When people phone to ask me about a particular supplement, they often want to know whether I take it myself. If I say yes, they’re keen to know why I take it and whether I like it. If I say no, they’re keen to know why I don’t take it and what I take instead. I have no idea whether there is a wider interest in what my supplement regime looks like, but I thought this month I would tell you!

One of the reasons I have decided to do this is because I am also sometimes asked about how to schedule a large number of supplements into a day. People who are at a relatively early stage in their healing journey often find themselves overwhelmed at the volume of products they need to take. If, for example, someone is addressing leaky gut and interstitial cystitis, perhaps alongside another chronic health issue like fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, they might have a lot of supplements and medications to remember in the beginning. Even for health-conscious people without chronic ailments, just fitting in a multivitamin, a fish oil, extra vitamin C, a probiotic and perhaps extra vitamin D can be a lot to think about! More than once I have had people ask me exactly how and when I time things so that my empty-stomach products, my with-food products, my don’t-take-these-at-night, and my don’t-take-these-together products are all appropriately spaced out.

I thought if I showed you my supplement timetable, you’d be able to see for yourself that it is absolutely possible to squeeze a lot of products into a day. It might also put things into perspective for people who tell me that six Super Strength Aloe Vera Capsules is a lot to take every day! Hopefully it will help some of you to get your own supplement timetable more organised so that you’re not always forgetting things or having to skip doses.

Please be advised that I am not a doctor and nothing in this blog post is intended to constitute medical advice. I am not recommending that you should take these exact products – I take them because they suit my own unique requirements. The post is intended only for entertainment and to show you that it is possible to fit lots of different products into your day. You should always consult with a qualified healthcare professional that can help you determine your own unique requirements before embarking on any dietary or lifestyle changes. 

Please be aware that my supplement regime is not completely static. Although most of the products listed below are fairly long term fixtures, there are bits that change dependent on how my health is shaping up at the time. I don’t think what I take now is identical to a year ago; a year from now it will probably be slightly different again. Much of what I take is chosen with digestive health and hormonal balance in mind, because these have always been my problem areas. Unfortunately, because both of these systems are complex and have a wide-reaching impact on general wellbeing, this does mean my regime is rather unwieldy. I often liken myself to a vintage sports car – I’m quite nice to look at and I can be kept roadworthy, but I do require a lot of ongoing maintenance to make sure I don’t break down!

With all the above in mind, here is my current supplement timetable.

On waking

A glass of water with the following powders mixed in:

• Waterfall D-Mannose plain powder, to protect me against cystitis. I am very prone to urinary tract infections and the last time I dropped D-Mannose from my regime, I got cystitis a few weeks later. It is now a permanent fixture in my life, because I’m not inviting that kind of trouble again!
• L-glutamine powder to address leaky gut issues on an ongoing basis. I’ve had periods of time where I’ve stopped this, but since I discovered I had so many food intolerances, I decided to stay on it for the long term.
• Biocare Magnesium Ascorbate Powder which allows me to get my vitamin C and my magnesium in one product. I get stressed and anxious quite easily, which depletes vitamin C reserves, so I like to get plenty of vitamin C. Of course magnesium is great for anxiety (and perhaps for PGAD too) so I love the double whammy this powder offers!

I use this glass of water and powders to swallow:

• One Ancestral Supplements Blood Vitality (this is a recent addition. I currently take it instead of Ancestral Supplements Liver and Solgar Gentle Iron. I do swap my Ancestral products about quite a bit at the moment, because they are new to our shelves and I feel I ought to try quite a few of them for research purposes.)
• One Lamberts L-tyrosine for emotional resilience
• One Doctor’s Best D-Phenylalanine for emotional resilience and because I thought at one stage it might help with PGAD
• One Rio Amazon Pau D’arco capsule to address candida on an ongoing basis

Just before breakfast

• One Natural Health Practice Healthy Woman Support (a multivitamin for women my age).
• One Natural Health Practice PM Support (a vitamin B complex. B vitamins help with hormonal issues and anxiety. Starting a B vitamin around a decade ago was the single most effective thing I did to combat my anxiety aside from making dietary changes. I switched to a B Complex without B6 for a while after developing PGAD subsequent to a bout of cystitis. However, after around a year, I started to get quite depressed before periods and decided it was time to use a product with B6 in again. Tiny Pioneer now sells a B Complex without B6 for those of you who cannot tolerate vitamin B6.)
• One Cytoplan Cell-Active DIM for hormonal balance.
• One Lamberts Fish Oil because I believe most people should take extra essential fatty acids. This also helps with hormone balance, although it does lots of other things as well.
• One Tiny Pioneer Simply PEA Capsule because this has properties that might help with intestinal permeability issues and PGAD.
• 10ml of my bespoke herbal medicine that provides extra hormonal support.
• 10ml of plantain juice to dilute the tincture and to safeguard against the stomach ulcer that sometimes surprises me!

If I am having strawberries with my breakfast, I also take:

• One Simply Calci-G calcium glycerophosphate capsule, because strawberries can make my bladder and PGAD feel a little sensitive, but they’re also really healthy and tasty!

After breakfast

• One Lamberts Vitamin E capsule for extra support with hormonal balance. I tried doing without this quite recently, but after a couple of weeks I felt that I was deteriorating, so I put it back in.
• One Cytoplan Cytoprotect Liver capsule, because my digestion is always my weak system in times of stress and also because my herbal tinctures have alcohol in them.

