Hello everyone,

I see a doctor for bio identical hormone replacement. She is suggesting I start some of the supplements her office offers. She has a medical spa. She said she is certain the supplements contain the amounts of the nutrients posted on the label because she uses only one compound pharmacy for everything. I feel that the prices may be really high. However, if I get feedback from here that says they may be beneficial I am going to try them. My memory could use some help. I believe I suffers from brain fog.

The first is called brain support and contains 12 key elements:
Acetyl-L-Carnitine (as acetyl-l- carnitine hydrochloride) 500mg
Glut amine (as L- glutamine USP)250mg
L-Pyroglutamic acid 100mg
L- Tyrosine (as L-Tryosine USP) 200mg
DMAE 100mg
Ashwagandha 100mg
Blueberry ( vaccinum corymbosum) min 15% anthocyanins 100mg
Gringo leaf dried extract, min 0.8% eleutherosides 100mgs
Vinpocetine 15 mg
GPC supplying 50% alpha-glycerophosphocholine (soy) 250 mg
Phosphatidylserine 50 mg

The price of this is $81.00 and your suppose to take 2 per day. She said if I had yo I could take one a day. It just won't work as well.

The other is for inflammation containing:
Turmeric Phytosome ( Curcuma longa) root, dried extract, min 18% curcuminoids, phosphatidlcholine complex 500mg

The price of this is $72.00 for 100 caps and your suppose to take it twice a day

In case You need to know to answer my question my meds are
Synthroid
Tramadol
Amitriptyline

My supplements are
COQ 10
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Krill oil
Probiotics
B12

Sorry there is so much to read. I have an appt tomorrow and I'm trying to decide what to do. I'd appreciate any help you can give me!

If you need curcumin...I'd go for the LongVida brand. It is the one specially formulated for good absorption. It was used in some studies because of that trait.

http://www.amazon.com/Longvida-Optim...gvida+curcumin

Check out your doctor's curcumin and if it is liposomally optimized. It costs more than the highly thought of, LongVida product.

Some people get really tense on tyrosine. This amino acid is the substrate for dopamine production. Typical side effects are pressure in the chest (heart) and anxiety. I'd worry about it mixed in with so many other things...if you react to it you have lost all the others if you have to stop it.

http://umm.edu/health/medical/altmed...ement/tyrosine

I'd find out who makes those that she sells, and I'd do some Googling to find out about the manufacturer and if they have had any trouble in the past with recalls, or scuffles with the FDA.

Perhaps request some samples, telling her you have concerns re: tyrocine effects (as MrsD points out). If samples are not available, ask about her return policy should unpleasant side effects occur.

Otherwise, maybe invest in a supply and see how you feel. If they don't seem to be helping, you don't need to continue purchasing.

I recently had a similar decision. The Naturopath who works at my local health goods store recently told me she had a herb I could try (apologies, i dont remember the name of 'miracle' herb). However, this herb was going to cost me around $200 per month. I almost fainted! I politely thanked her, but explained that my finances couldn't stretch that far without a guarantee these herbs would cure me. She claimed they would in a few months. It was then I lost faith in her. If a herb could cure neuropathy then we wouldn't all be here living this hell!

That is a steep price for a supplement. I would ask what these are meant to address. Increase circulation? Reduce stress? Etc... There are multiple reasons for brain fog and you need to feel that this supplement is a match for what's happening with you. Your hormones, eventually, should help with that. Another thing to consider is your sleep quality.

It is lot in one pill. I understand that some things work best when combined with other things...the synergy between things increase effectiveness. Not sure that is the case with this pill.

If you are sensitive to MSG then the glutamate in this may have an adverse effect. Like AussieDebbie suggested, ask her if you can return it if it doesn't agree with you.

Thanks to all of you.
Mrs D to be honest I don't know if I need curcumin. I saw this in the list of her supplements and thought it may help with my neuropathy and inflammation. If I decide to try it I will try what you recommend. Thank you for your information on tyrosine. I did not know that.

Debbie, I am going to ask her if she has any samples but I know she'll say know. She is part of one of the upper priced spas. I get the impression they don't give anything away. I am going to inquire about their return policy.

Marlene, I am going to ask her what exactly the supplements address. I was very reluctant to use her for my hormones due to the fact that she owns part of the medical spa. The word spa made me reluctant. However, when I met with her she seemed very knowledgable.
My sleep pattern is not very good. I have also had brain MRI's that show what the doctors call unidentified white objects. I've seen two doctors who addressed this and said they are nothing to be concerned about. The research I've done does concern me though. I often wonder if my brain fog has something to do with the UWO.

Thanks again everyone! You have given me something's to address with the doctor today. I appreciate your help!

What happens with supplements mixed together with so many others... it is a shotgun approach and clouds issues often instead of helping.

When mixed that way, often the doses are small...too small really to get clear positive results. In that list you provided, the amounts of actual herb are quite small. For example 100mg of a blueberry extract is a very small amount. This trend to mix herbs in tiny amounts appears in many highly expensive products. People (doctors AND patients), tend to respond to milligrams as they are used to drug nomenclature. But it can be rather meaningless for some herbs.

Curcumin is very useful for inflammation, and that would be worth trying, I think. Most curcumin products remain in the GI tract but the newest ones like the LongVida product (the best) or Curcugel 500mg (next best) are absorbed and therefore reach other body sites to work. One interesting study found that curcumin (the types absorbed) reduce inflammation in blood vessels.

I'd stay away from products containing Bioperine ...which is one additive some manufacturers use to enhance absorption of poorly soluble supplements. Many curcumin products have this added. But you, take too many drugs, and Bioperine is suspected of interfering with dosing of RX medications, leading to too much being absorbed (like what happens with grapefruit juice). So it is important to read all the fine print on labels and do some Googling to see if things contain this Bioperine (black pepper extract).

mrsD, are there any brands of the LongVida curcumin that are better than others? I recently messed up my knee & would love to try it to help with inflammation. I searched amazon & there are tons of LongVida supps with prices ranging from $20 to $55 but I don't know one from another.

It appears that LongVida is subcontracting their optimized curcumin to other companies now.

This one looks good:
NOW has always been affordable and quality:

http://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Curc...mized+curcumin

The keywords on the label should say "Longvida optimized curcumin"....

This is all very recent...so it looks like more people can benefit and save some $$ now. I hadn't looked at Longvida in several months, so I didn't know about this new development.