Vitamin K deficiency, osteoporosis, etc.

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Lucy
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Vitamin K deficiency, osteoporosis, etc.

Post by Lucy »

Hi to anyone interested,

Just wanted to know if any of you have had your Vitamin K level checked since being diagnosed, especially, those of you who also have osteoporosis or at least some osteopenia?

Some of us not only have M.C. in our colons, but have damage to our small bowels as well, evidenced (before our guts healed as much as they were going to) by obvious fat in our stools in the later stages.

Unfortunately, for those of us who are older, there seems to be a tendency to continue to have difficulty maintaining adequate levels of various nutrients. It would probably be a good idea for many of us, particularly with known bone issues as mentioned above, to have our Vitamin K levels checked, just in case lack of it is contributing to the bone loss. I'm going to have to do a little more research before I know how likely this could be a problem.

I get bruises on my arms frequently, but have just been assuming that those were from the bumps I get while getting my mother up and down with the Hoyer hydrolic lift and other physical things have to do, but now, I'm wanting to do all I can to maximize my chances to get the bones to build back, so I'm giving it some serious thought.

Any of you ever had difficulty with your Vit K levels as an adult?

Be sure not to supplement with this Vit or eat too much of food containing it if you are on Coumadin, and be monitored carefully if you are on it. It's know as the coagulating vitamin.

Yours, Luce
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mbeezie
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Post by mbeezie »

Luce,

Thanks for the info/suggestion on vitamin K - guess I'll get it checked when I get my Vit. D level checked. I have osteopenia but tested negative for malabsorption. I'm not sure if the osteopenia is due to MC or a drug I took (lupron).

I have always wondered about vitamin K because I too have always bruised very easily - I get horrible looking bruises and many times I don't even know how I got them. Right now I have a baseball size bruise on my arm from a blood draw. Ugh.

Mary Beth
Lucy
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Post by Lucy »

Mary Beth,
There may be a reason this is not tested for very often, but I think it's worth asking about, at least, particularly with the bone loss. Luce
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tex
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Post by tex »

Luce,

Very interesting post. This rang a bell, so I did a quick search, and sure enough, I found where I had posted about the very same problem, (with the very same solution - though I didn't bother to have my vitamin K level analyzed), a couple of years ago. Based on this, I would say that this is probably a more common problem than we realize.

http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewt ... ltivitamin

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Lucy
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Post by Lucy »

Hi again,

Thanks for your posts.

I do know that, since Vit K is actually stored in the fat in our bodies, that that may make it a bit harder to be low on it, provided we absorb adequate quantities in the first place, but after we've been sick with this stuff for so long, one would think depletion would be fairly common.

The vitamin sale people on the net tell us that it's very difficult to absorb much of the Vit K in the foods that we eat, so we just get a very low percentage of the Vit K that's in those. I don't know what to think of that at this point, but I do think that for the normal gut, given these two supposed facts, that a good diet, rich with colorful vegetables, should be adequate. Unfortunately, our guts aren't normal.

I tend to be a minimalist in terms of taking anything, including vitamins. I do know not to take excessive doses of Vit A, so just use food for that. Too much of Vitamin A (such as the amounts in Cod Liver Oil) are bad for the bones!! I would never use that high of an amount of Vit a in anything -- the bottles I looked at contained 5000 units per serving.

If what you say is true about the Vit D, then I suppose I should start stepping out of the house more during the day. At least here we have sunshine available most of the time, and it doesn't cost anything! Horray for that!
For the omega's, we can just eat small portions of red salmon (always wild) a few times a week. I figure the body knows how to balance the things as they are found in nature within our systems. Might be wrong about that, but moderation always seems to be the key, EXCEPT when it comes to allergens!!

Yours, Luce
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