New- who knew?

[may2012_18]

Hi - new here. My symptoms started about 3 years ago. 4 1/2 yrs ago I moved to the city and apartment living. I am 48. My ob/gyn finally ordered the vit D test which came back at 18ng/ on 5/18. Thanks a million for all the information on this forum. She mentioned the fatigue, muscle aches, and brain fog. I was at the point where all I could do was blame myself for being lazy, complaining. I thought the brain fog was from pain medicine the doctor had me on for almost a year before I stopped that. I've been told I had fibromylgia but I don't think my pain is how that sounds. I had an MRI (brain) for my headaches and the neurosurgeon said the results didn't explain my complaints. Anyways, now I have an answer and trying to take all this in. The doctor put me on 50,000IU D2 once a wk for 12 wks. Nothing about being retested or anything beyond that. I guess I'll have to address that. I can't belive they don't test for this when patients complain for so long with the exact symptoms. Guess you all know that. Based on what I've read I think I will be adding the D3 and magnesium daily supplements and stop my multivitamin as it has calcium and mag in it together. My symptoms for the most part are headaches with nausea sometimes, muscle aches, extreme fatigue. In the beginning my hips bothered me alot, now my neck and right shoulder and feet. I had days at work where I could barely make it through the day due to my right arm hurting so bad.  Does anyone have tips on how to manage the symptoms while going through the recovery which seems to take at least 6 months before relief? I take Excedrin tension in the morning and have started adding ibuprofen in the afternoon even though I think it makes me want to eat and gain weight. I've put on about 25 pounds since this started. I can't stand the fatigue, does exercise help?

[weakling]

I am hoping the calcium and magnesium do improve my symptoms. I'll let you know how that works.

My doctor wanted me retested after 8 weeks (so about 4 weeks from now). I've spent a lot of time researching about vitamin d deficiency by reading many medical research papers and have found that the range of symptoms can be fairly diverse and recovery time can also vary a lot. Some people tend to show significant improvements in 2 weeks while others take a few months.

Once I'm through with this, I'm pretty sure I'll never again let my vitamin d levels fall. I can understand exactly what you are going though, I know it isn't pleasant but I hope you find some relief soon too. Fortunately it seems like treating vitamin d deficiency symptoms is generally quite straight forward, its just a matter of time and patience which of course is sometimes hard to show when you feel so unwell.

[may2012_18]

Thank you for your response. I would be glad to hear how getting back on the calcium and mag works for you.
How long before your doctor wants you tested again? 12 weeks seems like a long time for them to find out how we're doing. I hope you get good news when you do get it done.
Take care!

[weakling]

I share your disbelief and surprise at the fact that doctors don't regularly check for vitamin d levels given how important it is and how badly crippled a deficiency can leave you.

I'm on 50,000 IU D2 like you for 12 weeks though I'm on my 5th week (started at 10 ng/ml). I've been adding 2000 IU D3 daily along with inconsistent usage of calcium and magnesium.

After the 3rd week I suddenly had a few days where I had huge gains in strength and energy but it didn't last. Maybe it was because I stopped using calcium and magnesium that I went back to feeling miserable, I'm back on it now so I guess I'll find out if they can help with the symptoms.

I'd love to know how to manage or at least reduce some of these awful symptoms during recovery. It's very unfortunate that its such a slow healing process. The fatigue is just terrible as is the brain fog.