When starting supplements, it's always a good idea to check each one against any drugs you are taking. Taking only one supplement at a time will help you to figure out which one is making you better—or worse!

Yeah, I don't know why Valeant puts dairy in the Mestinon tabs. That's one reason I need to do the syrup. I have an immune reaction to dairy.

There are different forms of vitamin D, such as vegi caps versus glycerin ones. What brands have you tried?

Probiotics are good, but look carefully for dairy in those as well. The UP4 brand doesn't have dairy.

Krill oil (or flax) is a good omega, as are walnuts or olive oil. Tumeric has blood thinning properties. If you are on any NSAIDS, or similar drugs, you may want to be cautious about using tumeric. Cinnamon is a good anti-inflammatory as well.

Collagen powder is not tightly regulated. A rice protein powder might be a better way to go. But that's up to you. We need lots of good protein. Collagen isn't a complete protein, and the sources might be iffy (beef, etc.). The collagen powders are also quite expensive. Amino acids can make someone sleepy once they hit the gut. Timing of those proteins is important as well.

N-glutamin isn't necessarily harmful. Please read up on all of these supplements. Also, once a body is used to a supplement, going off of them can be harder. They are not benign.

I appreciate complementary medicine. But that doesn't mean that everything out there is right for you. And there isn't enough evidence of how each supplement interacts with foods or drugs in the body!

Did the physiatrist give you reasons for each supplement? Knowing what the goal or end point is will help you decide what is best for you.

I hope you can figure out what supplements are right for you. But don't simply take something when a medical professional says to! Whether drugs or supplements, we need to know what we're putting into our bodies!


Annie

@ErinBear, I have centrai AC. It is my best friend, and I am one of our electric company's best customers. Humidity over 60% with temp over 75 degrees, and I don't leave the house because I cannot breathe, it becomes a serious struggle. I hate being locked up inside a closed house, but I like breathing, so the breathing choice wins. Not a senior, and I had to give up driving several years ago because of my wonky eyes, and I'm in a small town with no public transportation, so home inside it is. That would be why I have so many pets (2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 degus, 11 budgies, 47 finches, a canary, and a goldfish).

@AnnieB3 I did run them through an interaction checker, and it came up with nothing. I always check new things, several times have caught stuff that the doc and pharmacist both missed, and being me, if there is any way something will cause problems, it will happen to me. I am one in a million, it seems. (If only it worked for the lottery.) But I often find real people are better sources of information than what the officials allow to be put out there.

Did start them one at a time. But only gradually noticed this happening, no sudden "gee, today I'm really bad" that would be easy to connect to something.

Did not check the probiotic for dairy, I don't think. Small print and I are mortal enemies at the moment. Will do that.

Collagen powder is for my joint pain. Every doctor I have been to in the last two years has said "you have rheumatoid arthritis" EXCEPT for the rheumatologists, because---you guessed it, I don't have a positive blood test. So they insist it has to be regular osteoarthritis, even tho x-rays are showing next to nothing (only age-appropriate) and absolutely nothing that would explain the pain and dysfunction level or that everything started hurting worse all at the same time, all over. I am tearing ligaments and "spraining" other joints simply by moving--not walking or lifting, some have gone when I simply moved my arm or ankle through the air. So, the collagen is not for protein, it's for the actual collagen-joint help thingy.

the krill oil is for the omega3's. We cook with olive oil. No nuts for me, I get migraines, even from raw, unroasted, unsalted nuts. I live in fear of the migraines, as they are of the "please let me die i can't take anymore" pain level while curled up in a little ball on the couch in a dark room until I cry myself to sleep from exhaustion, so migraine avoidance takes precedence over everything else. Everything.

Mostly take only a low-dose aspirin daily, as using other NSAIDS or Tylenol more than occasionally is a sure way to kick off rebound migraines, and as above, avoiding the headaches is top priority. No warning came up about low dose aspirin and turmeric. But will keep that in mind for future needs, there are times when it is necessary.

The glutamine is for all kinds of stuff. Since I am the poster child for side effects from man-made drugs, trying to help things from a less laboratory-synthesized angle.

The vitamin D--I have tried every form you can buy around here. Pills, capsules, gels, liquid (sorry kids, you can't go to college, I spent all the money on bottles of vitamin D)--my stomach objects by hurting. 3 am awake and holding my stomach kind of hurting. Don't know why. Makes no sense. Was getting away with irregular use of liquid vitD3, but when we went to the fancy health food store to get the rest, the owner suggested that a NATURAL source would sit better with me, so I let him talk me into another bottle of pills. Not good. Hubby's gonna get him some high quality (or just high cost) vitamin D. Which sucks because I am fair-skinned and sunburn quickly, AND one of the meds I am on is apparently making me even more sun-sensitive because I am burning even more quickly than ever in my life, and itching a little on all exposed areas after being out in the sun (this started before the supplements). None of my meds list sun-sensitivity as a known problem, but then, I am always so special. grrrr!