vitamin deficiency

Not sure which forum to place this.  I have recently found I have very low vitamin d levels, well below 30, in a blood test from my hospital nuitritionist.  I have in recent years experienced severe pain and weakness in my pelvis and legs and always felt doctors were not taking me too seriously.  I did some research and found that this deficiency could be the cause.  Can I reverse the damage to my body by supplements and what supplements should I take?  I am fair skinned but not a sun worshipper.  My mobility is terrible now and I'm only in my 30's.  The pain in my pelvis is so unbearable I regularly take morphine.  I cannot get up from a squat without support.  My bottom is so weak I am unable to clench the muscles even.  I am seeing a neurologist soon, for a second opinion, but don't know whether to tell them about this blood test result or if they will dismiss it.  Any advice please?

[DrNavneetMD]

dear wishforchange,


Vitamin D deficiency is very common and often goes unrecognized .
.
Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for osteoporosis, osteomalacia, falls, and fractures.vitamin D plays an important role in bone development and muscle function.

Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency-decreased skin synthesis and inadequate dietary or supplemental intake.

Recommendations for daily intake

minimum intake of vitamin D for adults should be 800 to 1,000 IU per day.

Patients with vitamin D deficiency require high doses of the vitamin until their total body stores have been replenished.  they should be switched to a maintenance dose to prevent future deficiency. The amount and form of vitamin D are dependent on the severity and mechanism of the deficiency. Various forms of vitamin D are available for treatment .

as you already have an appointment with the neurologist,discuss with him cleary all your apprehensions and go for all the diagnostic tests which he suggests. only on confirmed diagnosis you can be put on effective trearment.

[DrNavneetMD]

dear wishforchange,


Vitamin D deficiency is very common and often goes unrecognized .
.
Vitamin D deficiency is a risk factor for osteoporosis, osteomalacia, falls, and fractures.vitamin D plays an important role in bone development and muscle function.

Risk factors for vitamin D deficiency-decreased skin synthesis and inadequate dietary or supplemental intake.

Recommendations for daily intake

minimum intake of vitamin D for adults should be 800 to 1,000 IU per day.

Patients with vitamin D deficiency require high doses of the vitamin until their total body stores have been replenished.  they should be switched to a maintenance dose to prevent future deficiency. The amount and form of vitamin D are dependent on the severity and mechanism of the deficiency. Various forms of vitamin D are available for treatment .

as you already have an appointment with the neurologist,discuss with him cleary all your apprehensions and go for all the diagnostic tests which he suggests. only on confirmed diagnosis you can be put on effective treatment

[changra]

Dear Doctor,

My March, 2008 lab test result for Vitamin D test was 17, which shows a severe deficiency and I must take supplement ASAP.  After that I immediately started taking Vitamin D supplement of 400 IU per day of Canadian LIFE brand.  However, in your previous answer you are recommending an adult dose of 800-1000 IU per day.  So, should I increase my dose of 400 IU to 800 IU?  Please advise.


Thanks in advance.
  

[wishforchange]

Thanks for responses.  Chiangra I have been put on 100IU per day and my vitamin D level is higher than 17, so I think you should re negotiate your dosage with your practitioner.  Dr. Navneet thanks for your input.  I have seen the neurologist.  He didn't seem to think my problems were primarily relataed to the deficiency.  However in the light of my symptoms he has ordered MRI scans of my back.  I agree with him that this deficiency isn't indicated for all the problems I have, but I do think that it was contributing.  I was unaware that there were different types of this vitamin.  The name of the one I have been given is 'Higher Nature', if that means anything to you.  If there has been an issue of osteomalacia, can this be reversed?  I'm so desperate not to be more disabled.  The neurologist has also ordered a brain MRI, which concerned me a bit, but strangely I did not want to ask why.  I suppose I have enough to be concerned about without imagining new problems prematurely.  Better to have all the information, good bad or inconclusive, than just go on feeling rubbish and seeing no end to it I suppose.  Chiangra I'll try to remember to keep you posted if the supplement really does help, but you definitely need a lot more than you are taking, unless for some reason you are contraindicated.  Talk to your PCP before changing the dosage.  There may be a good reason it has been kept low.  And do what I don't i.e. get some sunshine!  Seems there is such a thing as using too much sunblock.  I'm still slapping it on every day, although I know that right now a bit of uv rays is just what I need.

[wishforchange]

Sorry Chiangra just read what I wrote, my dosage is 1000IU not 100.  

[kate1975]

I am new to this Vitamin D deficiency. I have had terrible problems for 12 years that have gotten worse. I found out my Vitamin D level is 13 and my Doc put me on 500,000 Iu once a week for 8 weeks. I have severe pain in my bones and muscles and will be going in for a bone scan next week, I am so scared because of the pain...

