Juggling Medications and Supplements

It is a juggling act with medications and supplements.

I take my levothyroxine in the early morning hours (usually 1-3 a.m.) when I wake up to use the bathroom. This hormone stopped my hair from falling out! 

I take my first dose of CBD and a probiotic with breakfast. 

I take most of my vitamins and minerals and my second dose of CBD with supper, my largest meal. These include my calcium/magnesium/vitamin D3 supplement, multivitamin, zinc, selenium, citrus bioflavonoids, vitamin C, vitamin D3, natural vitamin E, lutein with zeaxanthin and others. 

I take my SrC and simvastatin a couple of hours before bedtime and about 30 minutes apart. 

I get magnesium in my Ca/Mg/D supplement. I had been taking a magnesium glycinate capsule at lunch time for a while, but I stopped taking it due to multiple bowel movements. I still give it to my husband. It is best to take magnesium at bedtime, but lunch seems to fit in better for us.

I take sublingual methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12), 5000 mcg, one tablet per week. My husband takes this high dose every day around 3:00 p.m. to keep his canker sores from returning.  

My Current Supplements

My bone protocol consists of the following supplements. The dosage for each is  one capsule or tablet per day unless otherwise stated. 

AOR Strontium Support II, 341 mg strontium (from citrate) per capsule (two capsules daily)

Country Life, Gluten Free, Calcium Magnesium with Vitamin D Complex (250 mg Ca, 125 mg Mg, 100 I.U. Vitamin D per capsule) (two capsules daily)

Innate Vitality Magnesium Glycinate, 500 mg/capsule 

Nature Made Multi Men's 50+, No Iron (OK for men and women; contains 1000 IU vitamin D3 and 21 other nutrients) 

Nature Made D3, 1000 IU (one capsule three times/week)

I also take the following supplements for general health. The dosage for each is one capsule or tablet per day unless otherwise stated.

Solgar Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex, 1000 mg per tablet (Bioflavonoids are antioxidants.)

Solary Selenium, 100 mcg

Vitacost Chelated Zinc (zinc glycinate chelate), 30 mg

Doctor’s Best Lutein with Optilut (20 mg lutein, 4 mg zeaxanthin in two capsules)(2 capsules/day)

Nature Made Vitamin C, 500 mg

Solgar Natural Vitamin E (as d-Alpha Tocopherol plus d-Beta, d-Delta and d-Gamma Tocopherols), 400 IU

Horbaach Sublingual Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12), 5000 mcg

I also take a couple of digestive aids: 

A probiotic (I am trying different brands.)

A multi-enzyme digestive (I am trying different brands.) 

My Current Supplements

I take one capsule/day of each of the following supplements, with the exception of strontium and lutein (two capsules/day) and D3 (one capsule three times/week). 

I do not take any supplements, except strontium, on Sundays to prevent getting too much of any one of them. I do not take strontium on Sundays if I feel I have not had sufficient calcium-containing foods that day. Vitamins, minerals, and other supplements taken in excess can cause problems.Too much calcium from supplements can contribute to the formation of kidney stones and has been implicated (inconclusively) in heart disease. Try to get most of your calcium from food. Excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins are eliminated in the urine. Supplemental vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin, increases urinary oxalate concentrations, but whether an increase in urinary oxalate elevates the risk for kidney stones is not yet known. Those predisposed for kidney stone formation may consider avoiding high-dose (greater than or equal to 1 g/day) vitamin C supplementation. I am not predisposed to kidney stones but take only 500 mg/day vitamin C in pill form.

The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E and K. They are soluble in organic solvents and are absorbed and transported in a manner similar to that of fats. Excess amounts of fat-soluble vitamins accumulate in the liver, adipose (fat) tissue, and skeletal muscle. Because these vitamins are stored for long periods, dangerous levels can build up. Excess intake of fat-soluble vitamins is more likely to cause you harm than excess intake of water-soluble vitamins. For these reasons, I do not take extra vitamin A, except for the 750 mcg in my multivitamin. I do not take any K2 and only the 80 mcg K1 (as Phytonadione) in my multivitamin. I do take 400 IU natural vitamin E. I do take vitamin D (1000 IU) in my multivitamin. I recently added another D3 supplement with 1000 IU/capsule, but I am only taking it three times per week. If I add up the 1000 IU/day for six days/week in my multi and the 1000 IU for three days/week in the separate D3 supplement, I get 9000 IU vitamin D/week, or about 1286 IU/day. Unless you have a vitamin-D deficiency or insufficiency, as shown by a 25(OH)D blood test,1000 to 2000 IU/day of vitamin D should be plenty. 

