vitamin D deficiency...help!

[AGierald]

okay, so i've been having issues with hip pain that seems feels like my hip bone is on fire... i was thinking of going to the doctor to see what was up. since i work at a medical laboratory, i decided to get my vitamin d tested before going, since i've been taking 2000iu carlson drops daily. the result came today 25(oh)d at a very low 7... thats pretty bad, right?



any advice on the kind of vitamin d regimen i need to fix this? i'm starting to think that my hip pain and various aches and pains are from this low vitamin d? also, im nursing.. should i give my son the 2000iu drops instead of his 400iu drops?

[Panserbjorne]

that's pretty bad and you need therapeutic dosing. What did your doctor recommend?

[Panserbjorne]

ah, I just read back...no doc yet. Well, you may want one! Often doctors will use very high doses in cases like these-generally prescription. You will want to monitor progress so you know that you are utilizing the supplement properly and making a difference in your stores.

Mine was nowhere near that low, but I still use a few thousand IU's a day. For you, erring on the side of caution will give you a longer timeline for recovery. Going too high can really mess with your immune system. It's better to go low, if you are doing it on your own, but you may want someone to monitor your levels and symptoms. Good luck!

[Addy's Mom]

I think my friend's was something like 15 and they put her on 50,000 IU a week (prescription).

[mama1803]

I seen here alot on MDC that the prescription D supplement is D2 which isn't supposed to be as beneficial as D3. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

[Panserbjorne]

you definitely do want D3...not sure on the prescriptions since I don't use them...

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by mama1803

I seen here alot on MDC that the prescription D supplement is D2 which isn't supposed to be as beneficial as D3. Does anyone know if this is accurate?

Yes. That is accurate. You don't want the prescription/D2 form. Get a D3 and use that at high doses to correct deficiency.

OP, 7 is really, really low, yes but you can fix it.

Start aggressive D3 supplements. I did 10,000 IU per day. 9,000 IU per day is safe for healthy adults who don't have a deficiency if you want to stick in that range. But you want to correct this quickly.
If you can run your serum calcium numbers too just to make sure your low D isn't related to parathyroid if you have any signs of parathyroid stuff. Serum calcium should be below 10. Ten is not normal even if the lab says it is.
http://www.parathyroid.com/parathyroid-symptoms.htm Parathyroid disease is one of the rare conditions for which vitamin D is contraindicated.

[AGierald]

thanks for the replies! if i remember correctly, in july my serum calcium was 10.3? i could be wrong, i'll look tomorrow when i go to work.

as for the vitamin d3, im taking carlson labs d drops, 2000iu, i took 4000 today (well, yesterday) and im going to up to 6000.. does anyone know if theres any problem with increasing to 9k suddenly or do i need to gradually increase?

i know 7 is really really low... i do need to get to the doctor, i wanted to go for my hip pain, and i just figured with all the hype about vitamin d deficiency right now, lets check my d, and bam, that bad! i guess thats what i get for living in chicago, working nights and not liking short sleeves or shorts, lol.

[sbgrace]

10.3 is not normal. Please look at the link I gave to parathyroid disease. The reason I linked it is because the bone stuff is consistent with and that disease will suppress vitamin D because the body is trying to regulate calcium so you'll test low but it is one of the very few conditions that you don't want to supplement D until you get it corrected.

A lot of doctors are unaware of parathyroid disease and you spend time spinning wheels and being told your ok/let's wait and see if calcium goes down/etc. Tens are not ever normal. This disease is often undiagnosed for long periods of time and does a lot of damage to the body. My sister had it. She's good now.

Please look at that site carefully and have this checked out and push to see someone who knows what they are doing with it. Tens aren't normal and you don't want to supplement D if you've got a parathyroid issue. Please look at the site so you can go in knowing what you need to ask for testing wise and what is really normal (ie calciums can fluctuate, 10's aren't normal no matter what the lab slip says, etc.). Let me know if you have questions. My sister is doing well. She didn't know how sick she was until she felt better if that makes any sense.

[eireann]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

Parathyroid disease is one of the rare conditions for which vitamin D is contraindicated.

wow good to be aware of. thank you!

[AGierald]

i looked today at work, and my serum calcium was 9.2, so i was wrong! sorry about the 10.3 guess, i should have known i was off, lol!

i took 6000iu today, tomorrow up to 8000iu, i just didnt know if it was safe to suddenly take a bunch. hopefully i can get this fixed.. thanks for all the comments.

[sbgrace]

Good!
You can start up at full speed all at once. You don't need to work up to anything. In fact with prescription forms (you don't want) they dose at something like 50,000 IU at once right from the start. You're fine with 9,000 (or 10,000) from the start and in fact can take higher doses you just don't do higher long term/daily.

[dessismama]

Thanks so much, SBGrace!! I got my calcium checked and it was 9.1, but my hypothyroid was slightly elevated--endocrinologist thinks it is because my D3 is low. I am taking 7-9000 IUs a day (instead of the 50000 D2 prescription) and so far so good... no extra kidney stones. It turned out my stones are not calcium... Doc will recheck D3 levels in 2 months. Hopefully I will be in the normal range then.

I try to drink lots of liquids and I have been feeling better overall with more D3. My level was 21.... after 4 months of very small supplementation (2000IUs per day which is what I am giving my kids). DH had the same level with no supplementation--now he is on 5000 IUs a day.

[MyLilPwny]

I hope its ok if I post a question here rather than me starting yet another new thread on Vitamin D. So I got my almost 26-month old DD's vitamin D blood test results today and its at 17 which is really low obviously. Vitamin A came back at normal. Zinc is slightly low but not enough for a prescription the doctor said. Those were the only 3 nutrients we had tested.

I'm not sure why her vitamin D is so low. We both have been taking Radiant Life's cod liver oil all along, eat raw grass-fed dairy, fish, other meats, etc. Sun exposure could be more but she gets at least some sun from going on walks every day.

My question is the doctor wrote a prescription that says Vitamin D3 (Calciferol) concentrated at 8,000 IU/1 ml and she is supposed to take 2,000 IU daily. I asked the doctor if I can go to the health food store and pick out my own brand and she said yes, just follow the guidelines for dosage.

I have this D3 serum, which I got from Radiant Life: http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/pr...ds-supplements Its 2,200 IU in just one drop. So obviously this is way more concentrated than the 8,000 IU/1 ML. Does anyone see a problem with this d3 serum being so concentrated? I would really like to just give her 1 drop, as that is so much easier than giving her a larger amount of liquid, which she would spit out most of it anyway.