Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) and weight loss

Spectracell Labs posted a very informative blog post regarding vitamins and weight management here that flipped on the light bulb for me today.

I was so thrilled I almost cried.

So let me start from the beginning with a bit of background.

I have expressed in prior posts how I had been overweight, went thru the hcg diet a few times, got down to my ideal weight, and then I gained weight like no other in the next year, unable to control my weight gain with my strict immense willpower when it comes to food. I gained some 90lbs and would have kept going if I hadn't found my Celiac at the end of 2011. Went gluten free and weight gain stopped... but no weight loss ever happened on its own.

Found out last September that I had a severe vitamin B5 deficiency after being tested by Spectracell Labs. Come to find out, this is normal for celiacs, as I think I mentioned in my post back then.

So... I started supplementing B5 after finishing yet another round of hcg dieting that was absolutely fruitless. (No weight loss at all)

Got pregnant in November... and I actually lost a size while pregnant. No crazy food issues either. No major morning sickness that prevented me from eating or anything.

Lost the baby in January... and ran out of my huge bottles of pantothenic acid then. Thinking I didn't need it anymore, I didn't bother to replace them.

I gained 10lbs in the following two months... realized I felt like crap again so I started up the b5 again at half the dose, and realized I'll probably have to supplement for the rest of my life... I just don't absorb it properly.

Ok so now that you have the short and sweet story... the reason for this whole post.

Spectracell mentioned in their blog that B5 is the precursor to the enzyme lipase, which is the FAT BURNING ENZYME.

Holy mother of god... I found the reason why I gained so much weight uncontrollably and now I know how to reverse it.

I've been all about the enzymes lately... I knew I was lacking in lipase but I couldn't figure out why nor how to fix it, other than to supplement with digestive enzymes.

If I look back at my history it all makes sense.

Fasted with the hcg diet a number of times in 2009, likely depleting cellularly stored pantothenic acid. Since I don't absorb it properly, I wasn't able to replenish it. With each hcg round, my ability to lose weight decreased and the weight loss would slow. I notoriously lost less weight than others doing the same diet and even with them cheating on it and me being very strict.

So I gained after I was done with those. A lot. No lipase available to burn fat as energy.

Fast forward to October last year... didn't lose at all... my stores were empty, as referenced by my nutrition report.

November thru January supplementing 1g a day and lost a pant size (didn't lose scale weight, but didn't gain either).

Bottle ends and I gain weight back.

I get a new bottle and flip from taking 500mg to 1g a day... mostly 500mg a day. I fluctuate in size... I don't know my smaller days are related to the 1g or not.

SO... I took 2g today of pantothenic acid. My normal 500 this morning and 1500mg this evening.

I so can't wait to see if this is going to work for me.

I will check in with this later.

As of this morning, I am 225.2 lbs.

In the meantime, check out this wonderfully written article about pantothenic acid:

http://www.coryholly.com/articles/article.cfm?id=172

Pantothenic Acid works!!

Guess who's pregnant!!! ME!!

In my first cycle of supplementing with pantothenic acid (vitamin b5), I am pregnant! We are so amazed.

I started the cycle on the hcg diet... I had lost 20lbs in my round in June, and wanted to see if I could lose some more.

Well, 27 days into the hcg diet, supplementing with vitamins and pantothenic acid, no change in my weight happened and I was having issues with my blood sugar, so I just stopped.  I was pretty disappointed with this, that my body would no longer react to the hcg diet and lose weight.

So... I signed up for Weight Watchers, right after getting off the hcg diet.

A little background, the hcg diet can prevent you from ovulating... it makes your body think it's pregnant, so it suppresses ovulation if you start the diet more than 5 days before your normal ovulation time.  If you are irregular and start the diet mid-cycle, it could make you ovulate as hcg is known to be a trigger for ovulation.

Well... 2 days after getting off the hcg, I ovulated, which surprised me.  I didn't expect it that quickly. Hubby and I didn't even have time to react... I was sure it was going to be a negative cycle, which didn't bother me. (after 2 years, why would it?)

