Medication/Supplement Breakdown

***DISCLAIMER*** I do not have a medical degree (shocker), so I cannot give you sound medical advice. I can only share my experience and encourage you to talk to your doctors if you have questions or concerns. There is no substitute for amazing doctors. This is my CURRENT run down of medications and vitamin supplements that are all recommended and monitored by my team of doctors. Check with your doctor before changing any of your mediations or vitamins.

Guess who’s back… back again… Nora’s back, tell your friends :).

It’s been a hard spring. We’ve had . . .

A car accident.

Moved our son off on his own.

Had a medication change/Insurance/Specialty Pharmacy Battle.

Mommas needed a mental health break.

I’ll save my emotional stuff for another day though and just say “sorry” for being absent lately and promise that I’m going to get back on track and spend more time doing what I love–writing and encouraging folks who are battling MS.

It’s been a while since I gave the complete run down on my medications/supplements. I didn’t start all of these overnight and they are subject to change based on my 6 month blood labs that we run, symptoms, and what my doctors recommend, etc. If any of us have learned anything through the pandemic it’s that science is not an exact science :). It’s a lot of hypothesizing and trial and error and trusting medical professionals to manage your care. What is working for me today, may not be working for me in a year, but that’s why I am 100% honest about my daily medications and supplements with my care team and open to suggestions or tweaking when they want to make changes. Just because you read something on bobsnaturalmedicinerus.com (not a real website–HA!), does not mean it’s right for you! Talk to your doctors and trust them… and if you feel like you can’t trust them, get some new ones. I know I say that a lot, but it’s the most important advice I can give. I love all of my doctors. I love my neurologist. I trust her with my life (literally). And if I didn’t, I would find someone I could trust. It’s that simple to me.

The two actual medicines I’m currently taking are Generic Zyrtec (I get mine at Kroger) and Vumerity (diroximel fumerate). I take the generic Zyrtec once daily in the morning and the Vumerity is taken twice daily, with food. I can’t eat more than 700 calories when taking Vumerity, but I also am supposed to take it with a good amount of food so as not to cause stomach cramping. So far, eggs and coffee in the morning and a dinner consisting of a protein and veggies seem to work just fine.

My list of current supplements is fairly long, but each one serves a purpose and I’m thankful for each of them:

One Daily Multivitamin for Women’s Health. I get mine in this giant bottle from Kroger.

Vitamin C. I’ve taken it daily for over 5 years now and I firmly believe it’s helped strengthen my immune system so it could fight off random viruses. Yes, I did catch COVID-19 in the fall, but my symptoms were very mild compared to most people. I get this one at Sam’s Club because I’ve found it’s most cost effective. I typically take this in the morning with breakfast.

Prebiotic/Probiotic from Zenwise Health. I take it nightly with dinner and it’s helped to keep me regular and just in good general gut health. I order mine from Amazon.

Biotin. I began taking this after my neurologist shared with me that it had shown to have great effects on reducing the risk of long-term disability and brain shrinkage in MS patients and those with other neurological diseases. I began taking it in 2018 and within a year noticed a HUGE positive change in my hair and nails. My hair had thinned after starting Tecfidera, but I regained almost all of my hair volume within a year of starting Biotin. And my nails are now super strong and grow fast. I’m hoping it’s working on my brain in the same positive way :).

Vitamin D. If you’ve been here for a while, you’ve heard me talk about Vitamin D. Spend some time on Multiple Sclerosis research and you’ll find study after study that shows a direct correlation between low Vitamin D and MS Relapses. At the time of my last relapse in 2015, my D level was 23. My neurologist likes to keep it closer to 50. At the moment it’s 43. It’s dipped over the past five years between going on prescription D and taking over the counter. I found this on on Amazon and the reviews had me excited to try it… And I was not disappointed! My levels have remained steady since beginning this brand and I’m so thankful!

Vitamin K2. This vitamin helps with absorption of the Vitamin D. Since we want my levels so high to keep MS at bay, we added this to the regiment a while back and it seems to be working.

B-Complex Plus. I’m going to be honest here and say I can’t remember why we started this one :). I used to be on B12 and somewhere along the way we made the switch to this one because it had more B vitamins in it. It’s from Amazon.

Zinc. This goes along with my Vitamin C to help my immune system function properly. I just get this one at Walmart or Kroger and I only take half a pill once daily.

Magnezium. I take two of these bad boys every night and I’m pretty sure it was one of the first supplements we started me on after diagnosis. Magnesium helps with tremors and keeping your bowels regular… both things I struggled with a lot in the beginning. I just get mine at Kroger or Walmart.

Vitamin E. Again, here’s another one I’m not sure exactly when we started or the why :). I do know it’s helpful for women so I’m assuming that’s why I’m taking it :).

I recently upgraded my pill case this this mack daddy, and it’s helped! My only criticism is the plastic cases do not have the days of the week or times of days displayed. But, I wanted one that allowed me to remove a single day and allowed space for all of my pills and this one days that. I just write my little days of the week letters on top and so far that’s worked.

The pills slide into this zippered carrying bag that drowns out light. It also doubles as a wallet/passport carrier if you need a function like that!

How about you? What supplements do you take and how have they helped you? Hopefully this post gave you some good points of discussion to have with your doctor!