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How do I stop spending so much on supplements?

cb2

Senior Member
Messages
384
my suppliment spending is almost 1/2 my rent.. how do i stop spending so much? i am not even sure what is helping at this point..as i am worse than i was a couple years ago.

i am contemplating going to see an ND lyme dr . and that will be pricy.. yet if i could stop buying other things it might almost even out. so confusted . in someways i seem to be compulsive around spending on those suppliments. compulsive or desperate? i am not sure.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Sounds like it's time to do a review of what you're taking and if it's really helping.

Unless you know that you absolutely need to take something, you can try stopping one supplement at a time, and waiting a few days or a week and see if you notice any difference.

Keep a symptom journal of what you're stopping and what symptoms you're having (good or bad) so you can keep track. That way you know what is doing what.

You can also try doing some price comparisons on iherb.com or other sites to see if there is a cheaper (but still good) version of what you're already taking. The ingredients list and reviews can help you decide if a supp might be ok or not. NOW is a good reasonably priced brand that I seem to buy a lot of.

ps. I was able to reduce my supplements at least in half by doing methylation treatment. And I feel a notch better.
 

geraldt52

Senior Member
Messages
602
compulsive or desperate? i am not sure.

I would say desperate. Without being critical of what anybody else is doing, we all cling to the hope that we're just one ingredient short of returning to health. I would wager that if you stopped everything (taper, don't just stop) in 6 weeks you would feel no better or no worse than you currently feel, or would have felt anyway. I have spent many thousands of dollars on supplements over 30 years, and I'm absolutely certain that every dollar was wasted, or worse, spent on things that made me even worse. The only thing that I occasionally take now is lysine, and only for herpes outbreaks.
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
If you want to stop spending so much on supplements, stop spending. Stop thinking these supplement will make you better. They won't. It can be an addiction, just like gambling.

Our researchers deserve to be supported. If everyone gave the same amount they spent on supplements to their research program we'd already be further in better understanding what's going on.
 

geraldt52

Senior Member
Messages
602
If you want to stop spending so much on supplements, stop spending. Stop thinking these supplement will make you better. They won't. It can be an addiction, just like gambling.

Our researchers deserve to be supported. If everyone gave the same amount they spent on supplements to their research program we'd already be further in better understanding what's going on.

What Kati said...
 

AndyPandy

Making the most of it
Messages
1,928
Location
Australia
@cb2 I have wondered about the effectiveness of supplements from time to time.

I recently had to stop taking probiotics to have a test done. I soon discovered that they had been helping me with my IBS.

I like @caledonia's approach of testing individual supplements to see if they are making a difference.

It was also suggested to me that I save money by buying products that combine a number of supplements.

I haven't gone down that path due to sensitivities and needing to take smaller amounts. I also like to see whether I react to a single substance rather than be left wondering which one of a number of substances has caused a reaction.

Best wishes, Andy
 
Messages
2,568
Location
US
Also take smaller doses of some supplements, if you are the type who is sensitive to chemicals and meds. I usually take 1/4 or 1/2. There is one vitamin pill that I take about 1/12th of.

You can also buy powders and fill your own capsules to save money, but this may be too hard for some of us who have low energy.

Also buying a higher dose can save money, if you split it into multiple doses. For example a 400mg of a supplement is not going to cost four times as much as the 100mg bottle.
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
I think it's sensible to at least take all essential vitamins and minerals. This can be easily accomplished with a daily multivitamin and cheap bulk powder from places like PureBulk and should be pretty affordable.

Beyond that, you could try to stick to things that have been shown by research to be useful or deficient in ME patients, things like choline, folate, carnitine, EFAs, CoQ10, etc. If you do take these things and find no benefit from them then consider dropping them.
 

Snowdrop

Rebel without a biscuit
Messages
2,933
How do you figure out if a supplement works but only in combination with some other supplement(s)if you stop and trial one at a time?
That's my problem. And also, the supplements I have on hand might not be doing anything but there are literally dozens I haven't tried.
I'm always tempted. That said, I consider it desperation on my part to be thinking that some supplement is all I need to dig myself out from under this. :rolleyes:
 

halcyon

Senior Member
Messages
2,482
Why is it sensible to take all "essential vitamins and minerals" for persons with ME?
I have to imagine a lot of people with ME are at risk of not getting proper nutrition from diet due to being unable to shop for and prepare proper meals. Also a lot of patients develop food sensitivities and can't eat a proper diet even if they wanted to. I don't know about others, but I developed hypokalemia and hyponatremia likely due to the attendant polyuria that is found with ME and required mineral supplementation.
 

leokitten

Senior Member
Messages
1,595
Location
U.S.
Read this thread I started and the entire discussion, people shared some good information:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...o-not-have-any-real-effect-on-symptoms.37938/

Also, if you are going to see an LLMD or ND (as well as many ME/CFS "experts") beware most will constantly push many supplements and expensive alternative treatments. They also never take insurance and make an entire business from preying on our suffering and desperation in the guise of providing treatments other doctors won't do and helping us when other doctors have given up. Most of it is complete bullshit. I think if practices published actual data on how many patients they cured or mostly cured it would be almost none.

