I have joint/tendon/muscle pain (all over, really), but specifically on my left side, which seems to be influenced by how I sleep.

I've seen a PT for neck pain on the left side, which helped, but now I'm really frustrated.  When I do my exercises for the neck pain, I can't build endurance.  In fact, I'm unable to do my exercises as long as I did when I first started PT.

I'm also really tired, sleep a ton (8-10 hours a night), and feel like I get more and more fatigued every single day.  I woke up this morning and cried because I felt like I couldn't get out of bed.  Just no endurance at all.

I'm pretty darn compliant (no wheat, no corn, no coffee, no dairy except mozzarella, lots of meat).  I'm drinking 2-3 glasses of green tea a day.  Lots of water.

My supplement list is:
Methyl B-12 (3,000mcg) - morning
B"100" complex (Thiamin 100mg, Riboflavin 100 mg, Niacin 100mg, B6 100mg, Folic Acid 400 mcq, Pantothenic acid 100 mg) - lunchtime
Salmon oil 1,000mg - evening
CoQ10 30mg - evening
Calcium (citrate, malate and carbonate) 1,000mg/Magnesium (oxide, citrate) 500mg/Vitamin D3 200IU/Boron 400mcg - once in morning, once at night
Biotin 5mg - lunch time
And a regular, run of the mill multi with licorice extract.

I was taking a Floradix supplement which caused a slight boost for a few days, but then I was dead again.

And just today, I noticed that my toes on my left side, when I sit down, turn blue.  I only noticed because the toes on my right side do not.  It's consistent with the pain.  Does this sound like I'm not able to get oxygen to those muscles, which is why I have pain?  Or does it sound more like Raynaud's or something worse?

I'm thinking liver extract sounds like a slam dunk for me, but I'm curious if anyone has had success with it as an iron supplement?

Or if anyone has any tips, advice, whatever, please...I cannot figure this out!  I can't imagine I'm not getting enough iron from diet but I do have IBS/Crohn's symtpoms (which have improved DRAMATICALLY since no wheat/no coffee).  Oh, and I have ridiculous acne that refuses to go away, even with the skin protocol (supplements and tea tree/witch hazel/calendula/niacin creme).

Help!!!

For the fatigue you might try adding Rhodiola to start. Other things depending on how much that helps.

No idea on the blue toe, etc.

Are you getting medical care someplace?

please look for boswellia serrata 400mg's each tablet  and take 2 pills every 2-3 hours; it
takes off the pain and all the other malaisses as well ...count to take those at about 3 days and then slow down to 4x 2 tablets a day...for the next 3 days....if you eat plenty of meat, your iron intake should be normally fine, but if your body can't accept...so have an eye into http://www.natvd.com and here is a 35mg's iron product from Natural Factors... take 2x1 daily for a longer period until your ironlevels are normal.
Wish you all the best....btw... augment your vit. C intake as well please

Quoted from Lloyd

For the fatigue you might try adding Rhodiola to start. Other things depending on how much that helps.

No idea on the blue toe, etc.

Are you getting medical care someplace?

Yes, I have a family doc, but I'm self-insured, so I try to do as much through diet and supp's.  I was thinking if the iron or something else doesn't really help with the fatigue that I would go have my B-12 and iron levels checked.

As for the blue toes, they're not like some of the pics I've seen for Raynauds, but where they would normally be white/fleshy colored, they have a noticable shade of purple/blue.  It's not really noticeable unless I'm sitting.  And I don't have blue fingernails.  It sounds like something is probably affecting the blood flow to my left foot when I'm sitting down.

Also, I picked up some Rhodiola today (it's helped a lot in the past).

Quoted from Amazone I.

please look for boswellia serrata 400mg's each tablet  and take 2 pills every 2-3 hours; it
takes off the pain and all the other malaisses as well ...count to take those at about 3 days and then slow down to 4x 2 tablets a day...for the next 3 days....if you eat plenty of meat, your iron intake should be normally fine, but if your body can't accept...so have an eye into http://www.natvd.com and here is a 35mg's iron product from Natural Factors... take 2x1 daily for a longer period until your ironlevels are normal.
Wish you all the best....btw... augment your vit. C intake as well please

I will look into this, too.  Thank you!

sounds to me like you are having a bit too many sups.....

sometimes less is better than more....

follow the fatigue book, get a secretor test, take it one step at a time....

