Prescription:
Compounded Thyroid USP: Synthroid is actually counterproductive (my TSH goes up on it and I can’t get out of bed) and Armour stopped working well when they reformulated it.
Xarelto: for Factor V Leiden because my INR goes all over with Coumadin (I rarely stabilize) due to NAFLD. Also, Coumadin requires excessive monitoring which they won’t let me do at home, and yeah. I get really depressed on coumadin because it’s super invasive and my food issues go through the roof on it.
Metformin: Most likely med to drop, as it has had very little effect on the things I was hoping it might impact, and my blood sugar has just never been that high. (I had a single A1C where I was 0.1 over the threshold for pre-diabetes, not even diabetic. My actual blood sugars never get over about 125-130, not even when I was pregnant, it’s just I’m no longer hypoglycemic and I tend to be very, very stable but a little higher than they want the fasting.)
I have ongoing prescriptions for Keterolac, Oxycodone and I sometimes use naproxen for pain. I rarely take these. Keterolac is for acute “right now” pain that is stopping me from sleeping. Naproxen I take when I’m doing a lot that will likely put me into flare. Oxy is to boost whatever else I’m taking. Since I started CBD my dose of these things is cut in half and I take them about 1/4 as often as I used to. The Toradol is AMAZING for pain but only lasts 4 hours and is hard on kidneys. But it’s less risky to be on a shorter acting NSAID in terms of the clotting, so if one does of Toradol (Keterolac) can get me through a flare, I’ll use that. If it seems to be going on a while I switch to a low dose of naproxen, which lasts longer but isn’t as effective. I go through about 10-15 Oxycodone tablets a year (one per month is probably overstating it, though it usually goes “I take a half at night for three days and then not again for months”) so I’m not even a tiny bit worried about addiction.
Vitamins and minerals:
Vitamin D: 5000 IU D3 from Costco. I tested low. I live in Oregon.
B-complex: B-Right capsule. This is a really good formulation. Very highly absorbable.
Extra Quatrifolic Folate: Eh? Not sure it’s helping anything, rheumy wants me on it for skin/hair? Still bald though.
Magnesium: 1000 mg– this is for asthma and to keep muscle cramps at bay. It also keeps me from getting too constipated. REALLY helpful. Like, super dramatic I was able to go off all asthma meds. I get Nature’s Life 500 mg and take two.
Zinc: During the winter I take 25 mg
I get a fair amount of dairy, and don’t take supplemental calcium.
Herbs:
Milk Thistle: Helps my liver function. When I was on coumadin, it was the only thing that helped stabilize it (but it wasn’t enough).
Dandelion: Mild diuretic keeps me from retaining fluids, works really well.
Turmeric: I can’t take a lot of pain meds, this stuff helps.
CW hemp oil (CBD oil) tiny amount each day helps me use less of other meds. It interacts with the xarelto so I can’t take as much as would be ideal. It does reduce how often I need pain meds, and helps my mood. I also tend to run on the low side of ideal or below on the Xarelto without it, so we’re actually using the drug interaction to keep the xarelto in a good range.
Other supplements:
Sam-E helps a LOT with mood and reducing “disasterizing” type episodes. Brand matters. I use Doctor’s Best. The stuff I was getting smelled like skunk? Since I switched brands I’ve been having fewer episodes.
Lecithin seems to reduce my level of free-floating anxiety and increase my function. I take sunflower lecithin. I have more joy since I started it? Hard to quantify. I think I use NOW brand?
Fish oil
Claritin for allergies
Probiotics: I take a variety. Some really high quality ones occasionally, plus fermented foods including kefir, kombucha, raw kraut, and yogurt.
Melatonin: I take 1/4 of a Trader Joe’s 500 mcg tablet. This is a super, duper low dose, but enough to make the difference between 45 minutes to sleep and about 15. Also, you get 100 pills for $3.99, and so cutting them in quarters means a penny per dose. When people tell me they’re taking 5 mg doses I sideeye HARD as that’s like 40 times more than I need to get to sleep and I have super fucked up sleep cycles. It works. It works quickly, and lower doses work better.
On cursory glance of your post, fish oil and turmeric stand out as red flags for people taking anti-coagulants. Both fish oil and curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) act as anti-coagulants themselves. My hematologist advised against taking these supplements. Don’t forget to give your physicians the laundry list of supplements and additives dumped into protein shakes that many of us take without a second’s thought. Hope you are doing well.
I’m aware. My hematologist and pulmonologist would prefer me on full therapeutic anticoagulation. My dosing is half that because full anticoagulation causes problems. At this level of extremely consistent supplementation, I have had no clots and no bleeds. I need both the fish oil and turmeric because my pain relief options are minimal so I need to keep my inflammation down. My rheumatologist agrees. All of them know my full list of supplements.
I’ve managed to be clot-free despite being very sedentary (not by choice) due to mobility issues, so I think I’m adequately anticoagulated. And my hematocrit is fine. It is a juggling act, for sure, but I’m not cavalier about this stuff.
(Back when I was on xarelto, we did a brief trial of CBD, and tested before I started and after a very low dose, and found that it raised my levels too much to increase the dose further. I tend to be quite methodical about these things, and I do more cross checking of reactions than most doctors do.)