Supplements for EDS sufferers

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Managing EDS with vitamins?

It can be very daunting, trying to manage a rare condition which hardly anyone has heard of or understands, including doctors! I'm always digging around to get better information. Analysing causal factors for the condition is rather futile, as it keeps changing and every day is different, but I was interested in this article - a paper by Mantle, Wilkins and Preedy proposing that a regimen of vitamin and mineral supplements could help alleviate some EDS symptoms. 

Here is the link to the article, which I notice is actually 20 years old now... using supplements to treat EDS

And here is the table I lifted from that article to show you which vitamins and minerals were suggested and the dosages. It's interesting, isn't it?

 So what to do with this information?

It took me many years to find an Integrative Medicine GP who could begin to help me. I had hypothyroidism, chronic urticaria, unexplained pains and other symptoms which were driving me mad. I hadn't felt like myself for decades. This particular doctor did genetic testing and told me I had inherited a defective gene from both of my parents which meant a problem with the methylation process in my body - my body's ability to process nutrients, vitamins, minerals etc. At that stage I was 7 years away from a proper diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome hypermobility, POTS and borderline MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome), but the supplements he gave me and the thyroid meds I was eventually given changed my life. 

Now that you have seen the above table, find a doctor who is willing to go out on a medical limb and try these suggested dosages. At the very least, if you can't find such a doctor, begin taking higher than normal Vitamin C (not Ascorbic Acid, that's made in a lab). Also folenic acid was prescribed, which is an activated version of folate, and can be more readily utilised by the body.