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Gluten free vitamins


llisa
Go to solution Solved by trents,

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llisa Rookie

Looking for gluten free multi-vitamin for 70-year-old woman. Also D3, Calcium, and B complex. Thank you.


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  • Solution
trents Grand Master

Welcome to the forum, @llisa!

If you are near a Costco, their Kirkland Signature brand, Nature Made and others are often gluten free and, if so, will state so on the packaging. They are economically priced as well. 

llisa Rookie

Thank you. Not near a Costco. Near Jewel, Kroger, Walgreens,  Walmart,  Aldi's.  I just looked, and Jewel carries a Nature Made vitamin line. I wonder if it's the same?

llisa Rookie

Trents: I read the label and it does say gluten-free. I have used these before, so will be getting some from our local Jewel. Bonus: they are Buy One Get One right now! Thanks.

trents Grand Master
(edited)

Not sure if it's the same formulation as what they sell to Costco. Look for "Gluten Free" on the packaging. And realize that "Gluten Free" does not mean "no gluten". It simply means not more than 20 ppm of gluten. That's fine for most celiacs but if you are of the super sensitive subset it may not be.

Edited by trents
trents Grand Master

Have you considered also supplementing with magnesium and zinc? We usually recommend these two as well. D3, Calcium and Magnesium all important for bone and nerve health.

llisa Rookie

I've tried magnesium before. Twice in 2 years. It really upset my stomach. And that was before this celiac disease diagnosis. (Finally, after 2 years of trying to find out what was wrong with me.) I have no idea how sensitive I am. When my stomach was upset, I'd go to my comfort foods: cream of wheat, cheese and crackers, scrambled eggs and toast...so, making myself worse by trying to feel better.  Just got results of biopsy yesterday, so today is first day of trying no gluten and reading that it can be hiding in vitamins and meds. So, I welcome ALL advice and personal experiences. No advice is too basic. I know nothing. Thank you!


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trents Grand Master

@llisa, back then when you tried magnesium and it upset your tummy, I'm guessing you were using the most common form of magnesium found on store shelves, namely, magnesium oxide. It has a reputation for having a laxative effect. It is not very well absorbed and so draws a lot of water into the colon, just like the laxative known as milk of magnesia. I'm guessing if you would switch to the "glycinate" form of magnesium you would not have this problem. Magnesium glycinate is absorbed much better. If you can't find magnesium glycinate at your local stores, you can order gluten free brands of it off of Amazon.

llisa Rookie

Thank you so much! I will look for that.

trents Grand Master
(edited)

The forms that vitamin and mineral supplements come in can be important. Bioavailability (i.e., how well they are absorbed) is often sacrificed for the sake of cost and shelf life. The vitamin or mineral you are targeting is always chemically combined with other elements to make them into a dispensable form (such as a powder, liquid or a pill) and to give them some chemical stability for shelf life.

Edited by trents
Wheatwacked Veteran

I order my vitamins from Pipingrock.com.

6 hours ago, llisa said:

cream of wheat

They also make Cream of Rice.  Clearly marked gluten free. Right next to the Cream of Wheat.

Stoneyfield Whole Milk Yogurt will help repoputate your gut bacteria.  It has lactase so is ok for lactose intolerance. 6 ounces has 210 mg calcium.

For magnesium I get the 10 ounce bottle of liquid Magnesium Citrate at the supermarket or drugstore ($3).  One or two ounces of it  in a glass of water.  Add ice and sugar if you like.  I like the Cherry or Grape best.

6 hours ago, llisa said:

cream of wheat, cheese and crackers, scrambled eggs and toast

Instead try: Cream of Rice, Cheese and Good Thins (rice crackers), scrambled eggs and gluten free toast.

Do you need Calcium supplement?  Calcium from supplements can cause hypercalcemia, a condition that can lead to serious health complications.  Vitamin D increases calcium absorption.  Monitor 25)(OH)D vitamin D plasma and  parathyroid hormone (PTH).

 

Quote

Calcium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals

Hypocalcemia (serum calcium level less than 8.5 mg/dL [2.12 mmol/L] or an ionized calcium level below 4.61 mg/dL [1.15 mmol/L]) is usually a result of a vitamin D or magnesium deficiency

Some individuals who take calcium supplements might experience gastrointestinal side effects, including gas, bloating, constipation, or a combination of these symptoms.

