Chronic fatigue - vitamins or minerals missing from my system?

[dkayuk]

Hi all

I've been struggling with fatigue for a while now (I have Crohn's) but I put it down to Crohn's being very active.

About 5 weeks ago I had a resection and I was expecting the fatigue to go away. But it hasn't

I need to drink lots of coffee to keep myself focused and even after getting at least 8h of sleep I still don't feel energetic.

Currently I am on Folic Acid (1 x 5mg tablet per day), 2 x 1000 unit Vitamin D3 tablets per day and one multivitamin.

I also take 200mg of Azathioprine and 4mg Questran daily.

Does anybody know what other vitamins/minerals I might not have enough of in my system and that cause this lack of energy? Or could it be that my energy will return at some point now that I've had surgery?

I've been avoiding vegetable/fruit for the last 18 months because they would cause me very nasty flare ups.

thx
David

 

[Daisy123]

It is very early days, so I would suspect that the fatigue is a result of surgery. It takes at least six months to recover from an anaesthetic. If you are concerned, it might be worth having a blood test.

 

[DustyKat]

Have levels done for Iron Stores, Folate, B12, Vit D, Magnesium and Zinc.

A multivitamin really doesn’t cut it in your situation. I will give an outline of my son’s issues and treatment:

Iron Stores: Iron not supplemented. Low in iron at present and borderline with a couple of other things in latest Iron Studies results. He has a GI appointment next week at which this will be discussed.

Folate: Not supplemented and normal.

B12: Normal but at lower end. After much reading on here and elsewhere I personally would like to see his level over 500. The GP has supplemented in the past but it is hard convincing the docs to do so, and also Matt, when the docs are happy with the level it is at. *Sigh*

Vit D: Supplementing, was deficient, with 2000ui twice daily. Again after research I like his levels to be at 120. Not sure where you are but if US that would equate to 70.

Magnesium: Supplementing with 1 Cap twice daily. Wasn’t shown to deficient but again researching suggests that the lowest NRR (Normal Reference Range) should be 90. If this was the case he would have been deficient. So now aiming that he sits at at least 90.

Zinc: Supplementing, was deficient. Was taking 30mg daily but have cut back to x3 weekly as he was over NRR.

A deficiency in any of these has the potential to cause the fatigue and I assume by your meds that you have terminal ileum disease? If so you may experience problems with one or all of these and even if normal now you need to keep an eye on things.

I assume you are taking your meds away from the Questran? Also be sure you take your supplements away from it too.

5 weeks is still early on in the post surgery period and you likely still have some condition catching up to do.

Dusty. xxx

 

[lgpcarter]

I would definitely get your iron checked. I had iron infusions in February/March to get mine back up to somewhat normal and it made a huge difference in my energy levels.

It also does always take longer to bounce back from surgery than we would like, especially if you are in a flare, so that definitely could be part of it too.

 

[dkayuk]

many thanks for all your replies, I'll see what my doctor thinks but my feeling is that she might want to wait for a few more weeks before we start running tests etc.
thanks again
David

 

[wild_one353]

take at least 500% daily value of all the b vitamins. intestinal bacteria actually make b vitamins out of dietary fiber, but getting more fiber may not necessarily be a solution, as bad bacteria in your gut could equally get access to the fiber and make inflammation worse. So supplementing the b vitamins could help out.

2000iu during summer months is way too much vitamin d, take 400iu until winter hits, then take 1000-2000iu. Taking too much can lead to toxic effects like fatigue.



quote and source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3298082/-

The case of micronutrients
The intestinal microbiota has the capacity to synthesize a variety of vitamins involved in myriad aspects of microbial and host metabolism, including cobalamin (vitamin B12), pyridoxal phosphate (active form of vitamin B6), a cofactor in a variety of enzymatic interconversions involved in amino acid
The intestinal microbiota has the capacity to synthesize a variety of vitamins involved in myriad aspects of microbial and host metabolism, including cobalamin (vitamin B12), pyridoxal phosphate (active form of vitamin B6), a cofactor in a variety of enzymatic interconversions involved in amino acid metabolism, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), niacin (vitamin B3), biotin, tetrahydrofolate (generated from dietary forms of folate) and vitamin K. In addition to vitamin B12, gut microbes produce a range of related molecules (corrinoids) with altered ‘lower ligands’ including methyladenine, p-cresol, and other analogs. Over 80% of non-absorbed dietary vitamin B12 is converted to these alternate corrinoids 45,46. There is preliminary evidence that syntrophic relationships among members of the human microbiota, and the fitness of some taxa, may be based on the ability to generate, utilize, or further transform various corrinoids46,47.