Vitamin D deficiency

[bevm72yellow]

Has anyone here had deficiency symptoms? If so what were they? And how long did it take to get diagnosed?

I don’t know if it has been mentioned already but you can get a home blood testing kit from Thriva. There’s a basic set of tests or you can tailor it for more specific tests such as hormones. It’s a subscription model but you can decide regularity and postpone if you wish. Very quick and easy. Pinprick test. Results back in a couple of days and reviewed by a doctor to highlight any issues you should take supplements or see GP about.

I’ve just done a second one as my first set a year ago were all fine, but DH ended up going to GP after doing his and is now on statins.

Lots of discount codes around for first test.

As a side note, I live in Thailand, sunny all year round. only 50 deaths, rubbish lockdown, 70 million population . Infection rife - all my family has had it.

I heard that the virus doesn't do well in heat. Maybe it's the combination of both? Interesting

@Anniegetyourgun

Here's the results from 780 Indonesian patients. All entered ICU.

Nearly all of the dead covid 19 patients had vit D deficiency and no underlying conditions.

In the Philippines study they obtained similar results and even checked the previous years data proving that the levels were already low before the patients were infected.

Hi I got these from amazon and I would recommend them! I also have an iron one. Think they were around £8 ish each. It's just an oral spray that you spray on to the inside of your cheek. Taste fine and cuts out any issues that you might have absorbing the vitamins through diet/supplements

@OmgThereAreNoPlanesAboveMeNow

I agree, I think the heat and humidity lowers the viral dose also.

The BAME disproportionate deaths was a major vitamin D3 flag for me

@Anniegetyourgun
You disagree with these people:

Barbara Boucher, Honorary Professor of Medicine at the Blizard Institute at Queen Mary University of London, joined Dr Peter Cobbold, Emeritus Professor, University of Liverpool and Helga Rhein, a retired GP in Edinburgh and others call for supplements to be given to the elderly, carers, night-shift workers and members of BAME communities in the UK who are more likely to have low levels of the nutrient.

Please read this:
www.thenational.scot/news/18385471.medics-fresh-call-provide-vitamin-d-need/

I was referred to a rheumatologist for other matters and had thorough blood tests done which it showed up then. Had to have a loading phase of vitamin D for a week or two and then continue on lower dosage.

LWJ70 it’s the ‘media don’t want to talk about it bit’ that is conspiracy theory territory. No one is questioning the value of vitamin D or supplementation.

The media have been obsessed with vitamin D for years which is why GPs have loads of people asking for tests.

Symptoms- extreme tiredness, hair loss, dizziness which made my hands tingle during the spells, painful knees and my nails are rigid.

Indian study out today, 176 covid 19 patients (previously checked serum levels).

Same findings as the New Orleans, Indonesian and Philippines studies:

100% of critical patients less than 75 years old had Vitamin D insufficiency

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3593258

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/SSRN-id3593258.pdf

Regarding vit D toxicity - it's really quite hard to achieve on OTC Vit D meds unless you're deliberately trying to do it.

You'd need to be taking >40,000 IU per DAY regularly to get up to toxicity levels.

The high dose vitD3 tablets that are given to people on prescription (10,000 IU, 20,000 IU, 50,000 IU) are only meant to be taken weekly, so wouldn't cause toxicity unless they were taken without following medical advice, and you're not usually prescribed enough of them (I was only given 6 tabs, iirc) to achieve toxicity even if you do take them daily by accident, as you'd run out before you did damage.

Lower leg pain, knees struggling to bend and clicking, walking up and down stairs was difficult and painful. Chronic fatigue, struggle to get out of bed, get the dc ready for school and straight back to bed. The thought of going food shopping/ to town, etc even exhausted me. Head aches, irritability/ low mood.

Yes I go outside every day too
Don't assume that this means your get enough, especially in winter months.

This is what I thought and why I never asked for a test despite symptoms pouring to it.

What I later learn is that little is absorbed by the face only, especially as cosmetic often include SPF in them which block but D. The older we get, the less we absorb.

Mine was 50 when it was checked in Sept
Looking back it's been between 59 & 62 for years. With notes of it being low & GP brushing me off. I've taken supplements on & off.

