I don't have Crohn's, but I think you may be able to assist me.

Hello,

I am a 54 year old male.

I had all of my large and part of my small intestines removed when I was 2 years old.

I have been mostly trouble free until the last six months. At night in bed my hands go numb and in the morning my mind is racing and I see flashes of images. I noticed that when I took multivitamins the flashes went away. Also I have been tired and when off vitamins have had shortness of breath and heart palpitations. Visually I have increased black spots, I have always noticed faint black spots, but now they seem darker. I do not smoke or drink and get a lot of exercise. Is there a special diet that I should have been on all of these years?



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It sounds like you may have a deficiency? Do you get regular blood work done to check levels such as B12, D etc?

No I have not had my blood tested, I try when possible to avoid the medical industry. Do you know if a general practitioner would be adequate for these blood tests or should I seek out a specialist?

Hello there, having a full vitamin level check is something your GP can order. Has yours been aware of the numbness and vision problems? How have you been 'managing' things with having that amount of bowel removed?

AB
xx

I have been fine most of the 52 years since my surgery. Believe it or not I just discovered yesterday that my latest problems may be related to my major abdominal surgery all those years ago.
I am 6'2", weigh 230 and muscular. I am not frail at all. I have always eaten large amounts of food and drank large amounts of water.

Wow, it is impressive that you have been able to go so long without any effects from the surgery, what a shame that things have now decided to play up Have you ever watched what you ate or has it been a case of if you like it you eat it?

I used too have horrible stomach acid and I would avoid spicy foods, not as bad anymore. I'll setup an appointment for the blood test. Thank you

I agree with the fine folks above that you may have various vitamin and mineral deficiencies. You absolutely need a wide array of tests performed.

Out of curiosity, why were your intestines removed?

I was told that I had ingested glass beads from a Christmas ornament. Thanks for the link.

:eek2:

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I went over the vitamin and minerals requirement list that you had provided and compared the list to my GNC MEGA MEN 50 Plus that I have been taking. The only major problem that I saw was that the GNC MEGA MEN 50 Plus only provided 200 mg of Calcium.

Do you have any multivitamin recommendations?

Also should I stop taking any supplements before I have my blood tested and if so how long before hand?


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If you have been on the supplement for a while and feel poorly - you should probably stay on it so results aren't skewed.....if you just started them I would stop and get the blood work done....

Due to the nature of your resection, you may very well not be absorbing some of those vitamins and minerals properly. For example, vitamin B12 is absorbed in the very last part of the small intestines. If you don't have that, you're not getting enough vitamin B12. You need a very inclusive set of blood tests to see what you're deficient in. Don't trust a multi-vitamin, there's a very good chance it is not enough.

I spoke with my mother yesterday and asked if she knew the specifics of my three surgeries. She was very uncertain, I am going to check with the hospital about getting the surgical records.

I feel ok when taking the multivitamins, I think I'll stop using them prior to the blood test, I would like to get a baseline and then monitor blood levels once I start supplementing again.

I would continue as you are since you've been taking the multivitamins. Use THAT as your baseline so that if you're deficient in something NOW, you'll know that you need to increase the dose as compared to what's in the multivitamin. Otherwise you might think your below low in x vitamin is because you went off the multivitamin and subsequently spend 6 more months or however long deficient until you get tested again.

Please forgive me for disagreeing, I truly value your help.

My thought right or wrong is that the blood test would indicate how bad my ability to absorb nutrients is. Does not your body take what it needs and then expel or store the rest. I would like to use this first test to show how unaided my digestive system is working. I see your point and I view maintaining my blood levels as being extremely important and I am not looking forward to fasting from my supplements. But I am very curious to see the true extent of my actual unaided condition.

I can definitely see your perspective and there's nothing to forgive I'd discuss your ideas with your doctor but PLEASE be sure to retest soon (3 months at most) after your initial fasting test so you can determine what the multivitamin isn't helping. In addition, there are some deficiencies that a multivitamin isn't gong to do a thing for no matter what. For example, if you've had your terminal ileum removed and aren't absorbing B12 properly, your multivitamin isn't going to help. Same with vitamin D and others. I'm not a huge fan of multivitamins for a variety of reasons, one being that many think that's all they need to take and they're good.

I need to track down what was excised, I guess I could be scanned or x rayed. I prefer to keep away from the medical system, unless absolutely necessary. But this looks like one of those necessities.