Bioflavonoids (Antioxidants)

Solgar Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex, 1000 mg per tablet

Digestive Aids

Nature’s Way Primadophilus bifidus (probiotic)

NOW Super Enzymes (breaks down fats, carbs and protein)

Minerals

AOR Strontium Support II, 341 mg strontium (from citrate) per capsule (two capsules daily)

Country Life, Gluten Free, Calcium Magnesium Complex (500 mg Ca, 250 mg Mg per tablet)

KAL Magnesium Glycinate 400 (400 mg in 2 softgels; I take one.) 

Solary Selenium, 100 mcg

Vitacost Chelated Zinc (zinc glycinate chelate), 30 mg

Vitamins

Doctor’s Best Lutein with Optilut (20 mg lutein, 4 mg zeaxanthin in two capsules)

Nature Made D3, 1000 IU (one capsule three times/week)

Nature Made Multi Men's 50+, No Iron (OK for men and women; contains 1000 IU vitamin D3 and 21 other nutrients)

Nature Made Vitamin C, 500 m

Solgar Natural Vitamin E (as d-Alpha Tocopherol plus d-Beta, d-Delta and d-Gamma Tocopherols), 400 IU

Solgar Sublingual Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12), 5000 mcg

My Daily Supplements Update

I take one of each supplement daily, except for strontium. I take two capsules of strontium per day.

  1. Bluebonnet Lecithin, 1365 mg in one softgel

  2. Solgar Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex, 1000 mg per tablet

  3. Country Life, Gluten Free, Calcium Magnesium Complex (500 mg Ca, 250 mg Mg per tablet)

  4. Doctor’s Best Lutein with Optilut, 20 mg lutein esters yielding 10 mg minimum of free lutein, 2 mg zeaxanthin per capsule

  5. AOR Strontium Support II, 341 mg strontium (from citrate) per capsule (two capsules daily)

  6. Nature Made Multi for Him, No Iron (Not a typo. My husband and I both take this multivitamin.)

  7. Nature Made Vitamin C, 500 mg

  8. Solgar Natural Vitamin E (as d-Alpha Tocopherol plus d-Beta, d-Delta and d-Gamma Tocopherols), 400 IU

  9. Nature’s Way Primadophilus bifidus (This is a probiotic.)

10. Solgar Sublingual Methylcobalamin, 5000 mcg

11. Solgar Zinc (as zinc gluconate), 50 mg

I have made a few changes since my last daily supplements update on June 11, 2015:

http://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2015/06/my-daily-supplements.html

The most significant change was the switch from Doctor’s Best Strontium Bone Maker to AOR Strontium Support II. I made this change after Doctor’s Best was sold to a Chinese company and before discovering that Doctor's Best Strontium was discontinued in July 2016 (60- and 120-count bottles) and September 2016 (360-count bottle).  

I reduced my dosage of Bluebonnet Lecithin from two to one softgel, which is a serving per the label. Many years earlier, I had been taking three softgels per day. The reason for my latest dosage reduction is that there is currently some controversy about the health benefits of lecithin. I’ve been taking it for many years for cardiovascular health.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lecithin  See the introduction and the section on “Biology” in Wikipedia for an overview of lecithin, choline, and phospholipids, such as phosphatidylcholines, a class of phospholipids that incorporate choline as a head group.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26108618  “Effects of choline on health across the life course: a systematic review.”

I also switched from Nature’s Bounty Vitamin E to Solgar Vitamin E, from Twin Labs Zinc to Solgar Zinc, and from Country Life Citrus Bioflavonoids and Rutin to Solgar Citrus Bioflavonoid Complex. These changes were due solely to unavailability at my online supplement distributor, iherb.com, which no longer stocks Nature’s Bounty Vitamin E or Twin Labs Zinc. Country Life Citrus Bioflavonoids and Rutin is out of stock at iherb.com until 12/25/2016. I may buy whichever bioflavonoid brand is available when I reorder.

I like my supplier’s next day air expedited shipping (at extra cost) because some vitamins and supplements are heat labile. I am unhappy with its current policy of giving a discount, based on total amount of current invoice, for my NEXT purchase rather than for my CURRENT purchase, as was previously done. This policy has raised my costs.