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Original poster

Feel shit

94 replies

Chugalug · 12/02/2018 16:41

Vegetarian 30 yrs ,vegan 3 yrs...very poor diet...I'm a poor excuse of a vegan..I feel physically and mentally shit..before I head to the doctors for anti depressants,could it be my shit diet ? And if so what do vegans need vitamin wise? Or supplement wise...what do you take?

OP posts:
LoniceraJaponica · 15/02/2018 14:15

Why aren't you eating with your family?

Eloisedublin123 · 15/02/2018 20:26

I’m delurking as I feel strongly about this
I had the exact same thing last year
Veggie 40 years since I was 4/5 and vegan 2 years. Last summer I suddenly and abruptly got really really tired, disorientated and angry. I’ve been on anti depressants before and I knew it wasn’t depression. I was so exhausted and unable to process things, worried about my ability at work, thought the worst ( my best friend died of cancer 3 months before so I thought it might be stress too), but it was SO severe.
Went to doc twice for blood tests, she said I was depressed. I knew it was something else but was almost too sick to figure it out. She said my bloods were fine.
Well, after an awful awful summer/ autumn I got a new gp and threw myself on her mercy. She did the bloods again. My iron reserves ( ferritin) were 5. Normal range 15-250). My haemaglobim was 13 so fine. She put me on really strong iron and after a month I started to feel a tiny bit better. Now, 3 months on, I’m a good bit better. Apparently I’ve to get to 70-10. Oh and my hair was falling out in bucketloads too but my first doc said that was neither here nor there. My point is that very low iron stores (ferritin) made me feel AWFUL. Even though my haemaglobin was fine. Docs don’t really pay much attention to iron stores but I was on my knees with low stores. I’m on 300 mg of iron at night now and 30 mg at lunch.
Also, I got a nutritionist and she looked at my blood results and my b12 something like 300 and that wasn’t technically that low, but she put me in massive oral amounts, and I think that helped too. She wanted me to injections but I couldn’t 🙈.
So ask for your iron stores (ferritin) to be tested, and, for me, 4,000 mg (I think) of b12 a day under my tongue made me feel better too.
God bless xx

Eloisedublin123 · 15/02/2018 20:29

Iron 70-100

Eloisedublin123 · 15/02/2018 20:30

Sorry, last message, I also took liquid iron at first, it did nothing, it wasn’t enough. Get your ferritin levels checked.

64BooLane · 15/02/2018 20:40

OP, people keep asking: if you’re cooking vegan meals for some of the other people in your home, why aren’t you eating the same as them?

ZeroFuchsGiven · 15/02/2018 20:41

Eloisedublin123

I don't mean to sound rude but were you also just binge eating crisps and toast or were you having proper meals? Op says she cooks vegan meals for the family but eats crisps and toast and does not eat with them. This doesn't read right at all and I think there are deeper issues here.

Eloisedublin123 · 15/02/2018 20:51

I thought I was eating all right but prob not great at all. I think after so long being veggie and having kids and working full time and being busy etc my iron et al ran right down. It may help someone - it may not x

Eloisedublin123 · 15/02/2018 20:52

Pps the ferritin thing might help someone I thought

kikisparks · 16/02/2018 04:28

OP if the anti depressants you had before didn’t work/ had unmanageable side effects tell your GP and ask for a different AD, they might be able to accommodate.

Tmgc123 · 16/02/2018 04:47

It doesn’t sounds like veganism is the problem. You can be incredibly healthy and happy on a vegan diet.

If you’ve been on anti depressants for years and admittedly don’t eat properly, that’s would just be worse if you were omni as you would then binge cheese and other food stuffs that are even worse for you.

Happy pear, and bosh are great as everyone has mentioned.

Vegan food can be massively diverse, yummy, and quick... and you can still have plain chocolate!

B12 and D are a good thing, I concur on that. I was always anaemic even before going vegan and it’s made zero difference to me, but also worth looking at.

But it sounds like you have issues bigger than food that need looking at? Sounds like you’re having a crappy time, have you thought about seeing a therapist? (I did when I got divorced and I cannot recommend it enough!) I hope you can work through it.

