Vitamin D recovery times

[Flakingout]

Hi, I've been suffering for over a year now with constant fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, no energy, irritability, muscle and joint pains and dizziness. After numerous tests I've finally been diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency of 15. I was prescribed a dose of 20,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily for 2 weeks in January 2014 and finished taking this dose on 4th February 2014. Since then I have had no Vitamin D medication.  I am still feeling as bad with flaking out practically every day and I've noticed no improvement in my symptoms whatsoever and think they got worse whilst I was taking the medication.  I was told by my GP and endocrinologist that I should have felt better instantly after taking this dose and now they are indicating that my symptoms aren't from the Vitamin D deficiency at all.  I wanted to ask please if anyone else felt better instantly or if it will take time to get back to normal and should I have been kept on a regular dose?  How long was it before anyone else felt better please?  Any advice would be gratefully accepted as I feel as though I am getting nowhere with my doctors and still feeling absolutely dreadful at the same time.  Many thanks :-)

[deksman2]

Oh... and you can definitely buy the Vitamin D3 yourself in either 5000 IU per capsule or 10 000 IU per capsule.
Vitamin D is measured in international units (IU) not miligrams (mg).
I'll send you the details in a private message.

[deksman2]

Pubmed is good for peer-reviewed studies.

Here are a few links to get you started:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3256336/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11157326

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19308641

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10232622

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17661565

Generally however, the Vitamin D council website would be good for a primary website on the subject matter.

What you have to keep in mind though was that the orthodoxy created the 400 IU 'limit' on Vitamin D because they discovered it prevented Rickets.
All that is nice and well, but other than that it's pathetically too low of a dose to actually do anything else in the body.

There have been studies conducted which discovered that much higher ng/mL levels in the body were perfectly fine and didn't cause issues in the body.

[Flakingout]

Do you know if I could buy the weekly maintenance dose of 35 000 - 40 000 IU over the counter at a pharmacy in the U.K.?  If so, would they come in mg e.g. 1000mg, and how many would be equivalent to this maintenance dose please?  

Your advice on this is excellent and very supportive and I do appreciate it, thank you.  I will do my research as you suggest, but could I also ask where would I find the peer-reviewed studies on the internet please?

Thank you again and apologies for all the questions - this is all new to me and I don't know who to ask about this, so your advice is much appreciated.

[deksman2]

At this point, the problem is that most orthodox officials have a relatively outdated perception on Vitamin D.

You are certainly welcome to consult another physician, but I would also advise you to get more research done yourself.
This might be your best resource on this:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Plus, there are peer-reviewed studies on Vitamin D, so it would be worth to study those as well.

And yes, I do agree that with next to no sun exposure, etc. you would be prone to slipping into a Vitamin D deficiency yet again - eventually (its a relatively forgiving vitamin, so it wouldn't happen very fast, but without sun exposure or adequate supplementation, your level would steadily decrease).

As I mentioned before, I think one would really have to experiment and see about what the maintenance dose would be.
I would imagine that about 35 000 to 40 000 IU weekly would be enough for maintenance.

What you could do is raise your levels to about or above 80 ng/mL (or keep them where they are now) and then reduce supplementation to 5000 IU daily, or 35 000/40 000 IU weekly (or 20 000 IU twice per week), followed by retesting about a month or two later to see how your numbers changed.

[Flakingout]

Thank you for your advice.  I feel neither my doctor nor endocrinologist knows enough about vitamin D deficiency and with this dose of just 20,000 IU once a month I'm worried I will slip back into being Vitamin D deficient again. I was diagnosed originally with a deficiency level of 15.  I don't get any sunlight at the moment and my symptoms have been very bad with flaking out nearly every day and terrible aching joints to name but a few.  Your comments have confirmed what I suspected that the maintenance dose isn't enough and I'm wondering if I should ask for a second opinion?  

[deksman2]

20 000 IU per month equals about 666 IU daily.
That's not enough for regular maintenance.

Keep in mind that the skin readily produces 10 000 IU after about 15 mins in the summer sun between 10am and 3pm... and about 20 000 IU after roughly 25 to 30 mins in the sun.

Since your level is at 70ng/mL, that's a pretty great result.
I would personally aim to have a level between 80 and 110 ng/mL for 'superb health' - but that's just me - still, it definitely wouldn't hurt to continue with 10 000 IU daily for say a month to reach higher level and then reduce.

At any rate, I would imagine that a 'maintenance dose' could be in the area of about 5000 IU daily... or 35 000 to 40 000 IU weekly (maybe less - not sure though).

It wouldn't be necessary to supplement with Vitamin D when you're getting enough sunlight exposure though.

[Flakingout]

Hi, I just wanted to check if I'm now on the correct dosage please. I originally had a big dose of 20000 units a day for 15 days and I took the last tablet at the beginning of February.  The endocrinologist did a blood test straight after and my level had gone up with the big dose from 15 to 70.  He then left me for weeks with no Vitamin D at all and has only now come back saying I should just take one 20,000 capsule a month.  Is this correct please?  Will the 20,000 sustain me for the whole month or will I go up and down during the month?  In the time I've been left all my symptoms have got worse again and I think I could do with a more recent blood test to see where I am at now as the last test was straight after the big dose. Any help would much appreciated.  Thank you :-)

[mkh9]

Sorry I left in the extra reference numbers but the point is that you have to keep taking it for the rest of your life and not just take the loading dose. It will be a smaller amount that they find is right for you. This happened to me with iron deficiency too. I got to the normal level then they cut me off and said your normal and then I went back into iron deficiency. I went to another doctor who has kept me on it for years and I have adjusted it somewhat  over the years but I am normal now on the iron. I'm sure I will have to adjust the Vitamin D and my TSH for thyroid along the way too. I hope they get it right!
take care,
mkh9

[Jackie419]

A couple of years ago my Vit D was 8. Went on the prescription Vit D (which is D2 and your body converts it to D3) and was also taking D3 in addition. It took about 3 months to bring my level up to 70 but then I dropped off the 50,000iu of D2 per day and it dropped pretty low again. Some say it's best to just take D3 on the off chance your body doesn't convert it right. This was almost 2 years ago and I still have to take large amounts to keep my levels up. Good luck to you!!