Yes please get a hold of the fatigue book as Lola suggested.   Also did your doctor check your thyroid?
Also I would only take the calcium at night, not in the AM.  Sometimes too much calcium can cause one to be lower in other important minerals like potassium and believe it or not even sodium.  Do you think you might be dehydrated?  Drinking extra water with a pinch of sea salt helps some here.  Ok I just reread that you are getting lots of water so that is great.  I know that I cannot take calcium early in the day or I'll feel tired.

You haven't been bit by a tick have you?

Quoted from Paula O+

Also I would only take the calcium at night, not in the AM.  Sometimes too much calcium can cause one to be lower in other important minerals like potassium and believe it or not even sodium.  Do you think you might be dehydrated?  Drinking extra water with a pinch of sea salt helps some here.  Ok I just reread that you are getting lots of water so that is great.  I know that I cannot take calcium early in the day or I'll feel tired.

I had never heard of calcium making you tired if you take it early in the day. I have always taken it both times as I tend to run very low blood calcium levels. I wonder if that is partly why I am tired during the day?  

The calcium thing might just be me, but I remember reading that it is good to take at night along with magnesium for help in relaxing to sleep. There was a calcium supp out there called calnight or something like that.  It really did feel better to take it at night around dinner time.  
But I had a hair analysis done a year or so back, and my tissue calcium was pretty high, whereas my
potassium and sodium levels were pretty low.  So the report from that analysis said to avoid excess calcium (dairy, etc).  Dairy always makes me sleepy, but thankfully I don't eat much per my swami.
I try to make sure that I get some potassium rich fruits and veggies every day.  

Quoted from amazon

You haven't been bit by a tick have you?

Yup.  Back in college, in Missouri.  No problems, of course, back then.

That was, of course, 14 years ago, and I had a ridiculously stressful past couple of years (laid off, salmonella that led to bout of ulcerative colitis, neck problems, went back and finished grad school, interviewing, son started kindergarten).

Yeah, I wonder about too much in the supplement department, but I seem to be having problems getting everything from food like I should.  And I'm not eating wheat or corn anymore, severely limiting the dairy and trying to hit up the superbeneficial foods.

B-vitamin problems run in my family pretty badly (as do explorer traits:  schizophrenia, bipolar, and my cousin and I with seizures).  I am definitely considering getting some blood work done this week.  I also just received the secretor test today!

Quoted from Paula 0+

The calcium thing might just be me, but I remember reading that it is good to take at night along with magnesium for help in relaxing to sleep. There was a calcium supp out there called calnight or something like that.  It really did feel better to take it at night around dinner time.  
But I had a hair analysis done a year or so back, and my tissue calcium was pretty high, whereas my
potassium and sodium levels were pretty low.  So the report from that analysis said to avoid excess calcium (dairy, etc).  Dairy always makes me sleepy, but thankfully I don't eat much per my swami.
I try to make sure that I get some potassium rich fruits and veggies every day.  

I have also read this. Maybe someone can find the info about Otype and Calcium. I seem to remember that we really don't need to take that much. I've lowered mine to one 500mg cap. every other night,but can't find the info now

Calcium and magnesium are very similar ions and tend to counteract each other.  Calcium helps contract muscles, magnesium helps relax them.  Therefore, taking them together for muscle relaxation is futile.

Lola, that's what I have been finding, that certain minerals cause problems for other minerals.  So taking them together is not always helpful, or taking too much of one is not good.  So many people out there take extra calcium, but it may be that they need magnesium or potassium more.  I really like my Phytocal, but I still take it at night, not in the am....
Another thing for pain is phenylalanine, and there is a small amount in the Explorer Activator.  It helps with pain (muscular, overuse, etc.)  I am faithfully taking the explorer supps for now along with Polyflora and phytocal.

Quoted from misspudding

I have joint/tendon/muscle pain (all over, really), but specifically on my left side, which seems to be influenced by how I sleep.

I've seen a PT for neck pain on the left side, which helped, but now I'm really frustrated.  When I do my exercises for the neck pain, I can't build endurance.  In fact, I'm unable to do my exercises as long as I did when I first started PT.

I'm also really tired, sleep a ton (8-10 hours a night), and feel like I get more and more fatigued every single day.  I woke up this morning and cried because I felt like I couldn't get out of bed.  Just no endurance at all.

