed (9 pm):
- CanPrev Magnesium BisGlycinate: 2 capsules
- Thorne Calcium Citrate: 1 capsule
- Pure Encapsulations Vitamin D3: 4000 IUs
- Acetyl L-Carnitine: 1 capsule
New Magnum Supplements
- Limitless: Pre-workout – 1 scoop in water before a workout (I stack it with Rocket Science if I’m tired)
- G-Spring: Sleep aid & growth hormone releaser (recently started and after one week I’m noticing deeper sleep and not getting up in the middle of the night to use the washroom)
I worked with my family doctor this month to requisition complete blood work so I could see how the last 3 months on my supplement action plan have been working for me. Here are the results of my July blood work. I sat with my family doctor to review the results and said “I guess I’m doing well” My family doctor announced, “You’re doing everything right!”
July Blood Work
- Vitamin D: I’m a little lower than in January at 152 vs. 166 – the lab suggests sufficiency is between 76-250 nmol/L
- Vitamin B12: 485 (sufficiency is >221 pmol/L) – In December my level was at 609 and 657 in January
- Calcium 2.4 (2.2 – 2.65 mmol/L) – holding steady since December
- Magnesium 0.89 (0.65 – 1.05 mmol/L) – holding steady since December
- Zinc 13 (8.7-19.1 umol/L) I have blood results from 2013 and I was around 15.9 so it’s decreased a bit
- Ferritin 111 (12 – 109 ug/L) My results in December were 188, however after cutting out red meat I was able to lower the level to 118 in January. It’s come down even more since then.
- Sodium 143 (136 – 146 mmol/L) – holding steady since December
- Potassium 4.3 (3.7 – 5.4 mmol/L) – holding steady since December
- Cortisol 562 (65 – 540 nmol/L) – In 2013 my cortisol (stress hormone) was around 826. This was hypothesized to be high as I was training for my first half marathon. In Dec 2014 at the time of my diagnosis, it was 824 so I’ve been able to reduce my stress but the level is still a bit high which can be explained hopefully by my level of physical activity on my body.
- Testosterone 1.2 (<1.99 nmol/L) – In December my male hormone was 0.9 so it’s definitely increased over the past 7 months.
Next Steps: Meet with my Naturopath to discuss managing my cortisol stress, what does the increase in testosterone mean for me and do I still need to lower my iron levels? I also will discuss with her doing a saliva cortisol test vs. just a blood test as I’ve been told it’s a better indicator of how your body manages stress throughout the day!
I’m so happy with the results so far and I can’t wait to continue to improve. I haven’t explained what every supplement really does for me as the post was getting fairly long. I hope that if you are interested in optimizing your health you meet with a naturopath or dive into your own research on the functionality of vitamins & supplements!
Disclaimer: I am sharing information about my current vitamin/supplement plan reviewed and suggested by my naturopath. Please see your/a health care professional(s) before taking anything new or changing your supplementation plan.