Vit D deficiency - any experience?

[Isabelle112]

GP has told me, following blood tests, that my vit D level is very low - 16.8 (normal range, she said, 76-200) with anything under 30 being concerning.

Put me on Fultium D3 - 800 IU five times a day for 10 weeks. Then a review.

I feel very tired, achy, weak much of the time (and have been under considerable stress) - and went to the GP about pain in bones and muscles. So, I'm not surprised at the result but clealry worried. Has anyone picked themselves up from a level like this to something much more manageable?

I'm vegetarian and only today thought of going vegan (which I've been considering for a while) but perhaps now wouldn't be the time? Have a friend who, for a fee, gives her patients access to a vit D lamp (she's a medical herbalist). Is that worth thinking about?

Thanks for any reasurrance, thoughts, suggestions!

Mine was "very low" though I don't know what the numbers were. I had serious bone , pain in the plexus and shins, muscle fatigue and general overall exhaustion. It took about 3 weeks of medication before I started feeling any less tired but a year on and I'm a lot better. I take a maintenance dose now to ensure it doesn't drop again.

you will feel so much better in a few weeks when it kicks in. You'll be surprised at how much better you feel. I've had it very low before , a month or so ago I realised I was beginning to feel the same way, started taking a decent dose and I feel a lot less blue and much more energetic.

I had low vitamin D and low iron together, have your iron levels been checked?

I'm looking at taking Vit D tablets for the rest of my life and had same symptoms as you, it feels truly crap doesn't it? Mine was really low as well (can't remember the levels as I had serious memory issues as well) but I do remember the Dr telling me to get my arse to them ASAP). Took a while for me to start feeling better but I have days when everything still aches (also have low B12 levels)

Avoid being scammed by those with the lamps! Run away!! Run away!!!!

You have to be exposed every day for at least 5 minutes (and have to rotate bits of your skin so you don't damage it) and it's cheaper and easier (and less harmful) just to take a daily supplement. My Doctor told me to avoid them like the plague as they only help if you have normal Vit D levels and need a top up in the winter.

You will start to feel better! Just look after yourself and not knacker yourself out hugs

Isabelle

 Have a look here -  Lots of information , experiences, dosing levels  etc.  It's a long read  but very worth it !

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2421492-Vitimin-D-can-it-have-this-effect

Have a look here as well ... might be interesting
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2769969-fibromyalgia

Also here is a discussion about sunbeds and vit D. With a long length sunbed , with UVB output , you can make a considerable amount of vit D in your skin. Up to about 20,000 IU per day , depending upon your age, and how much skin you expose. Exposure time depends upon the strength of the lamp in the sunbed. It is the UVB content of the light which is important for Vit D . Some sunbeds do not have UVB , but only UVA. These can produce a tan , but are no good for vitamin D. However , UVA does have some beneficial effects . In all cases , do not over expose yourself , you only need about 1/2 a MED dose . A minimal erythemal dose (MED ) will cause slight redness to the skin the following morning , so a half MED, will have no apparent effects, you will however make lots of Vitamin D . In all cases , NEVER BURN. EVER. Not in natural sunlight or under sunbeds.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2562136-Sunbeds-in-winter-for-Vit-D

       Hope this is helpful. Best of luck. 

BTBH

Thank you, all, so much for your replies. I've read them all carefully and, Bettertobehealthy, the discussions from the three links that you very kindly sent me. The evolutionary perspectives that you offer are so interesting.

user1475253854 - thank you. I asked about my iron levels and the GP said that whilst they were low, they weren't as worrying as the vit D level. Although a year ago, I was very seriously anaemic, following several months of intense physical pain. After a number of investigations, I was told that there was no obvious cause other than, possibly, a rheumatic condition in the most general sense. From February this year, I began to feel considerably better but, for the past few months, have been weaker, so much more tired and with the pains that took me to the GP who then organised this full blood test.

Badcat666 - thank you. I'm wary about the use of the vit D lamp - and it's unlikely that I'll use it. Especially if the capsules make a difference. But I've read BTBH's comments about sunbeds and appreciate that, used cautiously, they could yield good results.

Thanks again - today hasn't been good. Desperately weak and headachy. So much so that I poppoed into a chemist's and asked the pharmacist if they might be related. She thought not. She advised milk and cheese when I told her that I was a vegetarian. I thought that dairy products, unless fortified, contained only small amounts of vit D?

Mine was 8.

I had Primary Hyperparathyroidism which affects calcium levels and often goes hand in hand with low vit d.
Am cured now by a small op.
Might be worth getting your calcium and other levels checked.

*calcium and PTH levels checked

Yeah, sounds like the pharmacist is thinking of b12. It's in dairy and eggs.
Have they checked your ferritin (iron stores)? My iron wasn't too bad but had really low ferreting meaning I get anaemic really easily.

Hah ferritin, not ferreting! 😄

Mine was under 8. Was given experimental D3 liquid tabs and extra calcium and after a month all the aches and pains disappeared. Have to keep doing this on and off.

I was diagnosed with v low Vit D levels about 3 years ago. After years of picking up every virus doing the rounds, low mood, anxiety etc. I was put on a high dose of Vit D then reviewed after 3 months.

Like others, it took about 3 weeks for the dose to kick in. No problems with calcium or iron. Now take 4x RDA In tablet form. I take them at night before bed. It really is no bother. But my physical and mental wellbeing is the best it has ever been.

Mine was 6. In the summer (18 months ago). Two weeks after I'd just come back from the Med...

Lots of vit d supplementation, and since then I've managed to go back to work (having been off sick for five years), and am pretty much back to "normal" now. The first three weeks on the supplements were worse than before I started taking them (almost as if my body was saying "ooh, I've been missing this, give me more") but then it was a gradual upward climb.

Results of review test came back last week and are now 122. Doc keeping me on high-but-not-as-high-as-it-was maintenance dose.

(I do need to go back to have my ferritin re-checked as it was lower than the doctor would expect, but it was taken when I was having a period from hell so need to go back mid-cycle for a repeat)