Vitamin D Deficiency

[Weesy68]

I can personally attest to symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency.  I was recently tested after 6 months of pain and doctors looking at me like, "we don't know," until I found a qualified doctor who performed the proper tests.  My levels are
11.8 ng/ml.  I have seen sites that call this moderate and others that call it severe.  The current recommendations refer to this as severe deficiency.  I agree with that finding considering the symptoms I exhibited which were the following:

Exacerbation of carpal tunnel syndrome
Paresthesias (burning) in fingers and toes
Bilateral arthritis pain so bad in fingers that I would wake up with both hands in a fist and want to "curl in" on myself.
Bilateral arthritis pain in hips so that just laying on my side would make them ache.  It also felt like they were frozen in place.

Symptoms which may be related to Vitamin D but I'm not sure since I am awaiting the doctor's call as to whether the Vitamin D deficiency is primary or secondary are:

Raynaud's Phenomenon (cold fingers and toes)  My hands go white and are generally cold all day long except when i'm running them under hot water and then they go bright red but it does feel so good when they warm up.  Whether or not this is related to the Vitamin D I'm not sure because I'm awaiting the doctor's call in regards to whether the deficiency is primary or secondary.

Burning behind the left scapula toward the middle which caused pain that radiated down the back of my arm, especially when looking down, similar to Trousseau's phenomenon and may be Trousseau's since it did bother my carpal tunnel.
Also known as Trousseau's sign.
Description:
Carpal spasms and paraesthesia produced by pressure upon nerves and vessels of the upper arm sufficient to stop the circulation. The result is a sudden contraction of the fingers and hand into the so-called obstetrical position. It is indicative of latent tetany. Also occurs in osteomalacia. (Osteomalacia is caused by severe vitamin D deficiency)

Gout or pseudogout.  My right toe and footpad below the toe have been swelling off and on since May.  This makes it difficult to walk for any length of time unless I want to deal with the pain which I usually can deal with if I feel like it but it's not fun.
Pseudogout is suggested when abnormal calcifications are seen in the cartilage of joints on x-ray testing. These calcifications are referred to as chondrocalcinosis.  (which happens in osteoarthritis)


Sitting straight up on my tailbone also hurt for quite some time, although that did resolve but possibly because I sat with terrible posture to alleviate the pain so my bad posture may have alleviated that pain.  

I started with GERD as well around the same time as all of these other things and oddly enough all of this was precipitated by a case of mononucleosis so much of it was passed off by the doctors as results of the mono and when it persisted they just shrugged.  Well the GERD medicine can inhibit the aborption of calcium.  Not sure how it affects vitamin D but I do know that I could not eat during the mono and lost 10 pounds in two weeks and then continued to have eating difficulty due to the GERD so maybe that is why the Vitamin D became deficient, who knows.  I suspect that my low levels of Vitamin D may have caused the GERD and possibly allowed the mono to creep in since it will inhibit your immune reaction as well.  But I haven't found anything on line to state that Vitamin D deficiency can cause GERD but one can wish can't they?  That would be an easier fix at least.  I'm 124 pounds and 5'4" so neither obese or anorexic and everything else checked out except for my growth hormone values which are slightly elevated.

I remember saying when it was at the worst that I just felt like an old person.  I turned 40 this year and thought wow, 40 does suck!  I actually thought that maybe you do fall apart at 40 and it's all downhill from there except that everyone around me 40 and up didn't seem to be that bad.


This discussion is related to vitamin D deficiency.

[jennyb1980]

I went through 2 years of not being able to absorb vitamin D......I felt like I was going to die!  When the doctor prescribed 50,000 IU / week, I thought I started to feel better.  That is until I started getting severe chest pains....I thought I was having a heart attack! They thought it to be vitamin D toxicity, blood test proved it was NOT.  Long story short...I went to MANY doctors, pulmonary, cardiologist, obgyn and primary. Nobody had answers.  I started to desperately search for answers on my own and found that you should NEVER take high doses of vitamin D without magnesium. It was the magnesium deficiency that caused the chest pains.  Check it out...with that also goes other supplements to help absorption, like potassium and calcium. Good luck!

[jholidayz]

Thats good. I was just curious because ur symptoms are alot like mine and im afraid it is MS>

[Lori707]

The MS was ruled out by the results of an MRI with and without contrast of the brain.
It showed a bit of white matter (I don't know what you call it) but the neurologists still said it's not MS. I think a person is also supposed to get a LP (Lumbar Puncture) also to test for it but not sure about hat. I wasn't given one. They just said I don't have MS.

[jholidayz]

Some of your symptoms sound alot like mine. How was your MS ruled out? like what did they do and how long did it take?

[Lori707]

I also have a problem with Vit.D. It started at 8.4  .  I also lost up to 10.2% of my bone mass in one year and now have osteoporisis. Just started Boniva. I have whole body parathesia which I'm taking Gabapentin(Neurontin) for it. It's helping but I still feel electrical currents going through my body and vibrations in my head. I have constant muscle spasms and twitches all through my body. I also have inflammatory arthritis in most joints and carpul tunnel in both wrists. MS was ruled out. I have chronic Gerd/acid reflux. Doctors think I have autoimmune problems because of my inflammatory arthritis. My endocronologist just took me off of 50,000IU D2 once per week because I wasn't absorbing it. In addition I was taking 2800IU of D3 daily but my Vit.D is still low. (24). So then the doc put me on 5,000IU D3 daily. My internest thinks it's too much but he's not going to undermind the endocronologist. I'm afraid of overdosing on D. I'm taking a blood test next week. Here's hoping.

[jholidayz]

Hi there, I also have a vitamin D deficiancy, however, I do not know how bad it is. I'm taking supplements for it. I have had severe parathesias, severe pain in my fingers, and often my toes. Lots of pain on different parts, as well as these twitching feelings under the skin. You can't see them but because they happen so deep down. My one DR. said it sounds like I might have M.S. I'm still trying to figure this all out. Please let me know if you can tell me anything.