to be getting hot and bothered about the Vit D push?

[stinkingbishop]

I am prepared to be corrected but, having been hassled yet again by the HV about giving the twins Vit D because of the oft cited 'rise in Rickets', and saying, again, that they had a good diet, including oily fish, and play outside, and again being made to feel like I am stubborn/neglectful, I am getting rather worked up.

As I understand it, one of the main reasons we all have different coloured skin is because we have evolved to be able to absorb the optimum amount of Vit D from the sun (or rather for the sun to catalyse our absorption). Those in very sunny climes have darker skin so they don't overload; us peely wallies are that way because we have such brief windows. Interestingly, it's why Inuits have darker skin than, say, Scandinavians, because they eat so much fish. Very clever, Nature.

Vit D deficiency is caused by a mismatch between your current environment and what you evolved for. So someone whose ancestors lived in the Congo and is now in Stornoway really needs to eat a lot of herring. It's compounded by inner city living eg not having a garden, being inside most of the time. And also strikes some Asian populations because of vegetarian diets and processed flours used in eg chapatis, and because of a culture of covering up, especially girls, and staying at home.

I can't find anything online which shows the incidence of Rickets amongst caucasian children in Britain who play outside regularly (15 mins a day) and have a good diet. Is there anything? Have there been cases? Where should I be looking?

If it genuinely is a problem, I will calm down. But at the moment I just wonder to what extent this national, indiscriminatory push is motivated by the Government's desire not to be seen as racially profiling (but we SHOULD profile for some conditions, because your ethnicity does correlate with various issues and potential issues) and/or because they're using some research funded by whoever it is manufactures the supplements (I have no evidence of this because again I can't find anything).

So, do I calm down, or do I fire something off to whoever is in charge of briefing Health Visitors? It just seems yet another thing to beat nervous, unsure new Mums with. For the vast majority of whom, if I'm correct, this is a complete non-issue.

Interesting thread as I've just got back from the doctors and I'm deficient in vitamin D. I'm white and spend a reasonable amount of time outside and rarely wear sun cream. I really didn't think it would come back as too low but am going to get some supplements and make sure the CD's take them too.

I've just sent off for tests from the website linked upthread. DH is dubious as he eats masses of oily fish and the rest of us spend a lot of time outdoors, but there's only one way to know for sure.

Sofia Yes I have MS. I take a lot of supplements, Vit D, acetyl l carnitine, CoQ10 and Omega 3's amongst them. So far I'm on no meds and haven't had a single relapse since changing my diet (no meat, fish daily, no processed foods or sugar and green juices daily) and taking the supplements. I wouldn't even know I had it if I hadn't seen the MRI with lesions.

I've just been looking into a sublingual B12 that some people have had success with. Two people even said their most recent MRI showed no lesions at all, and 12 months before they had some.

I tell you what though, if my test results come back low I'm going to beating myself up forever because DS has autism. Even though none of us knew 10 years ago that this was a problem.

Wow speaker I will add you to my mental list of anecdotal successes. I have a good friend with Lupus/Rheumatoid Arthritis who is having similar successes with those same supplements although her latest MRI was not so good, even though she feels great and doctor wants her to go back on her meds which she is currently resisting. I will mention to her about the B12, although I think she gets all her levels of everything regularly tested. The doctors tell me that my ds has been as healthy as he is because of the ridiculously healthy diet I feed him (In addition to my dad's nutritional influences, my mother is Italian and a gourmet cook on top of being a prof of biochemistry, so I had some good training).

WhoKnows

I can understand that. But you did everything right based on the knowledge you had at the time. It's all anyone can do.

whoknows please do not even think about blaming yourself. How on earth were you (or the doctors for that matter) supposed to know 10 years ago? My father's paper only came out 2 months ago and it will be years before it filters down through the medical fields. I recently heard a piece on the radio about the woman (english) who discovered that xraying pregnant mothers was harmful to the unborn baby. It took 35 years for the medical profession to catch on and stop regularly xraying pregnant mothers.
Although, you may want to consider checking your ds' Vitamin D levels as there is some evidence that supplementation can help with behavior and gi issues in autistic kids/adults.

Sofia I forgot to add no diary to that list. The B12 that one of the ladies whose lesions repaired recommended Solgar, Sublingual Methylcobalamin (Vitamin B12), 1000 mcg so that's what I have ordered. They should arrive any day now. When I started looking into it I found THIS BLOG It talked about the B12 and she linked to the same type, although in a stronger dose.

My doctor has been trying to push me onto meds for the last couple of years, however I pointed out to her that I have had no relapses (One incident which led to my mri and diagnosis and nothing since) and am perfectly healthy so what would be the point right now. She didn't have a lot to say to that. Where I live they are med crazy and poo poo anything diet/supplement related. She's supposed to be a MS specialist but claimed to have never heard of Jelink, Swank or Terry Wahls. How am I supposed to trust a specialist that dismisses them.

I don't want to take up the thread with MS talk but if you like I can pm you the list of supplements I take.

I've ordered tests for all of us. My mum is one for every health scare going and has been telling us we use too much suncream on the DCs for years, I'm not going to stop the cream (we don't use it all the time anyway) but I will certainly up their supplements if we get low results, they only have it in a mutlivit at the moment.

SpeakerOut yes do please and I will pass them on to my friend. All I can say what an amazing thing the internet is. I don't think it will take 35 years to pass on the word about Vitamin D, or any other types of good nutritional behavior.

I have ME/CFS but didn't know it for years; all my symptoms were put down to depression, which I do have. In the first five years, I could afford stacks of supplements and was very fit. I now suspect that all the nutritional care was keeping me physically functional, though insufficient to manage the mental health. As well as a good multi-vit/mineral I took humungous doses of Omega-3 fish oils, L-carnitine, some other amino acid supplement, plus off-the-scale amounts of vitamins C & B with extra zinc and selenium.

