vitamin D rollercoaster

[vitaminD_deficient]

Hi, I'm 18 and was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency in Feburary earlier this year with a level of 15nmol and was only put on 800iu a day. However my symptoms got very bad by July so I was put on a weekly tablet of 20,000iu d3 a week and after just 4 weeks my levels had risen up to 110nmol so I carried on taking the weekly dose for 4 more weeks but my doctor never repeated my blood test at the end of it. After I came off the weekly dose I went onto a maintenance dose of 800iu per day (I had only felt a slighty relief in my knee pain and back pain after coming off the weekly dose) however 2 months later I'm starting to experience my back pain and knee pain again. My doctor won't give me another blood test as he believes the 110nmol results I got back in August will still stand today. What I want to ask is is experiencing some of these symtoms again just a normal part of recovery or have my levels dropped again? There's no way of me finding out for sure so i'm just taking a weekly dose of 20,000iu myself for a few weeks to see if it makes any difference. Also, are prescription D3 tablets meant to be less potent than OTC D3 tablets?

[vitaminD_deficient]

Sorry I meant I know it's the vitamin D because when i came off the megadose and my leevels had gone up to 110nmol  I noticed my back and knee pain had gone away, however do you know how long it would take for normal recovery after getting your levels up?

[vitaminD_deficient]

Hi I think it's definately linked to vitamin D though as I show alot of the other symptoms too such as joint pains and joints cracking throughout my body, I fractured alot of my bones easily a few months back, and muscle weakness as before I used to lift weights regularly but now I struggle to lift the lightest of weights.

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi!
Well, to answer your last question first: both prescription and OTC pills will be equally potent provided they have the same formulation, strength and bio-availability (dose available to the tissue) of the drug. Usually good generic medications are as potent as their prescription counterparts. However, please do not self-medicate and increase the dose.
Also, back and knee joint pain etc can be due several other causes apart from low vitamin D.  So these factors like ankylosing spondylitis, nerve compression, arthritis etc will need to be looked into. Do discuss this with your doctor and get yourself examined. Take care!