I am lacking in some sort of vitamin. I feel like yuck and it is not getting better. I started taking Cal Mag because my midwife told me I should watch my calcium in take, and look for signs of calcium deficiency like loose teeth. Well, that was 6 months ago at my check-up and my teeth were loose then, so I finally got around to taking Cal Mag this week. Nice, huh?
Is there anything else nursing Sleepy Mommies tend to be deficient in?
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Essential fatty acids. I have been prescribing a relatively new prenatal vitamin the last few weeks – it has no artificial colors, no flavorings, no sweeteners. It does have nutrients that are not found in any other brand of prenatals, prescription or OTC. It has essential fatty acids and a bunch of other stuff that has some good research to support including.
The brand name is PrimaCare – and it is actually two things to take daily.
Essential fatty acids are very important in maintaining proper mood – depression is an early sign of deficiencies.
I’ve had dramatic results from taking Optivite. I am supplementing with EFA’s as well, but I didn’t have the dramatic, almost overnight improvement I had with the Optivite.
Marilyn Shannon has something on this in Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition as well. (Look under “Nutrition” in the CCLI catalog. LLL and Amazon have it too.)
I will have to look into that PrimaCare — thanks for the tip, Alicia!
You know I have that book, but I have been in such a brain fog that it cannot hold my attention for three seconds.
Alicia, so you do not think I am off with my “I am probably lacking something” hypothesis? I just figured out I have been nursing exactly 20% of my life-74 months. The last stint has been for 54 months straight. And it has not been comfort nursing, these kids literally get most of their nutrition from me. At least I think Gorbulas does because all his meals he takes one bite, but nurses all day, all night and is still a nice little chublet. I need a day off badly.
I think that you have been feeding two human beings for one heck of a long time, and I am sure that you are probably depleted.
Optivite is an OTC vitamin that has a lot of the nutrients you need, I am going to try to get the label and compare it to the PrimaCare that I am prescribing. I am just terribly impressed by the logic of the PrimaCare formulation and their recognition that it makes a difference what time of day one takes certian nutrients AND what nutrients are synergistic vs competetive (ie don’t take Ca and Fe together – one blocks absoprtion of the other).
Marilyn Shannon has some excellent comments, too.
On the other post (dark night of the soul) there is a connection between nutrition and depression – an excellent book to read is “The Serotonin Connection” (Which is actually originally about weight gain but has an excellent intro to the serotonin/carb connection).
Pansy – even if you can’t manage to read an entire book, at least try to read sections of Shannon’s book.
Alicia, please let me know if you’d like the package insert or label from my Optivite bottle.
Looking over my Optivite bottle and the Prima Care info sheet from the net: Optivite, of course, doesn’t have any EFA’s. It is higher than PrimaCare in vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, C, E, and Pantothenic Acid. Optivite also has more chromium, selenium, and zinc.
PrimaCare doesn’t seem to have A at all. It is higher in Vitamin D, folic acid, calcium, and iron. It also has molybdenum and vitamin K, which are not in Optivite at all.
If I ever achieve pregnancy, I might ask for PrimaCare — just having the blister pack would help me remember to take the vitamins! (I am terrible at remembering to take any kind of medication.)
That reminds me. I need to start taking my vitamins. Thanks.
PS- Can you get fatty acids from ice cream?
Mostly olive oil, avocados, nuts, fatty fish like salmon and flax seed. Alicia would probably answer this better, but I do think while ice cream has fatty acids, it is not the best source, because it is bad for your heart and does not have all the fatty acids you need? I forget.
I do have a recipe for avocado ice cream-have never tried it though. LOL
I was thinking smockmomma’s question over and have concluded that spumoni ice cream is indeed health food. (Before the Authenticity Police start gathering their gear, let me point out that I only know spumoni in forms similar to this one.)
Here’s why: Ice cream has calcium, of course, and that’s a very important mineral. Chocolate is full of antioxidants and other chemicals that are good for brain chemistry. Pistachio is a nut, and nuts have “good” fats. Plus, pistachio ice cream is green, like broccoli, and therefore is nutritious, like broccoli. Finally, the middle layer has cherries (also packed with antioxidants and phytochemicals) and other fruits and nuts.
In addition, many diseases have been linked to disorders of the inflammatory immune response. Now, when you hurt yourself, what do you do to stop the swelling and calm the inflammatory response? You put ice on the injury. It would seem to follow, then, that eating ice cream would help to moderate excessive inflammatory immune response.
Finally, spumoni ice cream is an Italian dessert (or at least emulates one), and we all know that the Italian “Mediterranean” diet is one of the healthiest cuisines in the world.
I’m really getting interested in this Optivite. I know that Vitamin A Palmitate consumption is something to watch in pregnancy because of a link to increased rate of birth defects in large amounts (but not so large that you’d have to be trying,) but beta carotene is okay — which is in the Optivite? I had a supplement with Vitamin A Acetate in it, which as far as I know is okay on the birth defect count.
I’m taking fish oil supplements but only 1 out of the 2 I may take per day. Just because I forget and don’t like to bombard my system with a whole lot at once. I really have trouble eating fish, so I hope it helps. Does flaxseed have the same EFAs as fish? I don’t mind sprinkling that in my food.
I have read your comments pertaining to optivite and primacare.I am 43 ,have been a devoted mom,yes breastfed each of my kids four years straight each.That was 12 years ago.But now I am experiencing bad mood swings and a bad attitude about little things.I seem to just snap before I realize it over nothing.I also homeschool,my kids are with me 24 hours a day.They have never been in a school.Some people tell me put them in school,that is why you are so cranky.I cannot of personal conviction.Yes I do know kids can be stressful…But I do not want to go on a antidrepressant to deal with things.I am taking St. johns wort right now.I went to my obgyn yesterday he recommended optivite.Which would be better optivite or primacare?Can you take st. johns wort with either vitamin since it raises your seritonon level? I know a handful of people on antidepressants and they are mean as yard dogs when they donot take them.That is too scary for me.I have cut out all caffine from my diet as of Sept.2003 and most sugars trying to find help.I really would appreciate your views on this if you have time. Thanks so much!
hi, i’m 29 weeks pregnant. first pregnancy-so i’m very nervous about doing everything right. also, i’m nearing my 42nd birthday. natural conception. anyways, i’ve been reading about the benefits of fish oil. due to me sched. and craziness of my life, taking a supplement is the best alternative. but i’m confused about which brand to take. i just got the spectrum. it says there is no mercury, toxins, pcb’s/p’s? does anyone have any info. on this. i’m pretty desperate to find the right brand.
thanks bunches,
rosa