Doctor knows best, but he don't know D!

Well, folks, I have fallen victim to something we have been told to do since we are children but which DS'ers are often cautioned against - I listened to my doctor. His coat was so white, and his degrees so prestigious. So, when his eyes when wide when I told him I was taking 50,000 IU of Vitamin D per day, I followed his advice and cut back to 50,000 IU every other day. Here are the results:

At three months my Vitamin D lab was:

Component Results

Component	Your Value	Standard Range	Flag
Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy	44.7	31-80 ng/mL
	Classification of 25 OH Vitamin D status: Insufficiency/Moderate Deficiency: < or =" 30" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; ">Sufficiency/Optimal Levels: 31 to 80 ng/mL Toxicity: > 100 ng/mL Test performed by RIA methodology

At six months my Vitamin D lab was:

Component Results

Component	Your Value	Standard Range	Flag
Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy	37.8	31-80 ng/mL
	Classification of 25 OH Vitamin D status: Insufficiency/Moderate Deficiency: < or =" 30" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: auto; margin-left: auto; ">Sufficiency/Optimal Levels: 31 to 80 ng/mL Toxicity: > 100 ng/mL Test performed by RIA methodology

I know what you may be thinking: "Wonderful, he's within the standard range."  No, my friends, I don't see things that way.  What I see is that my Vitamin D level dropped 15.4% in three months.  That's 5% per month and, to me, an unacceptable declining trend.

From here forward, I will be taking no less than 50,000 IU PER DAY.  I will speak with my surgeon (Dr. Lane) to see how he feels about 100,000 IU per day.  

Raising my GOOD & lowering my BAD cholesterol with Coromega

Well folks, my six month labs are starting to come back to me.  This is the first of several bog posts I will make about the results.

One question I had post-op, when my malabsorption had done its job and dramatically lowered my cholesterol, was: "how do I raise my HDL (good) cholesterol?"  I began using my Coromega brand predigested fish oil packets.  Supposedly, because of its "predigested" form, Coromega circumvents a DS'ers malabsorption/is more bioavailable thus raising HDL levels.  Here is what I found:

At three months post-op I had not begun regularly taking my Coromega.  Here is what my Lipid Panel was at three months:

Component Results

Component	Your Value	Standard Range	Flag
Triglyceride	91	30-149 mg/dL
Cholesterol	131	100-199 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol	31	>45-  mg/dL	L
VLDL Cholesterol	18	6-40 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol	82	60-129 mg/dL
Fasting Time	12	-  hrs
TC:HDL Ratio	4.23	1.00-5.00
LDL:HDL Ratio	2.65	0.50-3.55

From three to six months out I began supplementing two Coromega packets (2000 mg of Fish oil) per day, this is what my Lipid Panel was at six months:

Component Results

Component	Your Value	Standard Range	Flag
Triglyceride	59	30-149 mg/dL
Cholesterol	122	100-199 mg/dL
HDL Cholesterol	40	>45-  mg/dL	L
VLDL Cholesterol	12	6-40 mg/dL
LDL Cholesterol	70	60-129 mg/dL
Fasting Time	12	-  hrs
TC:HDL Ratio	3.05	1.00-5.00
LDL:HDL Ratio	1.75	0.50-3.55

So, with Coromega supplementation, my triglyceride level decreased by 35% and my LDL (bad) cholesterol decreased by 15%, while my HDL (good) cholesterol increased by 29%!  I managed to decrease my total cholesterol 6.9% while significantly raising my HDL (good) cholesterol.

I credit these results to Coromega because my eating habits have not markedly changed.  Yes, I cook with olive oil and eat fatty fish about once or twice a week, but I still eat sausage, and steak, and butter, and poultry, and mayo, and eggs, and fried things, and whatever else I feel like eating (save carbs).  So, I don't attribute these results to diet.

I hope seeing my results has helped you.  If you're interesting in buying Coromega, it comes in various citrus and/or chocolate flavors, does NOT taste fishy, and the cheapest price I've found for is $20 for ninety packets at Vitacost.com.  Vitalady also sells this product.

Coming soon, "why not to listen to your doctor when it comes to D," and "did Justin manage to raise his tanked A, E, and K levels?".