Very low vitamin D

[Shitshower]

My 18 year old DD has been unwell for ages and has had results back that her vitamin D is around 15 and her WBC count is a bit high.

Shes been stated on very strong Vit D and there is a further blood test in 2 weeks.

She was perfectly healthy up until 6 months ago, then started feeling faint and getting ill constantly which I thought was Covid. Now it’s likely this.

Question is why? What leads a perfectly fit and healthy persons vitamin D to go so low? She’s sporty and we eat well, but the normal range starts at 50, so this is hugely low. I can’t work out whats happened and she is quite unwell with it.

It's hard to get all the vitamin d from food. And there hasn't been a lot of sun and in winter it's not the right wavelength for producing vitamin D.

Yeah I get that, but this is horrendously low. It’s not even half the level it should be!

I think it's recommended that everyone in the UK supplements vitamin D because there's not enough sun.

She might have been running on stores for a while and ran out.

Mine was 9 and I eat well
Just a sun avoider

Is she anaemic at all as well?

Don’t know if it’s relevant but you need to take Vit D with fat if possible to help absorption.

I have low vit D at times - I take pills, my Dr said it could be because I don't absorb from food and use sun blocker when out in the sun

My vitamin D level was 8 a couple of years ago and I have autoimmune issues I take it daily permanently now as I can't tolerate the sun

See if the super dosing works first. Then if the levels don't improve push for testing for possibly more serious reasons.

Does daughter have a good diet, no EDs or anything, just thinking out loud as to possible reasons. There are other more concerning reasons which google will tell you, but I wouldn't jump there first. Sounds like malabsorption or restricted diet to me. But what do I know?

Such low levels aren't rare. It's a lot harder to get enough Vitamin D than you think, and many of us don't. It's very unlikely to be anything sinister, just too little Vitamin D absorption over a long period.

I had the same last year and started feeling much better after the loading dose.

You can't get enough just from food and you need the sun to get/keep decent levels. We've not had the sun properly for over a year and when we did get the sun we all slapped on the suncream. Even makeup has sunblock in it.

How often does she go in the sun during summer with bare arms and face and no sun lotion? Winter sun doesn't count even if it's lovely and warm.

She loves the sun and is good for tanning etc (so not a factor 50 kind
of girl), no anaemia, her results were fine other than this and slightly high wbc.

My concern is she seems so unwell with it, constantly feeling faint, tired, pale. She was investigated for shin splints due to shin pain in the summer, but reading up I think it was bone pain from this!

She had a big reaction to the first pill (I assume the coating) and had to have a week’s steroids so we are begining again tonight

No eating disorders or restricted food. She loves her food and we eat healthily

Dr - I've probably seen maybe 5 people with normal vitamin d in about 500 tests. It's pretty impossible to have normal levels in the UK cos of our weather. Hence national guidance says everyone should supplement in winter (I do all year round

My concern is she seems so unwell with it, constantly feeling faint, tired, pale. She was investigated for shin splints due to shin pain in the summer, but reading up I think it was bone pain from this!

That's not unusual.

Try not to panic. Take the loading dose, repeat the blood tests, see what the GP says.

I had excruciating bone pain with it. No underlying issues at all as I'm under haematology for other stuff and every part of my blood has been tested a million times!

My friend who works outdoors was also deficient. It takes a lot of vitamin D to keep a high level let alone increase

Thankyou for the replies, it’s put my mind at ease a bit because Google did mention lymphoma due to the higher WBC so I was a bit concerned

I have trouble retaining vitamin D (apparently lots of women do) and have been severely deficient quite a few times, despite having a very healthy (nutrient dense, Mediterranean- lots of veg and healthy fats etc) diet. I now try to remember to take a daily dose of vitamin D to keep my levels more towards normal.

Being very deficient does make you feel awful - my energy levels and mood dropped massively, my joints hurt and my skin was dry, sore and cracked.

The loading dose helps pretty quickly, hope she feels brighter soon OP!

This impacts on calcium absorption and bone health, perhaps have a follow up with the GP about that too

If that last time she saw the sun was last summer and she isn’t supplementing, of course her levels are going to be very low. She needs to take Vitamin D with K in all seasons accept a sunny summer. Low Vit D will make her susceptible to illness. I would book a holiday in the sun after they mega dose her and ensure she takes a supplement from then on.

Wow, that's interesting. I'll do the same.

Nobody in this country gets enough from the sun between October and April so everyone should be supplementing. She feels awful as it’s actually a hormone and is vital for so many systems in the body.

It’s so important that I supplement all
year round and I do get blood tests to check my levels are optimal.

I was also part of a study researching any link between vitamin D and breast cancer outcomes.

Low vitamin D is implicated in many autoimmune conditions.

Maybe there needs to be another government campaign if people are not getting this message. I have my whole family on Vitamin D spray.

I think it doesn't help that a lot of the supplements are really low level like 400IU
It took me a high dose course and months and months of 4000IU every day to get mine up to 66

Unless you take supplements or a winter sun holiday everyone has lowest levels at this time of year. Sunscreen and having dark skin or just not getting outside means you can’t make enough in the summer to last the winter. Food isn’t a great source unless it’s fortified. Growing quickly uses up more Vitamin D. Don’t panic the high dose course should fix things and then probably a supplement in the winter