A while before lunch

• Two more Ancestral Supplements Blood Vitality
• One more Tiny Pioneer Simply PEA Capsule

Immediately before lunch

• One more Natural Health Practice Healthy Woman Support
• One more Natural Health Practice PM Support

In the winter months, if I am feeling run down, or if viruses are going around:

• 10ml of my bespoke herbal antiviral medicine
• 10ml of Biocare Liposomal Vitamin C or an extra serving of Biocare Magnesium Ascorbate Powder

An hour or two before I start cooking my evening meal

A glass of water with the following powders mixed in:

• Waterfall D-Mannose plain powder
• L-glutamine powder
• Biocare Magnesium Ascorbate Powder

I use this glass of water and powders to swallow:

• One Lamberts Probioguard probiotic to replenish the friendly bacteria in my gut (I have used this for a while and I dislike changing probiotics, so even though we now sell UniBac from SC Nutra, I am sticking with Lamberts for now.)

Just as I start cooking my evening meal

• Two more Ancestral Supplements Blood Vitality
• 5ml of my bespoke herbal medicine that provides extra hormonal support
• 10ml of plantain juice to dilute the tincture and to safeguard against the stomach ulcer that sometimes surprises me!

Just before I eat my evening meal

• One British Supplements Vitamin D Capsule, because I live in the UK and we don’t always get much sunshine!  Since I started using this, SC Nutra has introduced a clean vegan vitamin D softgel, so I might try that instead at some stage.  
• One Cytoplan Zinc Citrate Capsule, which might help to address ongoing intestinal permeability issues.
• One Lamberts Garlic Capsule to address candida on an ongoing basis.

After my evening meal

• Two Lamberts Saccharomyces Boulardii Capsules to replenish friendly yeast in my gut

About half an hour before bed

• Two more Tiny Pioneer Simply PEA Capsules
• One L-tryptophan capsule to help with mood and sleep

This is my normal daily regime of the moment. In the last year or so, the only real changes have been:

• The addition of PEA capsules to the regime
• Switching from Solgar Gentle Iron to Ancestral Supplements products

If I ever feel like I am starting with a cold, I add in extra products as explained in Tiny Tips for Dealing with a Cold. If I am going through a particularly stressful or upsetting time, I will take extra herbal products to help to calm me down. Regular readers will know that I don’t always sleep well, so I also have a collection of herbal and prescribed products for that. Those are all extra things that I have on hand for appropriate occasions and they don’t feature in my normal days.

It is worth pointing out, that all of these products are bolted onto a healthy diet and lifestyle. I strictly avoid foods to which I am intolerant; I don’t eat junk food; I don’t drink or smoke; I go for a walk each day; and I try, as best as life will allow, to safeguard my mental wellbeing.

A few of you are probably wondering how in the world I afford this regime. The answer is simple: I have sacrificed hugely in every other area of my life to pursue good health and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to continue to live with my parents long after most people have had to fly the nest. Or, to put it more bluntly: I barely can – it bleeds me dry! I couldn’t afford to rent even the dingiest of bedsits and I drive a 12 year old car that I only managed to upgrade from my previous 18 year old car three years ago. I also worked a second job until the start of the pandemic and I probably will again when I can.

You might be interested to know that I do not get Tiny Pioneer products for free. I have to account for them on my VAT returns and tax returns, so effectively I must pay for them and pay tax on the income they generate. A customer was really surprised to hear the other day that I couldn’t afford a certain Ancestral Supplements product that I wanted to try, but just like you, I have to pay for what I take from the store and I’m not allowed to give myself a discount!

I tell you this because I often get asked for discounts, or am told how difficult it is, having to pay for lots of different supplements. When I reply that I know, I really do know. Aside from all the above products, I have spent THOUSANDS of pounds over the years on diagnostic tests, private blood tests, various therapies that I hoped might work, and supplements and products that I hoped might work. I did it all while working only local, dead-end jobs, because my health wasn’t robust enough to take anything further afield that would have paid better, even though I had the qualifications to get a really good job. I honestly do know how hard it is and that’s why I don’t fleece customers. Most PEA products as good as ours are around £15 a month more expensive. I just can’t do that to you. Even if I do live at home and drive a 12 year old car!

Some of you are also perhaps wondering why I don’t stop taking everything and ‘let my body sort itself out’. I’ve tried that. I also try dropping items from the regime from time to time to see if I can do without them, because it’s obviously expensive and inconvenient having to take so many things. Can you imagine, along with my dietary requirements, how much Tupperware has to travel with me on even a single night away?! If I drop things and no longer need them, I stop taking them. If I drop them and notice a decline in my situation, they have to come back. It’s not ideal, but it’s a whole lot more ideal than living the way I’ve lived in my worst days and I’m happy to keep doing it if I get a decent quality of life in return!

A few of you are probably also wondering why I didn’t just go to the doctor and let them sort it. To you I say this: you’re very lucky to be in a position where you can ask that question in all innocence. I suspect the majority of you aren’t asking, because you know. You wouldn’t be on my blog otherwise! As I said in my last post, I’m not at all against doctors or conventional medicine. They’re marvellous, saving and changing lives every day – and thank goodness for that. But they have their limitations and sometimes, when your needs are complex, you just have to fix yourself.

Okay, I hope you found this post useful. Or at least interesting! I feel like I’ve let you all peep in my kitchen cupboard! No excuses now – you can all go away and draw up a lovely, organised timetable!

Wishing you the best of health,

Tiny x

This blog post is the intellectual property of tinypioneer.co.uk and may not be copied or published elsewhere.  You may share a link to the post if you wish.

Copyright © Tiny Pioneer 2021