Vitamin D?

[ihearttc]

I will start off by saying I already have Rheumatoid Arthritis (although very mildly I’m only on Hydroxychloroquine) and Pernicious Anaemia so my default setting is “feeling crap” anyway. However at the moment I feel really awful. I ache so so much-it feels like it’s coming from deep within my bones and I basically hurt all over rather than the specific pain from my arthritis.
We usually travel abroad (to the ME where it is constantly sunny) at least 2/3 times a year due to DH’s work but haven’t been now since August. While I am there I always feel much better, can move around much easier and I don’t hurt as much. Some of this maybe in my head as I’m on holiday but equally I feel like I can’t ignore the fact that without this huge top up of vitamin d I usually get I may now be deficient. I have had loads of blood tests over the years but never been tested for Vitamin D.

I’m more than happy to buy some over the counter and try to see if it makes a difference but am unsure of what strength to get. I see large amounts spoken about on here but assume that’s with a diagnosed deficiency so there is no guarantee I will need that amount. I’m looking at either some which is 2000u each day or 4000u each day? Which would be better and can I cause damage if I take too much if my vitamin d levels turn out to be ok?

Whilst testing is important, the chances of your blood levels being so high that 10000 iu will be too much for you are immeasurably small and the chances of you being low are huge. The advantages to testing would mean you could take loading doses for some time and correct your levels more quickly. (Which given your situation I'd be tempted to do for a couple of weeks anyway). The dose that needs to be given to overdose is enormous.

You could start on 4000 after sending your test off and increase it when if your level is low on testing.

An additional benefit is that vitamin D is believed by many experts to support your immune system and help increase your resistance to respiratory diseases.

It has been suggested that it is at least part of the reason why people with darker skin are proportionately more badly affected by CV19.

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/15/role-of-vitamin-d-deficiency-in-bame-medic-deaths (not a scientific study)

I can find many articles but no direct studies to link to.

I was prescribed 40000 units a week for 7 weeks and 20-25 mg a day as a top up sept through to March
Not sure how low my levels were

There is no goodness outside the May to August window as far as I recall?

October -March

Winter sunlight
In the UK, sunlight doesn't contain enough UVB radiation in winter (October to early March) for our skin to be able to make vitamin D.

During these months, we rely on getting our vitamin D from food sources (including fortified foods) and supplements.

Using sunbeds isn't a recommended way of making vitamin D.
www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/how-to-get-vitamin-d-from-sunlight/

I take vitamin d with k2, it is great for RA, as are omega 3s and msm

I take 1000iu daily and have done for years. My GP here in Ireland will test for it and although I was deficient when I started taking it I'm not now according to recent blood tests.

It literally took me seven visits before they agreed to test me, and only because I literally sat in front of my GP and sobbed. I was extremely anemic with low vit D and honestly felt like I was dying.

Oh and I also ended up in A&E because I was in such pain with my ribs the out of hours service were worried I had something serious going on. (Pre test.)

Op i didnt need to go to the post office to post my online test kit, i posted it directly in a post box.

I was told that the NHS wouldn't pay for repeat tests after my initial 2 so to find private test providers and test yearly. A friend same area bit different practice was told the same.

I've been waiting for a published study of blood serum levels of vit D3 versus patient outcome and the first one that I have seen is on the net and the results show a significant correlation. Bear in mind it is not peer reviewed and does not prove causality. But I will continue with this until science proves me wrong.

The study was done by a researcher called Alipio from the Philippines. He took the data from 212 covid patients and ranked their symptoms: mild, ordinary, severe, critical.

He statistically analysed the categories and blood serum levels: normal was defined as vitamin D3 less than 30ng/ml, insufficient was in the range 21–29ng/ml and deficient as less than 20ng/ml.

Here are his results:
mild symptoms = 86% had normal levels of D3, 1.3 % had insufficient levels of D3
ordinary symptom = 26% deficient, 44% insufficient
severe = 40% deficient, 29% insufficient
critical = 32% deficient, 26% insufficient, 3% normal

OK I hear you say, it could be because those patients already had underlying conditions which rendered them deficient in the first place. But this is significant data

Study is here:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3571484

Two things really stand out for me. This is a study of 212 Philippines nationals living in SE Asia. This is one of the BAME communities who have sadly disproportionatly died of covid in the UK:
www.theguardian.com/world/2...exerts-heavy-toll-on-filipino-community-in-uk

Meanwhile, there have been only 446 deaths in the Philippines, with a population of 110 million (they had their first case of covid on 30th January!).

Secondly, the UK government has said that they will keep all the scientific data secret until after the pandemic -

'Key scientific data and advice the UK government is using to guide its covid-19 response won’t be published until the pandemic ends. Documents used to make decisions and the minutes of meetings of the Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies (SAGE) will only be made public when the current outbreak is brought under control, according to Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser.''

www.newscientist.com/articl...advice-wont-be-published-until-pandemic-ends/