A meta-analysis of 14 RCTs (including one study that administered supplements providing 20 mcg [800 IU] vitamin D per day) in 28,935 healthy postmenopausal women found that calcium supplements providing 500 to 2,000 mg/day calcium for 1 to 7 years increased CVD risk by 15% and coronary heart disease risk by 16% [72]. In addition, when 132,823 adults (mean age 63 years) were followed for an average of 17.5 years, the risk of CVD mortality was 22% higher in men with calcium supplement intakes of 1,000 mg/day or more than in those not taking calcium supplements [48].

 

trents Grand Master

Yes, I have concerns about the calcium supplementation as well. Sounds like a good idea on the surface if you are trying to address bone density issues but when overdone it can have the opposite effect. Calcium supplementation increases gut PH (i.e., lowers gut acidity) which can interfere with vitamin and mineral (including calcium itself) absorption. Often, bone demineralization is not due to lack of calcium intake but to low gut acidity. This is why you will often see calcium supplement products paired with vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Drinking OJ or tomato juice along with the calcium supplement can help with this as they are acidic juices. Calcium supplementation can also contribute to plaque arterial buildup I believe. I think it might be best to focus on rich natural sources of calcium.

llisa Rookie

I had bariatric surgery in 2018. My doctor put me on multiple vitamins, D3, and calcium (in the form of 2 Tums daily). My endocrinologist monitors my levels of these things, as well as my diabetes and Hashimoto's.

trents Grand Master

@llisa, have you also been diagnosed with celiac disease? You don't actually say but we have assumed that.

llisa Rookie

Yes, through a biopsy of the small intestine. 

trents Grand Master

So, you have a couple of strikes against you when it comes to nutrient absorption efficiency.

llisa Rookie

AND, just diagnosed abt 6 months ago with exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. I was just feeling like I was getting that under control with Creon when I started feeling worse again. 

trents Grand Master

Diabetes and Hashimoto's as well, huh? You are the epitome of the autoimmune cascade effect. That is, once you get one autoimmune condition you tend to develop others. But I am curious. In the sequence of these several autoimmune diagnoses, where did the celiac diagnosis come? You certainly have a lot of health issues to juggle.

llisa Rookie

Hashimoto diagnosed over 20 years ago after my daughter was diagnosed and told me to get checked due to similar symptoms. Diabetes diagnosed same time. Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency this past summer. Celiac last Wednesday. Have been having the digestive issues for a couple of years, several doctors--thought we had it solved with the Creon. Then symptoms got worse. I have a theory about that. I have a stricture in my esophagus that has to be dilated every 6-8 months. When it is tight, I have trouble swallowing. Bread is one of the harder things to swallow, so I avoid it. Had the stricture stretched end of October and started eating bread again. That's about when the diarrhea, bloating, gas, and pain started getting worse. Went in for another upper endoscopy and dilation of stricture last week. (It had been so tight this time, he scheduled a second dilation one month after the first.)  I told him how miserable I'd been, and he did the small intestine biopsy. I know they did the blood test for celiac about a year or more ago trying to find source of my problems,  and it was negative.

trents Grand Master

Yes, but if you had been avoiding bread because of the stricture, that might explain the negative result of the previous celiac antibody test.

Wheatwacked Veteran

@llisa, I am curious to know how much vitamin D you are taking and what is your plasma level in nmol/L or ng/ml what the doctor's target 25(OH)D is.

Hopefully with the gluten free diet you'll be able to feel better.