I'm pretty darn compliant (no wheat, no corn, no coffee, no dairy except mozzarella, lots of meat).  I'm drinking 2-3 glasses of green tea a day.  Lots of water.
.
.
.
Or if anyone has any tips, advice, whatever, please...I cannot figure this out!  I can't imagine I'm not getting enough iron from diet but I do have IBS/Crohn's symtpoms (which have improved DRAMATICALLY since no wheat/no coffee).  Oh, and I have ridiculous acne that refuses to go away, even with the skin protocol (supplements and tea tree/witch hazel/calendula/niacin creme).

Help!!!

Hi misspudding,

Your symptoms sound very similar to symptoms I had for years.  I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and have suffered for years with acid reflux, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, skin problems, and chronic sinusitis.  I also had many other unexplained symptoms including numbness in my hands and feet, heart arrhythmias, dental problems, extremely low energy, constant diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, chest pain, high blood pressure, and night terrors.  My gastroenterologist confirmed that I had ulcers in my stomach and colon.  When my general practitioner found out that I was taking Extra Strength Tylenol every night just to sleep through the muscle and joint pain, she did a blood test for Auto-Immune Antibodies (ANA), which came back positive indicating I have an autoimmune disease.  That's when she sent me to the rheumatologist who confirmed rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.  Combining that with the results from the gastro., I realized that I had leaky gut syndrome and that food lectins were leaking into my bloodstream where my immune system would attack anywhere the lectins landed, including my joins, tendons, muscles, and organs.

The solution for me was to go on the BTD to stop the damage (from gluten, corn, dairy, and sugar) but also adopt protocols to heal the gut.  You will not be able to properly absorb all of the iron and vitamin supplements you're taking until your gut starts to heal.

I don't know if your situation is similar, but the symptoms sound similar and we are both Type Os, which have susceptibility to auto-immune diseases.  If you also are a non-secretor like me, you would not have as much gut protection as secretors do--there is a much higher incidence of leaky gut syndrome among non-secretors of any blood type.

I guess the first thing to do is get an ANA blood test from your doctor.  If it comes back positive, it probably indicates an auto-immune disorder and you might want to look into cures for leaky gut syndrome.  A lot of Dr. D's supplements will help with that including Deflect-O, Gastro-D, Intrinsa, and Genoma-EQ.

I don't mean to be adding more supplements to your diet, but I agree with Lola that the wrong supplements or an inbalance in overall supplementation creates a lot of problems.  I am not at all qualified to comment on supplements but it seems that you are very very high on a very few number of supplements.  What I like about going with Dr. D's products is that he has balanced everything for me already.

Good luck!

Quoted from misspudding

I have joint/tendon/muscle pain (all over, really), but specifically on my left side, which seems to be influenced by how I sleep.

I've seen a PT for neck pain on the left side, which helped, but now I'm really frustrated.  When I do my exercises for the neck pain, I can't build endurance.  In fact, I'm unable to do my exercises as long as I did when I first started PT.

I'm also really tired, sleep a ton (8-10 hours a night), and feel like I get more and more fatigued every single day.  I woke up this morning and cried because I felt like I couldn't get out of bed.  Just no endurance at all.

I'm pretty darn compliant (no wheat, no corn, no coffee, no dairy except mozzarella, lots of meat).  I'm drinking 2-3 glasses of green tea a day.  Lots of water.

My supplement list is:
Methyl B-12 (3,000mcg) - morning
B"100" complex (Thiamin 100mg, Riboflavin 100 mg, Niacin 100mg, B6 100mg, Folic Acid 400 mcq, Pantothenic acid 100 mg) - lunchtime
Salmon oil 1,000mg - evening
CoQ10 30mg - evening
Calcium (citrate, malate and carbonate) 1,000mg/Magnesium (oxide, citrate) 500mg/Vitamin D3 200IU/Boron 400mcg - once in morning, once at night
Biotin 5mg - lunch time
And a regular, run of the mill multi with licorice extract.

I was taking a Floradix supplement which caused a slight boost for a few days, but then I was dead again.

And just today, I noticed that my toes on my left side, when I sit down, turn blue.  I only noticed because the toes on my right side do not.  It's consistent with the pain.  Does this sound like I'm not able to get oxygen to those muscles, which is why I have pain?  Or does it sound more like Raynaud's or something worse?

I'm thinking liver extract sounds like a slam dunk for me, but I'm curious if anyone has had success with it as an iron supplement?

Or if anyone has any tips, advice, whatever, please...I cannot figure this out!  I can't imagine I'm not getting enough iron from diet but I do have IBS/Crohn's symtpoms (which have improved DRAMATICALLY since no wheat/no coffee).  Oh, and I have ridiculous acne that refuses to go away, even with the skin protocol (supplements and tea tree/witch hazel/calendula/niacin creme).

