Vitamin d deficiency urghhhh

[tomatopuree]

I had a call from my GP telling me that I'm vitamin d deficient. My number is 7. For months I have been exhausted, teary, struggling for words and my bones ache.

I went to her as I thought I might have arthritis (I have a child with arthritis so I believe I knew the signs)

I have been put on cholocalciferol (sp) 20,000 iu x 2 per week.

I have just started them and I have 7 weeks supply then a gp appointment.

Some people have said get a SAD lamp. Has anyone any good stories of using SAD lamps for this?

Totally outing myself. I'm a mum of a toddler so expect to be tired and also a student nurse. Working on placement has been particularly difficult.

My pain levels are huge. It's not muscle it's my actual bones that hurt. So manual handling and also things like drawing up meds using fine dexterity is very uncomfortable and I don't feel as though I can tell anyone for fear it makes me look like I'm wanting it easier....

[Starstarbright599]

Well hopefully the tablets will work wonders. I had a deficiency but a level of 30 (not sure if yours measured in same units?) I felt horrendous on that! Pills have made me human again!

[VimFuego101]

That dosage is a good amount for boosting low levels (some GPS recommend a ridiculously small dose) but you might even find you need more than that.

[tomatopuree]

Thanks for replying. I appreciate it. My husband wants to buy me a sad lamp. I'm not convinced it's not wasted money

[gleam]

Oily fish and egg yolks are sources of Vitamin D.

Hope you feel better soon.

[emwithme]

Mine was 6.5 and I was initially on the same supplement level as you. The first couple of weeks were awful (worse than before I started the supplements) but then it started getting better. It took a good 2 years to get my levels up to "normal" bit at that point I was well enough to go back to work, having been off sick for four years.

I now (3.5 years later) take a daily 800iu supplement and my levels (with this supplement) are still only just at the top end of normal.

The doctor told me to spend a minimum of 30 minutes outside every day (without sunscreen) to help boost the levels naturally. I can't see that a SAD lamp would hurt.

[HappyAxolotl]

I had this a couple of years ago and a day or two after taking the first tablet I started feeling a bit better then there was a gradual noticeable improvement over the next couple of months. I hope you get better quickly as well.

Now it has got warm I'm spending five minutes outside without sunscreen every day, first thing in the morning before the sun gets strong. (The rest of the day I wear Factor 50)

I think the bone ache was the first symptom to go away as well. That was a whole new and horrible level of pain!

[TheRollingCrone]

I took Solgar 10,000 d3 ( I got them off Amazon). You have my sympathy. I actually thought I was dying. I'm sure there are still Mum's at school who think I'm a day time drinker - the amount of times I stood in mute silence trying to find the words to answer a perfectly simple question!
Oh and the aching bones - like being "racked".
hope you feel better soon

[Charlieismydarlin]

SAD lamps don't produce UV light which is what the body uses to produce vitamin D.

For that would need a UV light. You can buy these off Amazon (for treating psoriasis etc) but they are expensive and I don't know how you could measure vitamin D dosage.

I expect one day we will be given prescriptions for 4 minutes on a sunbed!

In the meantime, can you get out in the sun?

[Slimthistime]

SAD lamp isn't even good for SAD! I think you need uv.

Take the supplements abd hopefully that will sort it, it did for me and my mum. I'm on 5000 now, shop bought.

[tomatopuree]

I'm trying to spend more time outside. I took a patient for a scan and then took them back to the ward via the outside so we could both have 5 mins in the sun. I drive with the windows down. I'm genuinely not inside hiding like a vampire so I don't understand why I'm so low.

Yes. I totally get the dying feeling. I was convinced if it wasn't arthritis I had then it must be cancer.

The brain fog was quite upsetting. I often am chatting to my husband and have a loss of words. Trying to explain what I wanted to say was quite frustrating to say the least.

I will hold off the sad lamp. Save myself some money. Thanks.