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    • trents
      Let's talk about terminology for the sake eliminating (as much as possible) confusion. Unfortunately, the terms "gluten sensitive" and "gluten intolerant" have, historically, been used indiscriminately. There are two primary categories of gluten disorders whose "official" terms are 1. celiac disease and 2. Non Celiac Gluten Sensitivity or NCGS for short.  I believe there is an evolution toward using the term "gluten intolerance" to refer to celiac disease and "gluten sensitive" to refer to NCGS. I say that because the words "gluten sensitivity" are actually found in the official medical term for the non celiac medical disorder involving gluten. Does that make sense? The difference between celiac disease and NCGS is that celiac disease causes inflammation in the small bowel lining and (over time) does damage to it so that it becomes inefficient in absorbing nutrients from what we eat. This is the area of the intestinal track where all of our nutrients are absorbed. Of course, this can lead to any number of other medical problems. NCGS, on the other hand, does not cause inflammation or damage to the lining of the small bowel and therefore does not produce the antibodies that celiac disease antibody tests look for. Neither will NCGS, therefore, produce a positive biopsy result. NCGS and celiac disease, however share many of the same symptoms in the area of GI distress and NCGS is 10x more common than celiac disease. There is, at the present time, no defining test for NCGS so an NCGS diagnosis is arrived at by first eliminating celiac disease for which we do have tests for. Having said that, some experts believe that NCGS can be a precursor to celiac disease.  Yes, you are correct in stating that both conditions require a gluten free diet.  So, in the absence of official testing for celiac disease (and official testing done under the proper conditions) a person who is experiencing distress when consuming gluten cannot be certain whether they are dealing with celiac disease or NCGS. Not have an official diagnosis of celiac disease while actually having the condition makes it difficult for some folks to stay on the gluten free bandwagon. It's just the psychology of the situation and wanting to rationalize away a very inconvenient and socially isolating medical condition.
    • Lynnard
      Thank you!  This is super helpful and confirms everything I have read. I was definitely eating lots of gluten before both testing and endoscopy. If the biopsies do come back negative, I'm wondering how conclusion/distinction is made between celiac and gluten intolerance is made.  Or does it matter because presumably recommendation of gluten-free diet will be the protocol??  
    • trents
      You are welcome! We frequently get similar comments. Knowledge about celiac disease in the medical community at large is, unfortunately, still significantly lacking. Sometimes docs give what are obviously bum steers or just fail to give any steering at all and leave their patients just hanging out there on a limb. GI docs seem to have better knowledge but typically fail to be helpful when it comes to things like assisting their patients in grasping how to get started on gluten free eating. The other thing that, to me at least, seems to be coming to the forefront are the "tweener" cases where someone seems to be on the cusp of developing celiac disease but kind of crossing back and forth over that line. Their testing is inconsistent and inconclusive and their symptoms may come and go. We like to think in definite categorical terms but real life isn't always that way.
    • Rogol72
      Hey @Morgan Tiernan, Sounds just like my experience. I was diagnosed with dermatitis herpetiformis over 10 years ago. It appeared suddenly as a very itchy rash which looked like Eczema. When a steroid cream didn't clear it up, my Dermatologist (who had come across it before) suspected dermatitis herpetiformis and performed a skin biopsy which came back positive for dermatitis herpetiformis. The important thing is to get a definitive diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis. What you've described sounds like classic dermatitis herpetiformis though. Hopefully, your Dermatologist has come across dermatitis herpetiformis before and performs the skin biopsy correctly as trents mentioned. I've had the blisters on the knees, hips, forearms/elbows or anywhere that pressure is applied to the skin ... from clothing or otherwise. They itch like nothing on earth, and yes salt from sweat or soaps/shower gels will irritate a lot. I've been on Dapsone and it is very very effective at eliminating the dermatitis herpetiformis itch, and improved my quality of life in the early stages of getting on top of dermatitis herpetiformis while I adjusted to the gluten-free diet. But it does have various side effects as trents said. It can effect the red blood cells, lowering hemoglobin and can cause anemia, and requires regular blood monitoring whilst on it. You would need to consider it carefully with your Dermatologist if you do have dermatitis herpetiformis. Here's a very informative webinar from Coeliac Canada discussing everything dermatitis herpetiformis related.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAdmsNiyfOw I've also found this recent interview with a Dermatologist about dermatitis herpetiformis to be educational.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZnLeKutgUY Keep the chin up and keep advocating for yourself for a proper diagnosis. Though it sounds like you're on top of that already. Are you in the UK or Ireland? I'm curious because your surname is Irish. 
    • Philly224
      Thanks again everyone! Twenty mins on here way more helpful than both Dr's combined 😅
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