Help!!!

First thing you should do is read all your supplement ingredients.  I was having trouble finding why I had muscle/joint aches when being very compliant.  I still have a little stiffness am in fingers & minor muscle aches but not as bad like b4.  It turns out that some of my sups were bothering me, even the phytocal/polivite from NAP.  Stop your sups for a few days then add back one @ a time if they DO NOT contain avoids.

I may have glazed over the answer to my own question, but do you eat any gluten?  The e. coli and ulcerative colitis could have triggered celiac or something akin to celiac.  Digestive trouble often goes together with skin trouble.  

Also, I agree about the supps. You may try alternating them for a few weeks and taking some at different times.  CoQ10 can affect sleep (gives me weird dreams and I wake up feeling weird if I take it at night), so I might try that in the morning.  

I don't know about the toes either, I'd see a doctor for that.  

The muscle problems could be from vitamin D deficiency? There I go again with another supplement, and that one is good to see a doctor for to get tested for both active vitamin D and the stored form, then to get treated adequately, since only a doctor can tell you to take the dosages that it takes to correct a deficiency.  (Sunshine is good too, if you live in an area with enough of it).

Oh, and try the methyl B12 at bedtime, that can help with sleep.  Get methylcobalamin instead of cyanobalamin when possible, if you haven't already.

As for the blue toes, they're not like some of the pics I've seen for Raynauds, but where they would normally be white/fleshy colored, they have a noticable shade of purple/blue.  It's not really noticeable unless I'm sitting.  And I don't have blue fingernails.  It sounds like something is probably affecting the blood flow to my left foot when I'm sitting down.

Quoted Text

[/quote]

[quote]Hi misspudding,

Your symptoms sound very similar to symptoms I had for years.  I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia and have suffered for years with acid reflux, ulcerative colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, skin problems, and chronic sinusitis.  I also had many other unexplained symptoms including numbness in my hands and feet, heart arrhythmias, dental problems, extremely low energy, constant diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, chest pain, high blood pressure, and night terrors.  My gastroenterologist confirmed that I had ulcers in my stomach and colon.  When my general practitioner found out that I was taking Extra Strength Tylenol every night just to sleep through the muscle and joint pain, she did a blood test for Auto-Immune Antibodies (ANA), which came back positive indicating I have an autoimmune disease.  That's when she sent me to the rheumatologist who confirmed rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia.  Combining that with the results from the gastro., I realized that I had leaky gut syndrome and that food lectins were leaking into my bloodstream where my immune system would attack anywhere the lectins landed, including my joins, tendons, muscles, and organs.

The solution for me was to go on the BTD to stop the damage (from gluten, corn, dairy, and sugar) but also adopt protocols to heal the gut.  You will not be able to properly absorb all of the iron and vitamin supplements you're taking until your gut starts to heal.

The best explanation of what brought me to BTD.. many years before .. I healed my body one day at a time.. following a diet that preceeded BTD.. ( not importent)  but following BTD i feel no need to take sups for anything.. I have been doing this for many years and have been tested for osteo.. so the advice to follow the diet is a good one.  the fibro will leave you as soon as you follow the proper diet for your condition..

take this test and see what may be best for your age.. use your grandparents health info when you answer the questions..  at your age you can still change your genetic destiny..

http://www.dadamo.com/which_diet_is_right.htm  


IN the reading of DrD's ER4YT Encyclopedia you will see that he only reccomend sups for a month or two.. I would follow his advice over any other.. in time you will feel much better, from the inside out, and having food as your medicine is so reassuring.. I EAT ONLY SUPER OR BENEFICIAL foods.. neutral foods are not good for me.. avoids are poison..  

One item I needed to add to my body was Managanese.. way more then recomended.. I took it for pain and repeated the dose whenever the pain returned.. after a few month only 2x a day or for sleep.. you can email me on that if you wish..

Hey, my problem wasn't my diet, it's that I have sciatica! Well, I have some back issues related to poor posture the past couple of years.

Physical therapy is helping.

Also, I had low vitamin D levels. 27 (whereas 50 and above is supposed to be great, 30 and above is supposed to be "bare minimum", I think?). I live in Seattle, so I'm not surprised.

Any dental issues?   Metal (dental amalgam) in the teeth as fillings, crowns or anything?    If so, it could be the root cause of some of these problems