Low vitamin D

[Sierra]

For NON-Marshall protocol eyes only:

Saw my rheumy yesterday and she said she was glad the mino is working so well for me. Because I had recently fallen and broken my wrist, she ordered a lab test to check vitamin D. My result was <4 (normal is 30-80). She ordered "a monster dose" supplement, according to the pharmacist. I'm eager to get that back to a normal level. There's a lot of new info on the web about D and its importance in preventing illness, including autoimmune diseases.

P.S. I don't want this post to trigger a flood of anti-vitamin D responses from those who follow the Marshall protocol. We've had that conversation numerous times.

Sierra

[Jo]

[Cheryl F]

Sierra,

Did the doc have any idea why your vit d would be so low? Even MP folks who avoid vit d like the plague (they think vit d is a plague, lol), have a difficult time getting their vit d that low. I think, in addition to to supplementation, someone should try to figure out why it is so low.

JMO,

Cheryl

[Baskettwin]

I had my Vit. D level checked in March of 08 and was a 7. I was on high dose of Vit D for 90 days. It did help with the level of pain in my knees. They hurt so bad I cried every night just getting into bed. Fast fwd to Oct. when my ND put me on Minocycline. M-W-F- 100 mg 2 x day. I do feel the Mino is working!!!! Another thing I just finished was a series of B-12 shots. 6 shots once a week, and B12 tablets the other 6 days. ND will be checking Vit D and B 12 sometime down the road.

[Sierra]

[user=2]Cheryl F[/user] wrote:

Sierra,

Did the doc have any idea why your vit d would be so low? Even MP folks who avoid vit d like the plague (they think vit d is a plague, lol), have a difficult time getting their vit d that low. I think, in addition to to supplementation, someone should try to figure out why it is so low.

JMO,

Cheryl

I avoid dairy products and live in a northern state (work indoors). When I'm in the sun I'm a religious wearer of sunscreen. There's a tiny amount of vitamin D in my calcium supplement–not enough. I can see now why it happened.

[Sierra]

[user=858]Baskettwin[/user] wrote:

I had my Vit. D level checked in March of 08 and was a 7. I was on high dose of Vit D for 90 days. It did help with the level of pain in my knees. They hurt so bad I cried every night just getting into bed.

I haven't had any pain but I've felt unusually weak and fatigued lately. I'm excited to think it may go away with D supplementation!

S

[Baskettwin]

[user=128]Sierra[/user] wrote:

[user=858]Baskettwin[/user] wrote:

I had my Vit. D level checked in March of 08 and was a 7. I was on high dose of Vit D for 90 days. It did help with the level of pain in my knees. They hurt so bad I cried every night just getting into bed.

I haven't had any pain but I've felt unusually weak and fatigued lately. I'm excited to think it may go away with D supplementation!

S

I forgot to mention my B-12 was low too. My ND had me take 6 shots (once a week) and B-12 tablets the rest of the 6 days. I do beleive those helped a lot with my fatigue.

Hope you feel better real soon. 🙂

[Maz]

[user=128]Sierra[/user] wrote:

I haven't had any pain but I've felt unusually weak and fatigued lately. I'm excited to think it may go away with D supplementation!

Hi Sierra,

I've been thinking about investing in a “full spectrum” lamp…just a standard lamp to sit under during the long winter months while I'm on the computer. I feel so much better when I've been sitting in the sun for just 20 mins. It's way more effective than taking a couple of advil and I figure that even if D is a steroid, at least it's a natural steroid! Actually, it was also during the summer when I was enjoying the sun every day that my anti-CCP came down so dramatically, too…so go figure. :roll-laugh:

Peace, Maz

[Jo]

[Susan LymeRA]

I subscribe to The Blaylock Wellness Report.  Dr. Russell Blaylock is a neurosurgeon who is also a specialist in nutrition.  He says people with R.A. are notoriously low in Vit D. 

I have always tested low and have been on 1000 IU for over a year.  Dr. Blaylock says people with R.A. need 5000 IU daily.  I asked my doctor and she agreed and said that was what she had instructed me to do a year ago.  Somehow I hadn't realized that so I bumped up to 5000 IU daily of Vit D3 and whalla!  My herboden's nodules shrank by half and suddenly I was getting tan when out in the sun.  Usually I don't tan or burn.  I have never used sunscreen and jokingly said “I have built in SPF.”  Well, now after reading up on D, it seems that as long as your body does not have enough D, you won't tan because tanning is the body's way of stopping the Vit D intake once you have had enough.  I'm living proof that it is true.  I went on a 5 hr ride after increasing my D and everyone kept commenting about my tan afterwards.

My joints haven't been hurting for a long time anyway except my left wrist that has lost all the cartilage.  Well, now it doesn't hurt either.  I still can't flex it all the way but it has no pain and seems to be almost as strong as ever.

Nope!  You won't be taking my Vit D from me.  In the summer though I will cut back as I am out in the sun a fair amount of the time.  It is hard to ride horses in the dark.:)

As for Vit D being a steriod.  I personally don't believe a natural “steriod” is a bad thing.  Except I do know people with Sarcoids need to avoid it and you can get too much Vit D so don't supplement without a bloodtest to confirm your need.  However, it seems we R.A. people are in short supply of it and in fact, according to Dr. Blaylock, supplementing with Vit D3 can prevent the onset of auto-immunity.

Just like endorphins are a natural painkiller much like morphine.  Perhaps our bodies need a natural steriod too.

Too bad we didn't know that when we were healthy.  With all the research showing the multiple value of D on so many different illnesses, I wonder if routine check of D levels in the blood will become the norm. 

It kind of jars me to think of the physicals I got every year of my life that always showed me to be sooooo healthy.  All the while I was having bacterial infections annually and even a case of shingles just 1 yr before R.A. struck. 

Susan

[Author]

Posts