My vitamin deficiencies make me feel horrible

Has anyone else experienced severe mood swings, extreme fatigue, tingling in the hands and feet, no appetite, and a desire to eat ice or dirt (due to pernicious anemia)?

I've been doing a lot of research online to find out what the side effects are of severe deficiencies with vitamins and minerals because of my own vitamin and mineral deficiencies due to malabsorption (thanks to my sluggish thyroid, pernicious anemia for being a major cause).

And, every article I read (esp. in medical journals) points to the fact that these deficiencies also effect your mental health to the point where you feel like you have 24-hr PMS mood swings.

This article is really informative about the side effects of vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Who knew they could have these side effects?

I'm not as crazy as King George III of England, who suffered from Acute intermittent porphyria (AIP): a genetic metabolic disorder due to a deficiency of the enzyme porphobilinogen deaminase. But it begs the question: how much does our physical health play a part in how well our state of mental health is? I think people tend to overlook just how much these deficiencies affect our mood and energy level.

I've been going for walks a few times a week, early in the morning and in the evening because my doctors told me to. I'm so vitamin deficient, despite the fact that I eat a healthy diet, it's maddening. My body isn't absorbing the nutrients from the food I eat, so I am taking all of these synthetic vitamins and minerals hoping they will get absorbed. It's just a small part of the puzzle that my doctors can't solve as to why I can't lose weight, absorb the nutrients I need from the food that I eat, and why despite normal test results, I have pernicious anemia, low red blood cells etc.

I keep going for tests ordered by my endocrinologist, my gastroenterologist and my regular doctor to determine why I have the issues I do, but no clear answers so far which is really frustrating.

Have you tried more vigorous exercise than walking? I have similar health issues and intense cardio and weightlifting helps a lot.

I can't do vigorous exercise, because I have exercise-induced asthma. I used to be an avid tennis player, in great shape. But after 20 minutes of high cardio, I start to wheeze and that lasts for hours, even if I use an emergency inhaler or do a home treatment of inhaling albuterol from a nebulizer. So, if I do a lot of walking, that's easier for me because it never induces asthma attacks. So I am very limited in that way.

I am very sorry that you have additional health problems. Some studies actually show that asthma is strongly linked to trauma.
Keep on walking!

Can you tell me more about this link between trauma and asthma? I certainly have plenty of trauma from my past that's emotional and physical (from prior accidents I've been in).

If I can overcome that link somehow, I could get back to the physical condition I once was.

Sure
I will look into it and send it to you.

Have you tried vitamin shots. Sometimes that helps if you cant absorb them orally. I have exercised induced asthma. My exercise needs to be gentle and low impact. Forget cardio or running.

I have noticed that my asthma symtoms worsen when stressed, anxious or angry. I do think there is a connection between physical and mental/emotional symptoms.

I will ask my doctor about vitamin shots. That's a great idea.

Yes, I think there is some merit to the mind-body connection. All those platitudes "you are what you think," to "you are what you believe," are true to some extent. You can tell what people think of themselves, and of you, the way they talk to you. When people talk "at you" versus "to you."

I wish I could believe that my vitamin deficiencies have a mind-body link. But I don't think that's true. I know that there are people who believe that you can just "imagine" away your disease. But I don't think that's a healthy view (for me) to believe. If that were true, then no one would ever be sick.