Please share each of your experiences. Thanks.

Let me start with my own.

Ever since we started supplementing with Omega-3 (1100 mg EPA+DHA) and Vitamin D3 (2000 IU), we've hardly had any colds or flu. Mild colds, when they do strike, disappear in a day or so.

We've just started on a B-complex (high in b-12) but its just been a week, so no effect yet. My husband gets frequent mouth ulcers, so hoping that will help ...

High-potency Stress B Complex with C, along with added zinc and magnesium SEEM to be making a big difference in my long-term sleep issues. I have been disappointed before, but for almost two months now, I have been sleeping MUCH better, fewer nighttime awakenings, and when I do awaken at 1 or 2 a.m., I go right back to sleep and wake up rested when it's time to get up.

I derived this protocol from the adrenal-fatigue discussion in "Feeling Fat, Fuzzy, or Frazzled?" by Richard and Karilee Shames. I recommend the book. They address what they call the three-legged stool of adrenals, thyroid, and sex-gland hormone imbalances. The book features recommendations on a continuum from self evaluations to lab tests and from OTC supplements through prescription protocols.

Got the cold and flu day before. Some fever yesterday. Took 5000 IU D3 for 3 days in a row. Today - no symptoms.

Have also been taking 1500 EPA+DHA.

I took no antibiotics at all. In fact I did not even take paracetamol. Felt very feverish last night. But this morning - no running nose, no itchy throat, no fever or body ache.

Just a slightly nasal voice from the cold ...

Ah, omega 3 and D3 didn't keep me from getting a cold last week that isn't gone yet! Oh well.

Nelson, glad to hear you found something that works! Yay!

I've been cold/flu free for quite some time. That might be due to the high doses of D3 I've been taking for over a year now. My blood level is 60 ng/ml.

Other than that, I can't really tell if supplements are doing anything or not. I just take them on faith.

L-lysine may help him with that.

Cynthia

My experience with mouth sores was it was caused by gluten. Ever since I have been GF they've never come back!

Well, the combination of B12 and maybe D3 seem to have helped. He hasn't got any for a few weeks now. Lets see.

Nancy, Hmmm. Not sure if that's wise.

Why would you necessarily expect to feel something from supplements? Do you feel your cells repairing? Do you feel your immune system manufacturing more T cells? Can you feel the junctions in your gut closing up and preventing things from leaking across the barrier?

There's a lot of things that happen in our body that are way below our notice but it doesn't make them less significant.

Absolutely.

But I don't think that's basing it on faith. If we see/read evidence for something, then we take it. Not out of faith.

Hmmm... you must not know me well. I'm probably the worst skeptic on the forum. I annoy people all the time with my skepticism.

I decide to take the supplements on evidence from studies and continue taking them on faith of the science that convinced me in the first place. I don't possess a lab so I can't evaluate things that are happening to me that I can't observe myself, so I trust the science was right.

Every now and then I'll jump on someone else's bandwagon but usually jump off quickly if I don't see noticeable results.

But I must say, things happen subtlety with me. I have a lot of aches and pains that have disappeared. But they did so slowly so I can't really attribute them to any one thing. Although I suspect raising my D3 levels to 60 ng/ml was probably a biggie and I suspect that taking fish oil (switch to higher dose liquid form) might be another good one.

Lately I've been getting little sensations like a bug is biting me, and I think that might be neuropathy from B12 depletion. I haven't been very good about supplementing my B lately. It seems odd I would be B12 deficient given how much meat I eat, but perhaps I don't absorb it well.

Anyway, my point is that if you're looking for practical benefits from supplements as your title suggests, it sounds like you're looking for supplements that people KNOW made them feel something and I doubt that supplements are all that obvious most of the time, unless maybe you had a severe deficiency or something. And it's hard to untangle that from a placebo effect anyway.

I'll vouch for Nancy on that BUT I do NOT agree that she annoys all the time, ONLY when it needs to be done to get someones attention. I am with Nancy on this 110% it is the principle I used in selecting what supplements I took to halt my prostate cancer. Like Nancy I cannot say that I can detect any direct effects from my supplements (save maybe lack of constipation). But when I think about it I am aware that I am rarely sick and the last two times I can remember being sick were carbohydrate related.

So I, like Nancy, rely upon people like Dr. Eades and Dr. Davis of the Heart Scan Blog just to name the first two that I thought of. The people that I rely upon I have evaluated based upon a number of factors, including how well they agree with what I can check from sources like pubmed.gov. I wish that I could tell directly how things work for me, but after trying a number of time using things that a buddy was using with great results for him and not being able to tell that I was now taking something new, I stopped looking for changes that I can feel.

Then I guess we're just quibbling over semantics.
To me faith is usually associated with the blind belief sort and not an evidence-based thing. You know, the sorts religions use.

But looks like you're talking about something else, so we're ok

My sister (who also smokes, I must add) used to get frequent mouth ulcers, but doesn't get them anymore since I suggested she take extra vitamin C.

She has a chewable tablet in the morning and that seems to have done the trick!

amanda

Hi Nelson,

Interesting, interesting...

I also have mild adrenal fatigue and am following a similar protocol. If you want to compare notes, it would be great if you had your own journal so I don't end up hijacking this thread.

I started a thread about healing adrenal fatigue, but it got moved into the Schwarzbein subforum which doesn't get much traffic.

We could compare notes there or you could pop into my journal: I'd love to hear how you're doing and what other changes you've made to cope with this problem.

Hope to hear from you soon at one of these places!

amanda