Just like supplements we get addicted to going back to these doctors because they always have a new treatment or test they want to do and reassure us that we will improve, but it never happens and they love using us as a human ATM machine!
 

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
Read this thread I started and the entire discussion, people shared some good information:

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...o-not-have-any-real-effect-on-symptoms.37938/

Also, if you are going to see an LLMD or ND (as well as many ME/CFS "experts") beware most will constantly push many supplements and expensive alternative treatments. They also never take insurance and make an entire business from preying on our suffering and desperation in the guise of providing treatments other doctors won't do and helping us when other doctors have given up. Most of it is complete bullshit. I think if practices published actual data on how many patients they cured or mostly cured it would be almost none.

Just like supplements we get addicted to going back to these doctors because they always have a new treatment or test they want to do and reassure us that we will improve, but it never happens and they love using us as a human ATM machine!
+1000
What @leokitten said.
 

whodathunkit

Senior Member
Messages
1,160
@caledonia's suggestion is very good, but hard to implement for a true supplement junkie. We think more is better. Trust me, I know. It's difficult, but you can do it.

I dunno what you're taking that is half your rent (!!), but you might consider one or more of the following suggestions:
  • Cut the most questionably useful and/or expensive things down to basics: keep vitamin C, necessary minerals like selenium, CoQ10etc. Whatever you consider basic. Even if it's a little pricey (like CoQ10), if you consider it essential, keep it. But truly think about what's essential, and stop buying the rest. For example, do you really *need* liposomal vitamin C, or can you get enough benefit from powdered vitamin C without spending all that money? Not saying you take liposomal C, BTW, that's just an example of the reasoning. I would take liposomal C every day if I could, but don't, for this exact reason.
  • Don't impulse buy, especially after reading a vendor website. Especially don't impulse buy if it costs over $25. Sit on it for a day. Research it. If you're still convinced it will help you that much after 24 hours, then think some more. ;)
  • Look for comments about your supplements here on PR. Not just one or two comments, but use the search function and read whole threads. That has really helped me cut down on my impulse buying and supplement budget.
  • Buy only to treat your specific illness, worst symptoms, or known deficiencies. Don't buy stuff because you hear it's great in general.
OR
  • Buy only to follow one targeted course of therapy (methylation, gut therapy, stuff to help your proteins fold properly, liver therapy, etc.) at at time. Basically, stop applying the kitchen sink theory to your supplement intake. It doesn't usually work that way, especially if you're still really sick. I've had good luck lately with kitchen sink, but I'm doing much, much better. When I was really doing badly, kitchen sink didn't help me much. I had to do targeted regimens (methylation, gut, thyroid, etc.) for a long while.
  • Don't bulk buy. That is a BIG fault of mine. I used to be constantly afraid of running out of things, or would buy more than I needed try to take advantage of a discount, only to discover that after 1 bottle I didn't really need or like the supplement any more. Or that I didn't need nearly as much of it after the initial loading doses as I thought I would. For example, I still like soil-based probiotics but probably have more Primal Flora than I'll ever be able to take because of a dang discount for over a certain number of bottles. :lol: But at the time I was still high-dosing probiotics so figured I'd use them pretty quickly. Not so. That was one of my last impulse buys, BTW.
I don't know how much of that applies to you, but as I said, I've been a big supplement junkie for a while, with too much of my budget going to unproductive regimens. Thankfully that's no longer the case...thanks to PR I've found things that work for me, gradually getting rid of my worst symptons, and am no longer wasting a whole bunch of money on supps. I still try new stuff, but I stick strictly to what about my health bugs me the most, and I don't buy larger quantities until I know it works for me beyond a month or two.

Do you know that you have Lyme or is it just speculation on your part...?
 

cb2

Senior Member
Messages
384
thanks for all the feedback, support and ideals.. if i could just stop. i guess i would..maybe.. i do feel like it is an addiction.. i found a LLMD that takes medicare- he is a 10 hour round trip drive but i have no co pay with him..however they did sell me a couple things.. gluathitione is one of them and aderset for adrenals....some of the suppliments i try were recommended by my first cfs dr way back 10 years ago.
@deleder2k i have and do sometimes take L-arginine taken with L-Citrulline in another mix..but i have heard that the herpes strain of virus feed on the l - arginine..and since i have high titers (igg ) for ebv and hsv-1 .. i am never sure if that is a good idea..?
 

cb2

Senior Member
Messages
384
here is my list of things..some are new additions that are trials.
GLUTATIONE
VIT D
CHOLERRA
DHEA
PREGNANOLONE
CHO LESS
pqq
coQ10
roberts methylation vit
multivitamin
colostrum
metgentics fish oil
adrenal stress end
cordy chi
turkey tail
ant essence
aderset
linus pauln vit c
acs silver/nano
Niagen
carnitine
alpha liopic acid
NAC
glutamine
 

cb2

Senior Member
Messages
384
pretty sure i have lyme.. and it looks like i got reinfected in the past 5 years.. here is a list
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