[Flakingout]

Hi, thank you so much for finding all that interesting material for me.  It just shows how important it is to get the correct dose and back to normal levels.   I will most certainly take this with me to my doctor on Tuesday and hopefully I can get some sense and regular treatment.  I just want to get back to normal again and not spend practically everyday sleeping.  Thanks again and I will keep you posted :-)

[mkh9]

You are welcome. I found these articles:
1. from Mayo Clinic. The second from a heath related article.
How much vitamin D is needed to correct severe vitamin D deficiency (<10 ng/mL)? Although not validated by clinical trials, a commonly applied strategy is to prescribe a “loading dose” (eg, 50,000 IU of vitamin D orally once weekly for 2-3 months, or 3 times weekly for 1 month). A review of multiple loading algorithms suggested that a minimum total dose of 600,000 IU best predicted an end-of-treatment 25(OH)D level greater than 30 ng/mL.23 It is important to note that none of the studied patients developed hypercalcemia. For mild to moderate deficiency (11-25 ng/mL), a shorter treatment interval or lower dose may be effective. Although many different strategies may be used in treating vitamin D deficiency, a common oversight in management is to stop treatment or provide inadequate vitamin D maintenance dosing once the 25(OH)D level reaches the optimal range. Regardless of initial vitamin D therapy, and assuming no change in lifestyle or diet, a maintenance/prevention daily dose of 800 to 2000 IU or more will be needed to avoid recurrent deficiency (Table 3).24 A maintenance dose averaging 2000 IU/d meets the current safe upper limit guidelines and is well below safe upper limits reported by others.

Then basically vitamin D is needed or you get more viruses like the flu.
it gives you muscle weakness if you don't have enough of it.
kidney disease
Vitamin D regulates parathyroid hormone
Low vitamin D can result in diabetes
Low vitamin D can contribute to Asthma
Also, periodontal disease
and
depression.
Hope this helps.
mkh9

[Flakingout]

Hi, thank you for your reply and your supportive message. I do appreciate all the replies as it is reassuring to know you are not the only one going through this. I feel exactly the same as you, dizzy and very fatigued.  Had MRI and every test going too which has ruled out everything and the vitamin D was only tested when I said I had never felt well from the flu in December 2012.  Had I not said this, I think I wouldn't have had the Vitamin D blood test. When the results came back, I think the endocrinologist was more surprised than I was.  I was relieved to actually get a diagnosis.  Have finally got this far,  I am now being told I should have felt better after just 15 pills!  Thank you for telling me that you've been told it takes time to feel better.  I now feel more informed to tackle my doctor on Tuesday and hopefully I can get put on a regular dose which eventually make me feel better.  All my symptoms match the all the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency so I feel I will get better if can just get the regular medication!  Hope we both feel better very soon too xx

[Flakingout]

Hi, thank you for answering my question.  I've had my Thyroid checked and that is fine.  I am certain all my symptoms are due to the low vitamin D.  The problem is that I don't think my doctor and endocrinologist are specialised in this field and I don't think they are giving the correct information.  The endocrinologist didn't even know if the pills he suggested would even be prescribed or not and looked them up on the internet! I really don't think I should have stopped the medication after 15 days,as he told me to do, and I should have stayed on a regular dose.  I see my doctor Tuesday and I'm going to tell him all I've read here.  Wish me luck!  Many thanks again.

[hazal123]

hi. first of all i too myself suffer from vitamin d deficiency i have been dizzy lightheaded off balance feeling for 4 months now and its 24/7 constant i had an mri which showed everything normal and no ear infections or ANYTHING LIKE THAT I HAD BLOOD TEST WHICH SHOWED MY VITAMIN D IS VERY LOW AND IM ON PILLS SINCE LIKE LAST MONTH AND I AM STILL DIZZY MY DOCTOR SAID IT WILL TAKE SOME TIME BEFORE IT ACTUALLY DOES HELP SO DONT WORRY HOPEFULLY WE WILL BOTH BE BETTER SOON :)

[drcnyfl]

ru in menopause?

[mkh9]

It does take time but usually within about 3 months or so. They should be testing you as they go. You may not be absorbing it well. It may take longer for the symptoms to get better. It has been maybe 6 months for me. You may want to also check your TSH to see if your thyroid is normal too. It seems like everyone has the two off including me and my husband and several people on here.  I take 4000IU daily of vitamin D every day. So maybe going off of it made you go down again? I would get your test rechecked to see where you are.  For me the thyroid was causing my severe fatigue and my nails were peeling and vertigo , tinnitus. The vitamin D was normal at that time and I was still fatigued. So it is worth a try if you haven't had it checked. Once I got that in normal range I felt so much better. My nails started getting stronger again. But you have to keep checking that too. It is just a thought.