Hello to the forum from a new 'hypovitaminosis D'er!

[ChickenBoo]

Hello to the forum - I was really pleased to find you all! :)

I am a 31 yr old female from the UK - last year after suffering with fatigue and strange symptoms for a couple of years I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease (TPOab and TGab are both currently >600). My thyroid levels were always low in range but not below it, so I missed diagnosis for a long time.

I am on thyroxine (synthroid) now and for the past year have been messing around with dosages and types of meds (tried T3 and desiccated too) all with limited success.

I find that 100mcg takes me to the top of the range but I feel slightly hyper with that so I am currently experimenting with 75 / 82.5 instead.

Last week (after waiting many weeks for my test results due to lab and secretary error!) I found out I was vitamin D deficient also. I scored <10 (reference range is 20-110nmol/L) so looks quite bad to me.

I've already had some great advice from another member here so just saying 'hi' to everyone... and hoping when my levels get up I will stop being dog-tired all the time and my foggy/spaced head will clear!

Cindy :)

[Phyllis2010]

We're experiencing some similar side effects -- I'll talk to my doctor but I think at this point I might want to go slower unless there's a more tolerable dosage format like injections. Apparently, your calcium levels can be normal with low vitamin D because the parathyroid then plays a role in robbing calcium from other sources like the bones to run calcium dependent functions like the heart. This keeps your calcium levels normal but over time results in osteoporosis which I have. I'm following Bisan's advice and have currently started on 500 mg of magnesium and 1000 mg calcium. I just hoping I experience sustained improvement and that vitamin d deficiency is the source of my problems. Someone commented this morning that my walking was much improved -- I did 2 1/2 miles with the dog to the river and back and carried my cane (as opposed to using it) the whole time!!!!

[bisan]

The Recommended Daily Allowance:
400 mg per day for men
300 mg per day for women

Start with the RDA of magnesium and go up from there. If you are tolerating the magnesium well, but your symptoms have not improved, then keep increasing the dosage until your symptoms are relieved,if you get loose stools just decrease the dosage and continue taking the magnesium at the dose that relieves your symptoms and doesn’t cause loose stools.

I hope this helps.

[ChickenBoo]

Hello all,

Thanks for the replies :-)

I've had some debate with my doctor and my endo about the amount I should be taking (I'm in the UK, no one seems to know what they're doing here I have to say!) so have picked my own dose!

My calcium and adjusted calcium levels were normal when I tested low on Vitamin D so I made the decision not to take the combined Vit. D & Calcium tablets my doctor wanted me to have and instead bought some OTC tablets of D3, that are 1,000 IU daily.

I started out taking 2 a day but I was finding this was making me feel very weird (I had a similar reaction to steroids actually) so I started taking them just before bed which does help but I was waking up feeling more groggy than usual so I have cut it down to 1,000 IU per day which has made things much better.

HOWEVER! It's been mega sunny here in the UK for the past couple of weeks so I've been getting some natural D too ;-)

I have to say I am definitely beginning to feel some benefit, now the muscle aches/bone pain have mostly passed off but thank you for the magnesium tip - what dosage would you recommend?

Phyllis, I know how it feels to get extra symptoms on top of ones you're already struggling with so take it at your own pace, it'll probably take you longer to get there but in the shorter term it will help - perhaps try taking it at bedtime like I do, then I don't notice the side effects as I am asleep!

CindyCB :)

[Phyllis2010]

I've already got 100,000 IU vitamin D2 on board (the little green pills). A friend who goes to the Mayo Clinic gets 50,000 IU D2 a month for vitamin D deficiency. A study in JAMA found that giving huge mega doses 500,000 IU was not a good strategy. I think given my side effects I'd rather go up slower on D3. My strategy is to start taking D3 oral at the end of this week. Since I've been taking the D my back got dramatically worse but now is considerably better -- I hope this will translate into sustained improvement in my walking. I also hope vitamin D deficiency is actually the cause of my symptoms and not occurring secondary to something more dire.

Thanks, Bisan, you've really helped and its good to have you out there.

[bisan]

Taking 50,000 IU would help to bring up your levels more quickly.
It's likely that it's going to take a long time to bring up your levels using only 2000-3000 IU's of vitamin D daily,which is a maintenance dose for some people. You may want to ask your doctor to give you more than that, lets say 5000 IU's Daily.
Make sure that you also take Vitamin D3 not D2.

Hope that this helped.
Bisan

[Phyllis2010]

Thanks, Bisan. I've already started taking magnesium -- and calcium. I do have a question for you. Why do I have to take a 50,000 IU dose once or twice weekly? Why can't I simply take 2000-3000 IUs of vitamin D daily?

I'm planning to call my doctor again tomorrow because I'm literally sick for two days with side effects from the vitamin D therapy. And, since I'm already sick from vitamin D deficiency and/or whatever else I have, it really renders me non-functional.

[Phyllis2010]

Cindy, I'm just settling down from my second dose of vitamin D. The 50,000 IU dose makes me really sick (it feels as if I've given myself a toxic overdose) -- I'm ready to give up and ask if I can go on 2000 IU per day. My calcium stores are quite depleted -- I have severe osteoarthritis in my lumbar spine combined with multilevel disc disease, 2 areas of spinal stenosis, a pinched nerve, and damaged leg muscle. The D seems to aggravate my symptoms and create a few of its own. However, after I come down from the side effects I seem to feel a bit better though it's too early to tell. I'm considering a drug holiday from D this week. What do you advise trying to tough it out or cutting down the dose?

[johnnymutt]

I've been reading about the magnesium lately and was thinking about adding it to my treatment. Great to hear that it really helps.

[bisan]

Vitamin D treatment is known to initially aggravate bone pain and cause other side.
Vitamin D treatment initially replaces lost calcium from bones - so early during treatment you will notice lots of bone pain depending on how much bone calcium you lost that is being replaced (if you have vitamin d deficiency when you are pregnant or lactating, you will lose more calcium from your bones as the bones are the body's calcium store and they are used as a last resort if dietary calcium is not made available due to vitamin d deficiency - vitamin d helps in absorbing dietary calcium, with deficiency, this won't happen and so bone calcium is used up)
For the muscle aches and pain try to take magnesium up to 500-700mg daily,magnesium like a pain killer,and I have found incredible relief from my muscle pain.

I hope this helps cindy.

[ChickenBoo]

Been on the vitamin D a good few days now and I've noticed that I have increased muscle aches and pains - I was getting them anyway but these have become very bad in the past few days.

Normally I don't bother with painkillers as they don't seem to do much for the pain but I am popping them every day at the moment to try and take the edge off of it.

Did anyone else find this? I noticed my hypothyroid symptoms got a little worse when I first went on thyroid meds while everything was adjusting so I am wondering if it's similar to that?

Thanks all :)