Labradoodliedoodoo · 16/02/2018 18:52

Dangermouse. I’m vegetarian and yes the general advise is to supplement. However I have been b12 deficient and done epic amounts of research on specialist websites and talked to my consultant. B12 vitamin can skewer blood result showing them to be fine when in fact they are otherwise. A simple blood test will be immediate. I’m sure op can wait a few days till she’s been tested, then start vitamins. B12 vitamins won’t be enough if deficient, she will need a course of injections

dangermouseisace · 17/02/2018 12:14

...however labridoodledoodoo you are vegetarian so were already getting b12 from dairy products and eggs etc, unless you excluded these products before you were tested. The advice for vegans is either to eat fortified foods 2/3 times a day (difficult) or to take a supplement as b12 cannot be obtained naturally in a vegan diet. The advice is that not supplementing/eating fortified foods isn't worth the risk and the vegan society spells out why here. Vegetarians giving dietary advice to vegans against commonly accepted scientific advice is a bit...off...as the vegetarian diet is completely different to the vegan one!
What might be suitable advice for vegetarians is different for vegans. Doctors appts are rarely in a few days- tends to be weeks, and then another week for lab results to come in. It just seems daft to tell the OP not to supplement in this case.

LoniceraJaponica · 17/02/2018 13:53

Which is the best B12 option? DD follows a largely vegan diet these days, and I think she needs a B12 boost.

cushioncovers · 17/02/2018 14:13

Nutritional yeast is great and can be sprinkled into most foods.

kikisparks · 17/02/2018 18:29

Most plant milks are fortified with b12. Also plenty of cereals are.

dangermouseisace · 17/02/2018 20:06

The vegan society have info on it in my post above- it's not enough to be having the fortified foods though, they have to have enough of it to get the benefits.

I have the fortified milk etc AND I take a supplement...I wasn't taking the supplement regularly until recently but I must say I'm feeling a lot more energetic now. It's just one a day so it's not difficult. I bought 6 months worth of the vegan society one (VEG1) and it was only around £15 and it tastes fine.

Labradoodliedoodoo · 18/02/2018 08:02

Dangermouse. A a GP or nurse can do the B12 blood test. From trying to get an appointment to knowing I was deficient was one week. Not long eh! Then the injections were immediate. Two weeks with a total of 6 injections. Now only once every three months. A b12 deductively can be very dangerous. If OP supplements with vitamins before a GP appointment she will give false high b12 results therefore hiding the true extent of any b12 deficiency if there is one. I know you find this difficult to comprehend but this is what my consultant said. And support groups. Obviously it’s great to take b12 if you feel good and
no deficiency is suspected as it will keep things ticking over.

Original poster
Chugalug · 19/02/2018 18:42

Thankyou for the replies....I'm taking my liquid vitamins every day now..I feel like they are helping .i don't have periods ,ever ,so my iron levels might not be too bad?... I know I should see the gp.but if I can sort this myself I would prefer to,ive been on so many different tablets over 20 yrs ,and I've never felt better on them....but I've never looked at my diet and nutrition before.i thought ..oh it's enough I'm vegi ,then oh it's enough I'm vegan...but it clearly isn't.

OP posts:
Original poster
Chugalug · 19/02/2018 18:44

I wish there was a liquid vitamin especially for vegans..I'm taking 4 different liquids....one with everything in it would be great.

OP posts:
Original poster
Chugalug · 19/02/2018 18:48

Also. My mum takes a huge amount of herbal tablets,so I might see what helps her

OP posts:
southboundagain · 19/02/2018 19:01

I'm taking my liquid vitamins every day now..I feel like they are helping

Most vitamins don't work quickly so I'm not sure that's reliable.

Scabbersley · 19/02/2018 19:10

Floradix do a vegan version - liquid iron and vitamins

Original poster
Chugalug · 19/02/2018 20:13

With b12 and everything a vegan needs?????

OP posts:
GardenGeek · 19/02/2018 20:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Mymouthgetsmeintrouble · 19/02/2018 20:25

I had a summer of feeling really quite ill it was low iron , i was a vegetarian at the time and a dietician told me i needed to eat a rainbow of fruit and veg as many different colours in a day as you can manage and plenty of beans and pulses i soon felt better didnt use supplements just increased iron in my diet