One other thing I used to get was a soluble B12 strip - like those mouth freshener strips. I was convinced they gave me an extra boost within an hour of using them. They were discontinued and I'm interested to see you can now get sublingual tabs, which presumably have the same effect. I'll see if I can find any cheap ones!

Garlic THESE are the one's I've ordered, I think the price was ok.

Garlic you might want to try adding tryptophan (and vit d) to the above list. You mentioned that you were allergic to sulfites. I thought for years that I was, but it turned out not to be sulfites (I finally got tested), but just hormone (erratic estrogen production) induced irritable bowel. Going on the pill solved all the problems!

Despite not having MS, (I have another lovely chronic autoimmune disease with no cure) I have found Terry Wahls advice very useful - for anyone suffering from an autoimmune disease her approach makes a lot of sense - to heal your cells you've got to feed your cells! She has even convinced me to eat liver!
The NHS's inability to catch up with current research is frustrating, the advice my dad gets for his Type II is shocking he is to include lots of rice and pasta in his diet - blood sugar peak anyone? Not surprisingly he gets through quite a few pills everyday....keeps the drugs companies in business though.
I cannot find one doctor to help to help me heal my body through nutrition, my dermatologist agreed that my approach was sensible but she didn't know anyone in the medical world who knew much about nutrition - (dieticians don't believe in healing using food) her experience had been about one day's worth when she was a student. It's incredibly frustrating.

Thanks, sofia - I've already upped my vitamin D since reading your posts Things like tryptophan and L-carnitine supplements are too expensive for me now, as are K7/2 and Q10. Zinc & selenium supps are cheap, so I've added them to my double dose of multis (I take 2 cheap ones with different formulations) along with B group and Omega 3 fish caps.

For the rest, I may have to depend on home-made chicken soup ... unless your nutritious parents have any better ideas!

Nothing I can do about my hormonal changes, I'm already on HRT. I do have an actual sulphur allergy, with anaphylaxis & all, so I guess that sensitivity has extended over time to include sulphites. Shame, I loved wine.

garlic and rainyday let me ask my father if he has any colleagues/medical types he can recommend in the UK who could help with the nutritional stuff. garlic L-carnitine is available on prescription here in the usa in the high dosages that my ds takes. Perhaps it's the same there?
rainyday there is evidence that vitamin d can help with diabetes. I can't believe they are having him eat rice without some beans to go with it. You should also check out those websites I posted earlier for mitochondrial dysfunction. There are a lot of overlaps between the autoimmune diseases and mitochondrial dysfunction and in fact the latter may be the underlying cause of the former.
I have never been much of a conspiracy theorist , but it is unfortunate that there is no money in promoting good nutrition and supplements, so no one is lobbying the government and medical boards to research those avenues and instead it's just giant drug companies pushing more drugs on us.

This is so interesting. I was put on vit d because I was at high risk of osteoporosis and I refused the stronger treatment. After about 3-4 months I was telling my consultant how much better I just felt over all but he refused to credit the vit d with the change and said I imagined it

he refused to credit the vit d with the change and said I imagined it - you should have brought an Occam's Razor along to your appointment

I use sublingual b12, chromium (& green tea extract for whatever it's worth)... And I definately notice a difference in energy levels.

I have various conditions and either one of them causes chronic fatigue or I also have ME - not very clear and not much to do about it either way.

Rainy I'm am really interested in your diet - could you tell me more? I'm currently reading a book on paleo and autoimmune disease (heavy going with a fogged brain....).

As a result of this thread, I've upped my Vit D and got K2 (think I have that right) plus magnesium citrate and a general multivit - the last 2 following a suggestion of another Fibro sufferer who has started to research vitamins and minerals. I actually spoke to the GP about my Vit D levels - I was told about 18mths or so ago that they were "low" and the GP on Friday told me my level was 60 - I don't know what units though - and that the dose of 25 micrograms was enough to keep me in normal levels. I'm now confused as to whether I have low Vit D or not.. but I've upped my levels anyway (can't remember offhand amount).

I have b12 injections now 2 but the sublingual high does are also good but nothing made me feel better like the vit d

How long does it take for Vit D supplements to work?

Hi Sophia & Speakerout - I also have MS (PPMS), I have been following OMS diet since August last year.

Large doses of Vit D, no dairy, no meat and try to stay away from processed food and added sugar. Just started gluten free(about 10 days).
Also yoga and concentrating on core strength to help my walking. Also munch pumpkin seeds as meant to be good for bladder control. I feel positive and definitely not worse and it is small increments think I am getting better. Certainly the numbness in my feet and fingers has disappeared, walking feels a little better but that is going to take a longtime to fix, maybe not possible but going to try.

Facebook is great I am a member of an OMS closed group, lots of positive people and yes you can talk about bladder control and people like your little achievements.

Daisy - OMS suggests that Vit D levels should be about 200, not the 70 or so that the medical community suggests. I take 10,000 iu a day, I definitely felt better after starting the supplement. More positive.

• paelo diet versus the OMS diet are competing dietary solutions to MS, people are fanatical on both sides of the divide.

moid1 that's interesting... I'm definitely low then and I haven't noticed any difference from the 25microgram supplement. I've got 10,000iu supplement of D3 so it'll be interesting to see if I notice a difference.
What is the OMS diet? I currently low carb (initially for weight loss but I felt better not eating wheat and find I don't get as hungry or constantly feeling I need sugar like I did when eating bread, potatoes etc) but I've not noticed any difference painwise... I am wondering whether I should give something else a go for 1-2months and see if it helps.