So I start Weight Watchers, start slowly losing weight... and my pms was really heavy. My breasts were more sore than normal, I was holding quite a bit of water weight... kinda snarky... but I had just figured it was the b5 in my system and that this would be my new "normal" pms.

The week my flow was due... I was exhausted.  Just tired. Now I'm a claims adjuster and we've been overloaded with the Hurricane Sandy claims, so I fully blamed it on that.

I'm a member of an infertility message board, and some of the ladies there were insisting that I had it this month... I was adamantly denying it, saying we didn't do the deed at the right time, and this is probably just my new normal...

They were like "Yeah... okay Jess... whatever.  You should just test!"

I refuse to test until my period is late.  I hate the disappointment.

Well... Friday, the day my flow was due, came and went... my birthday was the next day and I celebrated nicely, not concerned about being pregnant or anything. Had some wine... but nothing ridiculous.

By the end of the day Saturday, with my flow being a no-show to the party, I was starting to wonder if I was off on my ovulation date.

Sunday morning... I tested. :-D

Holy mother of god, what the heck is this???

Two very solid lines on this gorgeous test... and one very caught off guard soon-to-be momma.

I walk out of the bathroom and take this to my husband, who was making breakfast at the time, and show it to him... he did a double take.

After 23 months of trying... and on my first cycle of pantothenic acid... we finally got pregnant. As of today, I am 5 weeks 1 day pregnant... further along than my last miscarriage.  This one feels solid... so I'm pretty sure this one will make it to our arms in July. :)

12/22/2012 update:

My blood test results taken at 4 weeks 4 days showed my TSH levels had decreased from 6.1 down to within the normal range (still high, but normal) at 4.35 since September.

Goes to show that the pantothenic acid did the job for my thyroid. :)

Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) and Celiac Disease

I recently went to the doctor, explaining to them that I'm still not pregnant, after almost 2 years now of actively trying, and that I wanted a vitamin panel done.  I was also concerned about my adrenals, stating that it must be the cortisol (the stress hormone) issue that's preventing me from losing weight and fully calming down.

So they ran a million tests... and ran a micro-nutrient test with SpectraCell Laboratory.

I fully expected to have some deficiencies, but I knew I would generally be okay, considering I do supplement.

Since I am Celiac, I'm not surprised to find deficiencies, although your average person could always have vitamin deficiencies, like vitamin D3.

I was really blown away to find out I am very deficient in vitamin B5, also known as pantothenic acid.

Pantothenic acid is found in EVERYTHING that mammals (including humans) eat. It is a very very important  vitamin that helps the co-enzyme A function properly, the adrenals keep up to their best, and help your brain function a bit better.  If your adrenals don't function properly, you don't function properly and your body goes into distress mode.  My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was sky high, after decreasing after going gluten free, shocking the hell out of me.  My DHEA-S and testosterone levels were well above where they should be, indicating there's a heavy duty adrenal issue happening.  Not to mention my infertility... which is directly related to B5 deficiency as well.

But here's the problem and why I never even CONSIDERED that I could have a deficiency:

Pantothenic acid is literally found in EVERYTHING, like I mentioned earlier.  To find someone with a B5 deficiency means they have either been literally starving, or they are an alcoholic. (which I am neither)

But.

Back in the day, they used to treat Celiac Disease with pantothenic acid, to help the patient feel better.  Because of the drastic gastrointestinal issues and malabsorption that is so common among Celiacs, those B vitamins are up for rejection in the Celiac system, which does include B5.  It is also noted, in that article I linked to, that a vitamin B5 deficiency does cause atrophy of the villi in the intestines. If a subject does not feel completely better, nor return to complete normalcy, or only half way responds to a gluten free diet, try B5.

After 5 days of having taken at least 1000mg a day of pantothenic acid, I can truly say that I have experienced an upswing in my mood and most importantly, my ability to focus.  My intelligence is huge to me, and to lose that in the last couple years because I was unable to focus properly was very hard on my self esteem.

Yet... I continue on... hopefully in a few months I can get pregnant as my body regulates.