Vitamin D deficiency

[bevm72yellow]

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

cfdmorris I had all those symptoms (and more) apart from the kidney stones and gall bladder. Is your calcium high?
There’s a very good Facebook group with some very knowledgeable people - look for hyperparathyroid uk action4change

Cfdmorris have you been tested for coeliac disease? My DD had several of your symptoms which continued after vitamin D levels were corrected and was subsequently diagnosed as coeliac. She's significantly better since going gluten free.

I used to buy from Holland and Barret's but my last vit d batch was from myvitamins. Well myprotein actually, but I discovered that they have designated one for vitamins. 2500ui.

Hi both choirmumoftwo andbestiswest
Thanks for pointers- thankfully bowels are healthy physically and coeliac ruled out. My calcium is high but with limits, but at same time as PTH was high within limits....that concerned me regarding hyper parathyroidism
GP put me back on max vit D dose in Feb- follow up blood test in 6 weeks were due early April, but coronavirus cancelled them. When lockdown lifted a bit to allow routine GP Appointments I’ll reschedule to check out calcium again. Thanks for your inputs

I've just discovered I have a Vitamin D count of 9 nmol through a Thriva test. I actually got the baseline check kit because I have had problems with low iron over the years and went vegetarian last year. My iron levels were fine but obviously my Vitamin d, which I hadn't considered at all, not so much!
I really don't want to go to the doctor at the moment so I have been reading up on the NICE guidelines and different areas protocols re loading doses and am taking 5,000 iu a day over the last few days, will retest in 3 months and adjust as needed.
I've also found the DMinder app good for keeping track of both supplements and how much Vitamin D I'm getting from the sunlight.
There's a really helpful facebook group called 'Vitamin D & Co-factors UK' which gives good advice and support, including supplements to support the vitamin D.
My symptoms are exhaustion, brain fog and aching bones and sternum.
I'd be really interested to know how long it took for people to start to feel better, I feel so crap at the moment I'm desperate for some improvement!

I was very deficient. Had no symptoms my go just decided to test.
Im not anymore after loading dose and now take maintenance I buy myself.

www.vitamindtest.org.uk

A link for organising your own vitamin D test should you want to.

As it's done in a NHS lab, your GP should be prepared to accept the results.

How long does it take to notice a difference? Knackered, got tingly feet and fingers. Not keen to visit gp at this time.

Knackered, got tingly feet and fingers
That can be vit b deficiency rather than vit d ime.

Problem si that the symptoms of so many things are soooo similar it's easy to think it's x when it can very well be z and y and maybe even abc.

I’d say I felt better after a month and felt completely like myself within 2-3 months

5th Vit D3 study from Belgium.

Males showed markedly higher percentage of vitamin D deficiency ..Vit D deficiency is a possible risk factor for severe infection in males. Vit D3 supplementation might be an inexpensive, accessible and safe mitigation for covid

Link :
www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.01.20079376v1

Strongtea exhaustion and tingly fingers and feet are also two of the many possible symptoms of covid - just something to be aware of

I've got Tablets 1000 is that OK?
No idea if I any deficient I just got them because apparently they help agaisnt covid?

I've got Tablets 1000 is that OK?

Those are fine, you can safely take 3-4 per day if you're not already getting extra vitamin D from a multivitamin or calcium supplement.

Can I ask a question as you all seem very knowledgeable. Can you get enough vitamin d just from the sun but you have a shit diet (I don’t but I have absorption issues due to IBD)?? Or do you need it in your diet as well as getting sunlight?

Or do you need it in your diet as well as getting sunlight?

It depends on how much direct sunlight you get and how light in color your skin is. Given how much time most of us spend indoors some dietary sources are needed by almost everyone. In the US about half the population is clinically deficient.

Vitamin D Deficiency

Fortifying milk with vitamin D was a big help in years gone by, but now people consumer very little fluid milk as breakfast cereals have gone out of fashion.

I was told that my supplements had to be specially made. I take 50,000 IUD once a week for 6 weeks, then I need to make arrangements for further treatment. I also have a slight B12 deficiency.

*horrible aches and pains (especially in arms/wrists/hips)
*extreme fatigue
*short of breath and dizzy spells
*low mood/ lack of motivation
*working memory issues!
*bruising easily

I only realised there was an issue when I started needing to take a daily nap with my 1 year old! It was the straw that broke the camel’s back! I’m 22 years old 🙈

When you say D3, is that different to over the counter vit D supplements?
What is the normal dose of a supplement?

OTC supplements will be either D2 or D3. Both are converted by the liver to the form that's active in the body, so it doesn't make much difference witch you take. Normal dose will range from 1000iu to 5000iu per day.

Nearly all UK OTC vit D supplements are D3, as it's known to be more bioavailable than any other form. Still worth checking the packet though, to be sure.

In a multi-vit, it's probably going to be around 400iu per tablet; but if you buy it separately it's more likely to be 1000iu per tablet.

Winter sun at the latitude of the UK provides insufficient UVB for most people to make adequate vit D in the body, even the palest among us (our conversion rate is much higher than darker skinned people, up to 6 times more).

Margarines in the UK have vit D added to them to bring them up to "summer" levels of butter, but no other food in the UK is legally required to add vit D (it's different in other countries). There may be other foods that the manufacturer voluntarily adds vit D to as well.
Vit D being a fat-soluble vitamin, you'll find it in fatty foods, especially oily fish for example. One of the reasons us older types were fed cod liver oil as children was to improve our vit D intake, but liver is also the decontaminating organ for the animal it's taken from, so liver and its oil can contain other contaminants at high levels too.

I was tested for something unrelated and told my levels were undetectable and that they'd normally send me for injections but there was a shortage. I had zero symptoms, most people don't seem to in my experience.

Note that if you are overweight, you are apparently more likely to suffer from deficiency

Can I get some advice/thoughts on this, too?

On the back of a thread on here, I did the vitamin d test that is linked here. The results came back that I was deficient 65 'adequate'.

Questions I have are:

1. adequate is n't good, or optimal - it's just adequate so would a higher level be advisd/make a difference.

2. The first day I took the vit d, I felt an extraordinary difference - I was sprightly, appetite was normal, just got up and on with things. That wore off by the second day and I am back to my sluggish self.

I am also on citrilopram and am wondering if that is creating the slugginess and the anxiety was caused by the vit d deficiency.

Lazing normal vit d levels should be between 75 and 125/150 (can't remember the upper limit now) so you're slightly under. I found that once I finished the loading dose I had to keep taking a maintenance dose other wise it fell again quite quickly. I started taking a 3000 iu spray from Holland & Barratt by dlux. It gets straight in to the system as some people have issues with absorption it taking a tablet.

I wouldn't expect to feel a difference in your energy levels after taking it for one day. Perhaps that was just coincidence that you felt better on that day. I never felt a massive difference even after a few weeks but I suspect I may have something else going on like M.E.

I cannot understand why people ask for vitamin D testing which costs the NHS a considerable amount

I get my Vit D levels checked as part of my Thriva blood testing, it's built in to the basic £25 test along with half a dozen other things.