Vitamin d low in a teen but im confused why?

[Allthesocksintheworld]

My 15 year old sun has had a few problems over the last few months with skin rashes, fatigue and indigestion etc. We went to the gp who did a set of blood tests, some of the results were back today (not all i dont think) and she said he quite low in vitamin d.

The list of things that he needs to do to get vitamin d are all things he already does!

We are very light skinned and he gets way more than the 30 minutes a day of sun generally - last weekend he was out on rivers all day . He eats lots of the food its in.

He has tablets from the doctor and i know he can take a supplement long term but im really confused how hes got low in the first place!

does anyone else have these problems? Can low vitamin d really cause all his other symptoms?

My son was seriously deficient in vitamin d, he is really fair skinned, doesn't get too much sun (and whacks on the sun cream so he doesn't burn). We were told to use the vitamin d sprays from Holland and Barrett , 3000 dose for 8 weeks and then 1000 a day and told he will probably always need that dose. He suffered tiredness, irritability (more than normal) lack of appetite aches and pains. He was honestly like a different child after a few weeks. Sadly he hasn't kept up the dosage so having to go through it all again!

A lot of doctors recommend everyone in this part of the world takes a Vitamin D supplement from October to March so I guess deficiency is a very common problem.

If he's fair skinned & out all day is he wearing sun cream? That will block vitD being absorbed so could explain low levels.

The majority of people in uk are low in vitamin D. It's to be expected.

DS had spent hours outside daily for 6 weeks in the Southern Hemisphere over UK winter, then regularly spent time outside plus ate a ridiculous amount of eggs daily, outside regularly during UK summer and was deficient when tested in the August. The doctor said take 3000 Vit D everyday, all year round for life. The amount of time you need to be outside without sun cream on with exposed skin is quite high. An average boy with only forearms and knee down exposure to the sun would need to be outside in the sun loads to get the required amount of Vit D.

and that's not taking into account any medical conditions which would cause an issue with absorbing.

Ah ok we do use suncream and hats yes otherwise he burns really easily.
he is having a test for celiac as the doctor thought this might cause the skin problems and indigestion but thats not back yet.

I am fair skinned and lived in the Middle East. I had vitamin d deficiency. It happens.

What's the rash like? Inflammatory bowel disease (particularly Crohns) can cause skin rashes - splodgy, blotchy type , like inflammed bites - and malabsorption of nutrients which can cause low vitamin levels and fatigue. Not all people with Crohns have dodgy bowels - my son had bad indigestion (turns out caused by ulcers inside), poor appetite, weight loss and constipation at diagnosis.

Just a thought, hope it's not but GP probably less aware of it as many present with bloody, loose diarrhoea.

Sunscreen means he isn't absorbing vitamin D - so being outside won't help.

I was told by someone also that people absorb Vitamin D differently eg women tend to get more Vitamin D via sun on their chests. I'm not sure if that's true but I thought it was interesting.

For someone who burns easily, a supplement is pretty common. Especially in this country where there's either no sun and then you're burning.

If you want to increase his vitamin D naturally to support any supplements, try getting him out in the sun very early in the morning, without sunscreen. I burn quite easily but in the summer I often take the DC swimming in an outdoor pool at around 9am and none of us wear sunscreen. We're back inside by 10. We do all get a very light tan as well.

Coeliac disease caused my low Vit D, B12 and iron. I had no digestive symptoms.

I’ve always been outside loads and I had a vitamin D deficiency. He will need to take quite a high dose to bring it up (google this). It’s not just taking your standard 4000IU tablet from Boots. He’ll need to take quite a high potency tablet for the next few months.

In terms of his symptoms, does he have any other digestive issues? I’d be inclined to think something else may be going on that has caused the deficiency. For example, coeliacs disease, malabsorption, perhaps even H pylori infection, something that’s causing him to have indigestion and to poorly absorb nutrients.

She could be low in vitamin D because she is low im magnesium. Nit unusual that vitamin D level increases after taking magnesium supplement.

If she is using suncream as soon as there is a bit of sun, she won’t be producing vitamin D. That’s knowing it’s actually quite hard to produce vitamin D and most people are deficient.

do you know what her vit d level are? Apart from ‘quite low’
Id ensure she is taking some supplement to increase her levels. NHS guidelines is that we should all be supplementing anyway…

Vitamin k is required to help absorb vitamin d, so get a combination supplement. Also it's fat soluble so make sure you take with some fat or oil in some form e.g. avocado, olive oil etc

My DS has been very depressed lately so GP as part of seeing him requested blood tests. Showed low vit D plus low calcium levels. Low Vit D cancause depression and low mood so have been given 7 weeks worth of a supplement liquid for him to take with meals. Need to go back in a few weeks for more tests

Definitely get tested for coeliac disease. Sounds just like my dd before diagnosis

Oh sorry, see you’re waiting for the result

Madamy he has various patches appear on and off which can look different but the worst are under his eyes. I have tried to add a photo!

Ok the gps just called again - apparently they havent had the celiac result yet but some of the tests need redoing because of a lab problem. Apparently his blood count and liver results are just outside normal as well but not bad enough to worry about .

he has to take the vitamin d shes prescribed then go back for a repeat of that test as well.

would the blood count and liver thing fit with celiac? Or is that just a fluke .
i wasnt really that worried about him before but after that call i am getting worried !

he gets indigestion quite often and he does feel sick more than my other children. He has always been a little like that though! He had reflux as a baby and hes always been a bit pukey!

I agree. I see this all the time at work in NHS

The blood count if that’s his iron/hb could be affected by coeliac. Dd was also anaemic before her diagnosis. The bags/darkness under the eyes is another typical coeliac symptom, though not everyone gets it and I’m sure there may be other causes.

And being “a bit pukey” was how we described Dd for years. She was a little bit vomity 2 or 3 times a week. I used to joke if I kept her off school for 48 hours every time she would literally never have gone to school! Even on a school ski trip she wasn’t allowed to ski because she was sick most days. My SIL took her away for a long weekend and gave her back to me saying she’d never known a kid puke so much. Obviously I took her to the GP about this but was fobbed off. She had symptoms for ten years before diagnosis.