Clearly I need something more than that

With everything as it is & my Gp being pants anyway I'd rather get something online or privately.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Urgh. That should have said between 43 & 62 for over 4 years.

What dose should I take & where should I buy it from ?!

I would be SO happy if I could stop feeling like this.

Fatigue +++
Low mood
Vit D daily supplement has done wonders for both

To whoever recommended Thriva, thank you. There are some excellent money off vouchers floating round if you google. I'm getting iron, thyroid and vitamin D tested for less than £15. I posted earlier about how I'm falling asleep on the sofa every night (very unlike me) and I'm recognising a lot of the symptoms of deficiency just from this thread.

During my normal thyroid test to check my levels because legs were so painful plus my knees and tiredness was really bad .I could tell it was different from my thyroid symptoms so the test was done .Dr rang me my Vit D levels were way to low so i had a high dose prescribed for 6wks can't remember off hand then he told me to permanently take 1000ul a day permanently .The pain in my legs has gone and I feel much better .

If i remember rightly it was 20, 000 ul once a week for 6wks prescribed.

I had hideous joint pain, to the point where I genuinely thought I was arthritic. It first hit 5 years ago when DC was three months old and I was breastfeeding. I thought pregnancy or feeding might have been responsible, but I've had it intermittently ever since. I now take supplements all through the winter.

They tested me for all manner of auto immune diseases before my GP hit on what it might be. It's amazing that a simple vitamin deficiency can do such awful things to your body! Thankfully it's easily fixed.

My level was very low (20) , I had asked for it to be tested as I also have auto immune thyroid disease, coeliac, and other autoimmune stuff.
My GP ticked it off as normal !!! I had no idea it was very low until I read something on here and then had it confirmed by my private gynae, who was horrified.
So I had gone to the GP, chronically exhausted, back pain, hair not growing and falling out, anxious etc, and she had just ticked 20 as normal. Grrrr.
I had a private blood test last year and it was up to 40, after taking supplements, and that was flagged as too low.

My diagnosis came about as I was being tested for the cause of my constant fatigue. I was on a high dose initially (4000 IU) but now on 1000IU daily.

I was thinking of buying some OTC to save the NHS money, but need to look into the doses.

Mine was 8 but I had a parathyroid tumour so my calcium / vitamin D / pth levels were all messed up.

I eventually got treated for that but it dropped back to 28 last year. The biggest symptom for me when Vit D is low is weakness in my lower back and thigh muscles - I couldn’t get up from chairs or out of the bath.

You’ve hit on a raw nerve for me!!!! Hear me out.....

I have suffered with a number of symptoms that appear to suggest hyperparathyroidism. I have been tested for this condition twice but on both occasions (5 years apart) have been identified with very low vitamin d. I have been put on high stabilising doses twice, followed by reduced doses indefinitely. On both occasions of taking increased doses my symptoms vanished within days- BUT nowhere do I see these symptoms listed as vitamin D deficiency as a whole.
These symptoms are:
1 frequent attacks of diarrhoea with gut pain and some vomiting- I was getting this multiple times per week at its worse over years

1. Frequent UTIs and vulva pain/spasms
2. Overheating- hot flushes but all the time! Put down to menopause by GP but on both times on very high dose vit D they massively reduced within days, and sometimes even felt cold!

4 frequent falls and a series of fractures

1. Restless legs- very painful and disrupted sleep
2. Brain fog and irritability/ poor concentration.

I’ve also got kidney stones and had gallbladder out. My symptoms exactly match hyper parathyroidism, (“bones,moans,groans”) but my PTH evens are just in range as normal.

I find it really interesting that vitamin D, calcium levels and PTH are all linked biochemically ( I am a chemist) , and I wonder if the symptoms above appear with other people but are just unrecognised ? The issue is most of these symptoms have been treated separately by urologist or gastroenterologist and not viewed holistically or worse put down to menopause!!

Right now I am on high dose still and most of these symptoms are under control- the urologists and gastroenterologist both say it is a coincidence....hmm

Chronic fatigue and low mood and lower leg pain. I didn’t ask to be tested for vitamin d I didn’t even know that could those symptoms. Was severely deficient and was given prescription pills