Debbie, there is a great book that I got about 5 years ago to help me decide which supplements I wanted/needed to take to handle my perimenopause symptoms. It's called, "Before the Change Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause". By Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S.

You learn how you can head off depression, mood swings, weight shifts, erratic sleep, memory loss and all of the other wonderful things we women get to look forward to!

Anyway, I found it to be very helpful and the advice was easy to adjust to my low carb way of life.

Good luck and good for you for taking charge of your health!!

It looks like your thread got moved here into the supplements forum.

I come from the Dr Atkins background - my belief is that Dr Atkins thought that nutrition plays a overwhelming role in your total body health. He believed in not only low carb diet, but also supplements.

Not only did he usually have at least one chapter in his books on supplements - he wrote at least one book just on supplements.

I recommend a "mega" high quality multivitamins (that require 6 to 8 capsules per day) (not the centrum / one-a-day types) and tons of fish / cod / krill oil. Women may do well to take some other plant based oils in addition to fish oil. For the multi-vitamin I would recommend one designed for women.

I can't remember if Gostrydr recommends Borrage oil for women (in addition to fish oil)???

Men rarely need to take iron when LCing since they eat a lot of red meat. Since women eat little red meat and have periods - you are correct that it is confusing. You can have blood tests done every couple of months till you get it worked out and find what is best for you.

Perhaps you could take a high quality women's multivitamin without iron for 3 months (plus tons of fish oil) - have a blood test - and then take the equivalent with iron for 3 months (plus tons of fish oil) and have another blood test?

Usually 3 months of clean living (low carbing - no major cheats - and supplements) is all it takes for your body to show an improvement and if there are any major problems.

Thank you for yout support and advise.
Debbie.