I take an iron pill and a vitamin D pill every day except when I forget. I had blood tests to check up on my iron a few months ago; they were fine.
So no standard multivitamin? Have you at least tried taking one for a week and seeing if it makes a difference?
I don’t think I’ve had a glucose test.
You can buy HbA1c test kits over the counter for ~$30 at most pharmacies. (HbA1c is a 30-ish-day average of your blood sugar concentration. It detects diabetes (high) and hypoglycemia (low).)
I would be more open to switching to a low carb diet if anyone could name something that crunches the way toast does.
Surely you can tolerate any diet, no matter how untasty, for long enough (2 weeks) to find out whether it gets rid of your headaches.
One more hypothesis: celiac disease (aka gluten intolerance). This study says that conditional on being in a high-risk group that you’re in (because of the iron-deficiency anemia, which celiac disease causes), its prevalence is 9.6%. Update up for having other symptoms in need of explanation, down for not having unexplained weight loss. It that were it, then avoiding gluten for awhile would get rid of the headaches and other bad things.
In addition to a regular multivitamin, I also recommend a large-dose B-complex pill, since I suspect you may have a malabsorption-related deficiency which a regular multivitamin would not fully solve, and those have no significant downsides.
How do you get blood out of yourself with those tests? I’m not sure if I could do that.
You use a lancet, which is a thin spring-loaded needle that creates a small puncture in the skin of a finger, squeeze the skin around it to force blood out into a small droplet, then press that against a surface that absorbs it through surface tension. Extensive research effort has been put into making lancet devices that are as painless as possible, since all diabetics use them several times per day.
Should I start the B vitamin and the multivitamin at the same time?
Are the lancets like the ones that the Red Cross use to check iron levels etc? Those I could probably do as long as they don’t require me to have steady hands, which I lack.
The timing doesn’t matter; start the B- and generic-multi vitamins whenever you get access to them.
Are the lancets like the ones that the Red Cross use to check iron levels etc?
It’s the same idea. There are many minor variations, and I don’t know which variation you saw or which one you’ll get, but they generally don’t differ in any important respects.
I usually eat like four slices of ciabatta a day. But after I posted that comment I realized that I would also be quite put out if I had to restrict my sugar intake. (My mental organization system doesn’t lump sugar and starch into a reference class or I’d have said that in that comment.) I also really like rice at Indian restaurants, and I’m not sure how I’d go about enjoying curry without either that or naan...
That isn’t in your food log. The fact that you really like a food doesn’t mean you can rule it out as a poison.
I realized that I would also be quite put out if I had to restrict my sugar intake.
You’d go into withdrawal, but the withdrawal symptoms and cravings would go away within two weeks. The body uses sugar first for energy, then fat; if you’re eating lots of sugar, it needs to transition to metabolizing fat (ketosis), and it’s short on energy in the interim, which is a little unpleasant. But it’s better on the other side.
Also, rice is fairly benign. In my mind, the only issue with white rice is that it crowds out more useful sources of calories, and just provides empty carbohydrates.
You can buy an HbA1c test for around 9 dollars from Walmart. I strongly suggest avoiding the instant read tests, as they have accuracy/precision issues. Get the one that requires you to mail in the blood spot for the test results.
So no standard multivitamin? Have you at least tried taking one for a week and seeing if it makes a difference?
You can buy HbA1c test kits over the counter for ~$30 at most pharmacies. (HbA1c is a 30-ish-day average of your blood sugar concentration. It detects diabetes (high) and hypoglycemia (low).)
Surely you can tolerate any diet, no matter how untasty, for long enough (2 weeks) to find out whether it gets rid of your headaches.
One more hypothesis: celiac disease (aka gluten intolerance). This study says that conditional on being in a high-risk group that you’re in (because of the iron-deficiency anemia, which celiac disease causes), its prevalence is 9.6%. Update up for having other symptoms in need of explanation, down for not having unexplained weight loss. It that were it, then avoiding gluten for awhile would get rid of the headaches and other bad things.
I will obtain a multivitamin and try it.
How do you get blood out of yourself with those tests? I’m not sure if I could do that.
Be less sure of this.
In addition to a regular multivitamin, I also recommend a large-dose B-complex pill, since I suspect you may have a malabsorption-related deficiency which a regular multivitamin would not fully solve, and those have no significant downsides.
You use a lancet, which is a thin spring-loaded needle that creates a small puncture in the skin of a finger, squeeze the skin around it to force blood out into a small droplet, then press that against a surface that absorbs it through surface tension. Extensive research effort has been put into making lancet devices that are as painless as possible, since all diabetics use them several times per day.
Should I start the B vitamin and the multivitamin at the same time?
Are the lancets like the ones that the Red Cross use to check iron levels etc? Those I could probably do as long as they don’t require me to have steady hands, which I lack.
The timing doesn’t matter; start the B- and generic-multi vitamins whenever you get access to them.
It’s the same idea. There are many minor variations, and I don’t know which variation you saw or which one you’ll get, but they generally don’t differ in any important respects.
Low carb isn’t the same thing as no carb. How much toast per day do you need to be satisfied?
I usually eat like four slices of ciabatta a day. But after I posted that comment I realized that I would also be quite put out if I had to restrict my sugar intake. (My mental organization system doesn’t lump sugar and starch into a reference class or I’d have said that in that comment.) I also really like rice at Indian restaurants, and I’m not sure how I’d go about enjoying curry without either that or naan...
That isn’t in your food log. The fact that you really like a food doesn’t mean you can rule it out as a poison.
You’d go into withdrawal, but the withdrawal symptoms and cravings would go away within two weeks. The body uses sugar first for energy, then fat; if you’re eating lots of sugar, it needs to transition to metabolizing fat (ketosis), and it’s short on energy in the interim, which is a little unpleasant. But it’s better on the other side.
Yes it is. “Toast”. Or “eggs on toast”, “sandwich”, etc.
Also, rice is fairly benign. In my mind, the only issue with white rice is that it crowds out more useful sources of calories, and just provides empty carbohydrates.
You can buy an HbA1c test for around 9 dollars from Walmart. I strongly suggest avoiding the instant read tests, as they have accuracy/precision issues. Get the one that requires you to mail in the blood spot for the test results.