Vitamin D?

[tasha822]

Hi everyone! I have been doing some reading of the posts in here and came across the Vitamin D issue. My doctor also told me I was deficient too, but he never said anything about taking a supplement. Since reading the posts I think that is strange. On my other posts the replies were great, so i did some checking and my neuro is supposed to be an MS specialist but I can find no evidence of that. He said he studied at the John Trotter ms institute in St. Louis MO but when i checked him out online it was not listed in his schooling history! My husband also has a theory about why this doc won't treat my symptoms, he thinks it's because I have a medical card and the doc has said more than once that ms meds are very expensive and he doesn't think the state will pay for them. I know I sound crazy right? I wish i could put all my posts together so everyone knows my story but I don't. So anyway all replies are appreciated. thanks for listening.

[rendean]

HI Tasha,
I see you have 2 issues here. The first , is your doctor qualified to treat MS or does is he at least board-certified in Neurology. Every state has a Medical Examiners Board or a State Licensing Board site. Through this you can learn about a doctor's education , when and where it was and if he is Board -Certified in a particular specialty. Board -certified means that he took a test proving his proficiency in that area.

I looked at your profile and saw that you live in IL. I quickly checked their Medical license Board and could not find a J. Trotter. I also looked in Mo. They show no listing either.Perhaps you should search yourself and make sure I checked the correct name and state of current license.

As for the Vitamin D issue, I suppose it's up to the particular doctor. My original level was 6 and I took a prescription strength of 50,000 units once a week for 8 weeks . The deficiency returned even though I was taking 2000 units/day so I then took the 50,000 units for 12 weeks. This seemed to do better. But, an over the counter dose of 2000units a day should do no harm. Please double-check this with your doctor's office first though.

Ren

[grannyhotwheels]

Hi Tasha...

Welcome to the group of diagnosed and undiagnosed... I was just wondering if you are experiencing any symptoms at all and if you are could you tell us what they are?

I'll be praying,
Carol

[Sarahsmom46]

Seven years ago I fell and broke my ankle and at the time did not have medical insurance.  The fracture was not set properly so at my first follow up appt the doctor looked at the x-ray and told me the bone didn't grow back properly.  I asked how it could be fixed and he said with metal pins and a plate - surgery.  He said he didn't reccommend surgery since I didn't have insurance and probably didn't want a huge hospital bill.   He made that assumption without even giving me a choice.  

I think my doctor and your doctor have your best interests at heart, at least financially, but that decision not to treat you because of the cost is not their decision to make.  This is your body and you should be in charge of your own care.  The drugs are expensive that is for sure and when you are on medicaid/medicare it can be very tricky to get them paid for, but it is not impossible.  

As far as the Vit D and your low levels, you can take on that treatment with OTC Vit D at 2000 per day as a start. You can check with your neuro or PCP to see it that is appropriate for your deficiency, but it is pretty standard.  Mine is 4 and I was only put on 3000 at the start and went down to 2000.  

About that neuro...Did you google him?  You should be able to find something on him unless he is younger or not yet well established which would still be kind of odd.  

Julie