High dose vitamins - anyone suggest good brands?

S

SharonLondon

Member
Messages
12
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diabetes, aniseed, diets.
Hi,

This is my first post so I hope I am posting in the right place.

I had my first diabetic eye screen in December and the examiner said he could see some evidence of mild retinopathy but the results they sent my GP said everything was clear.

I was a bit concerned about the initial assessment - although obviously delighted that I eventually got the all clear - and it made me do a bit of research. Several studies seem to suggest that very high doses of certain vitamins and other supplements can be beneficial to diabetics and guard against, or even reverse, complications. These include: vit C (1-2grms); vit E (900 mg); carotenoids such as lutein (800 mcg); B group vitamins; bilberry (480 mg) and Ginkgo (240 mg). These are DAILY doses.

My question is, does anyone take such high doses and if so, which brands would you recommend? I would be especially interested to know of any pills that combine several of these supplements as I am already taking enough meds to rattle :)

I was diagnosed T2 in March last year when my sugars were 19 and my HBA1c 11.5. It has since gone down to 7.7-8.2.

Thanks very much.

Sharon
 
Osidge

Osidge

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
1,272
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Bullies.
Hi Sharon

Welcome to the Forum. I hope that you will find it friendly, supportive and full of advice.

I am not an expert on vitamins but have often seen comments about people spending a lot of money on vitamins and supplements that they can get from their diet or that they do not really need. You might want to have a chat with your diabetes healthcare professional about this and ensure that what your are proposing taking will not produce any negative effects - you can OD on vitamins.

Regards

Doug
 
Sid Bonkers

Sid Bonkers

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,976
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
Customer helplines that use recorded menus that promise to put me through to the right person but never do - and being ill. Oh, and did I mention customer helplines :)
Hi Sharon and welcome to the forum :D

I am personally of the opinion that vitamins are not needed unless you are deficient in a particular vitamin for some reason and that taking any vitamin in excess can in fact cause problems which is counter productive to say the least.

The most important thing you can do to reduce the possibility of diabetic complications is to reduce your blood glucose (bg) levels to near non diabetic levels, that is aiming for an A1c in the mid 6%'s to low 5%'s and keeping postprandial spikes as low as possible and this can only be achieved by testing your bg levels before eating and then again 2 hours after, if your bg levels are not returning close to your pre meal levels you need to either reduce the carbohydrate content of that meal or increase your medication. It is high bg levels that will ultimately lead to complications and whilst there is no guarantee of avoiding complications this way, it is your best chance.
 
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