[Ktown]

Eat some salmon too and lots of eggs
Vit d deficiency is a nightmare

[Whatslovegottodo]

I use the 'Boost' spray from Holland and Barrett as a top up. It gives a huge dose and is a pleasant spray on the tongue. May be worth seeing about as well you could ask the doctor.

[BestIsWest]

Is the GP investigating WHY your vit D is so low? Mine was 8 and I was tested fir a few things including Coeliac. Turned out to be primary hyperparathyroidism.

[ilovechocolates]

I had vitamin D deficiency, mine was 25. Took high dose tablets which got my Level back to normal. Stopped taking daily high dose vitamin D tablets and took them weekly.

Roll on 2yrs and yep vitamin D deficient again. Now take 2000iu daily to help. Tbh I didn't feel any different between when my vitamin d was normal or not.

I am a HCP and work without windows and I'm sure that's got something to do with it, along with the inherent stress of working shifts

[Whatslovegottodo]

Ignore the post on the spray I read it as a b12 deficiency - it's on my brain

[tomatopuree]

@BestIsWest I'm hoping that when I see the GP she will start tests. I was surprised to get a call in the first place to be honest...

I had had an episode of renal colic and nothing since months ago. Then blood tests came back as low phosphate which triggered another series of tests. Some fasting. Then eventually the vitamin d test.

I'm overweight by 3 stones and trying hard to lose it with no luck at all. I literally have lost not an ounce. I'd have thought I'd have shed weight as I walk thousands of steps and work in a very heavy ward. I don't sit from 7am til I leave at 7pm. I also work outside of placement and it's pretty strenuous too.

I want my body back. I had treatment for heavy periods. But apart from that no other treatment. It was ablation last year. My periods are lighter now which is lovely.

I do have to study a lot so I spend nights reading and days working or running after a toddler.

[HappyAxolotl]

Tomato, weight gain is a symptom of the D deficiency. I was told Vit D is stored in fat so your body tries to put on as much as possible, hence the tiredness, brain fog and aching. Your body is starving itself of calories it needs right now in order to store them as fat. Mine came off without trying once I started treatment. And you have a far more active life than I do which will help shed it as well.

[BloodWorries]

Mine was quite low too and I'm on the same dose. I think my level was similar to yours but I'm really struggling with concentration too and remembering things.

I've got similar symptoms to you, but have other health issues that I was blaming. I'm hoping they will ease off but as with memory issues remembering to take the tablets, especially without a routine of every morning/night I keep forgetting.

[BestIsWest]

@Tomatopuree, in that case ask her to check your calcium and parathyroid hormone levels. You mention renal colic and kidney stones are another symptom of primary hyperparathyroidism - it's a small benign adenoma on a parathyroid gland which regulates calcium levels and can cause arthritis like symptoms, tiredness, brain fog etc. Easily corrected with minor surgery.

[BestIsWest]

Oh, weight gain is another symptom.

[tomatopuree]

Thanks so much. I thought I was going mad with the weight gain. I did a steps counter and I'm easily 20k a day on placement and that's only the steps.

I don't eat anywhere near as much as my weight gain suggests.

I will see if I can find some articles about the condition you mention and go in armed.

[SofiaAmes]

Bringing up your vitamin d levels will help you lose weight. Satiety is one of the things that vitamin d regulates. Don't waste your money on the SAD lamp, all it's doing is giving you vitamin d which you can get just as well in a pill (the ones your doctor has prescribed).

[lifeintheslowlane1]

Have your TSH levels been tested? Weight gain, difficulty losing weight, brain fog are all symptoms of hypothyroidism.

[ErnesttheBavarian]

how are you sleeping?

[tomatopuree]

@ErnesttheBavarian sleep.... deprived totally exhausted and in need of a fortnight in the sun. To be fair I had exams, essays, projects to hand in. Also consolidation of my learning on placement. I will sleep when I graduate.