[wishforchange]

Hi,

Was just checking my 'watch' list and this thread was on top.  Sorry you're having problems.

With such low vitamin D you regrettably are very likely to have osteomalacia, which is a softening of the bones.  It used to be called Rickets many years back, not sure if it still is.  You have the same question as me, is it reversible?

For sure you don't want it continuing and your symptoms getting worse.  The pain is likely from the bone softening.  The bone scan will hopefully give you a baseline of how much damage there is.

Excercise will support your bones, but it needs not to put stress on them.  Trying strengthening and stretching routines in water is the best.  Ask for or seek out a physiotherapist who does hydrotherapy, they will develop a customized routine for you to continue on your own.

Keep your weight down.  It's a vicious circle with pain and loss of mobility.  Along with burning fewer calories, boredom and even depression can lead anyone to overeat and then we can't burn it off.  Extra weight means more strain on the bones and joints, whick leads to less mobility, and round we go again.  

Consider making the move I made, which I spent years working myself up to and then found it gave me my freedom back in many ways, buy a cane.  At those time when your pain is at its worst, you can lean on it, when a painful and exhausted muscle 'gives out', it will stabilize you.  If you drop something and need to bend to pick it up, you have something to support you.  I bought one with a spring at the base.  Tonight the pain was BAD. I pushed my whole weight into it and managed to keep going to get home, without it I would have been stuck.  I once nearly froze to hypothermia on a park bench crippled and immobilized in pain for 30 minutes, waiting for morphine to work, in the middle of a freezing spell in winter. With a cane I could have gotten myself somewhere warm.  I always have it with me now and it is like an extension of my arm, just feels natural.  Don't know what the big deal in my head was about getting it!

My D levels have gone up to healthy now, although still at the low end.  But I still don't know whether damage can be reversed.  I have a background in nursing and am likely returning to medicine soon.  With the position comes free membership of all the good journals.  May look into this at some point.  The expert here didn't really answer that part of my question.  If you find any useful research on the topic please let me know!  I am now also in regular contact with a dietician, I will ask her about this next time we meet.

At least you know about the deficiency, so many people are suffering unaware of the cause.  I'm just sorry for you things got so bad.  My levels weren't quite so low, but were bad enough, barely 20.  But I have other issues going on which are maybe contributing to my disabilities, so the picture is not so clear in my case.  

Let us know how the bone scan goes.

Hope you feel better soon, and make sure you get the right pain relief until you do!

Wish

[saifk01]

Hello Kate:

I have the same problem of low Vitamin D.  The doctor has put me on the same regimen of Vitamin D as yours.  I was wonderin if you also experienced any sensations like numbness or tingling in your legs, arms, face or scalp.  My left leg was falling asleep alot it improved a lot after only 1 dose, but there is still tingling scalp, face and extermities.  Also I get some muscle twitching of muscles are strained.  Please let me know if we share the symptoms.

kash

[kate1975]

Thanks for your responses... I have many symptoms that I did not mention. The pain in my legs in almost unbearable. I have blurred vision and my arms are getting to be just like my legs. One very strange thing is my head keeps going numb.And I have tingling around my mouth.I am so thankful that my doctor was on top of this. I had been seeing a Quacky Rhumy for a while that basically thought I was nuts, i have a sedrate that runs from 49-99 ..I wander if the d is causing this???????
Thanks for all your help and encouragements.

[wishforchange]

Hi,

The good news is muscle weakness caused by deficiency sems to be reversiblle.

There ia still great controversy about healthy levles,  25 or below is an indication of lilkely osteomalacia, 15 or below rickets, which in malnourished children typically leads to rickets leading to 'bow legs' as the growing leg bones are too soft to bear the weight of the body.

Apparently it is generally agreed that a level of 70 or above is deemed in the health range.

Make sure any supplement are D3 rather than D2, as this is absorbed more easily by the body.

Increasingly low levels are being linked with susceptibilty to many seemingly unrelated diseases, including MS, Diabetes and Cancer.  

People most at risk are dark skinned people living in temperate climates, although fair people can also be deficient, if their lifestyle or diet leaves them unable to gain sufficient sunlight.  The risks of skin cancer has led to an increase in the use or sun creams etc. and although these are important they also prevent vitamin D synthesis.  Fair people who burn easily are more likely to want to protect themselves from the sun, for good reasons, so are at risk because of this.

Anything else I find out I'll keep you posted.

Wish

[kate1975]

Do you know if a Bone scan shows if you have osteomalacia? I am going in tomorrow and it is a all day event.I hope it worth it. Do you know if this disease is reversible, I am so nervous. You probably read my previous post my level of Vitamin D is 13 I am scared to find out what all is wrong with me.
Thanks for your help..
Kate