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Sounds like your doing all the right things! A excellent cod liver oil that has the Vit D added into it is Nordic Naturals Arctic D. It doesn't taste like anything and NN is one of the companies that was used in the original Omega 3 research. It is very high quality.

The reasons why a good pro-biotic is necessary are many. B vitamins are produced by certain bacteria in the gut.The good bacterias crowd out the bad bacteria to prevent inflammation of the bowel with the resulting issue of “leaky gut syndrome”. This is when large particles (such as full proteins) cross over into the bloodstream. Because these are considered foreign substances by the body, the immune system is activated and the damaging processes of inflammation are set up in the body. (Think allergies, asthma,etc.)
The latest research keeps pointing to inflammation as the precursor to most disease states. Perhaps that is why low dose aspirin has been effective in such things as heart disease. Brenda Watson is a health practitioner who has written some easy to read books on these subjects which are loaded with information.

Thank you for the advice re that brand of cod liver oil - I can probably get it at my Co-op. (I remember Grammie ‘dosing’ us with cod liver oil. And in the spring, ‘sulfur and molasses’ - arrgh.)

I started taking the folic acid and periodically, homeopathic anti inflammatories, some years ago after reading research on it and homocysteine.

I had a heart attack almost 12 years ago....and was diagnosed with CHF..

I was put on 3 prescripts. I continued to drag around and have periodic trips to the ER, overnighters, 2 years of edema - feet and ankles puffed up like balloons, squeezing chest, etc.

I had adverse side effect to 2 of the meds and stopped them. In researching the other, I found - I think it was a Mayo Clinic study (I'm careful about ‘advice’) I found the med I was on was good for heart disease “except for CHF!” - another (enalapril was recommended. I printed the study out and took it to my doctor. He switched meds for me. I stuck to that. Also, I used to be an investigative reporter and that, along with my innate nosiness, led me to more research. Which is how I came up with the folic/Co-Q10/cold liver oil/hawthorne/b’s etc.

I gradually felt better and then markedly better. I haven't had any problems with edema for years...used to be daily. I haven't had any ER episodes for years.

I now have a new doctor who wasn't around for the years of trouble, tests, xrays, echo-grams, etc. Even though he has the records, he questioned them as I was getting BETTER, not progressively worse. He did NOT want to hear anything about herbs/supplements. Would brush it off with, like CoQ10, “Well, I suppose it can't do any harm”

Last summer, he ordered another echo-gram. Everything looks so good “for my age” (I'm a gramma 15 times) that he now doubts I ever had a heart attack, ;o) I do, however, really like him - he's not a pill pusher - and we get along great.AGain, I really, really appreciate your input!