Vitamin D deficiency

My vit d level was 32 nmol or 13 ng/ml.... But my doctor only told me to take 1000!... Which i was thought was too low. I questioned this and she said she doesnt want my calcium to shoot up. I kinda upped the dosage so im taking 2000-4000 at the moment. When i up my dosage my pain level significantly reduces but i noticed i satrted getting diarrhea a few weeks later and nausea so i dont know if this is a reaction due to dosage. Whats your level and whats your dosage? 

My level was 62 just a bit low and have given me 800 which is 20 micrograms. Should be 50 to  75

 

I take 10,000 iu of vitamin d every day with no side effects.  When I feel a cold coming on, I take 50,000 iu of vitamin d for 3 days and cold is gone.  Usually gone the first day, but I add 2 extra days.  I don't believe you can overdose on vitamin d.  My doctors take 5,000 iu a day.  I am 54 years old and the only medicine I take is 10,000 iu vitamin d3 and 5,000 sublingual B12 under my tongue.  I occasionally take ibuprofen (maybe twice a month) if I over exert myself cleaning or yard work.  Sometimes "NO" medicine is the best medicine.

Wow! I always thought u can overdose on vit d but not b12. Are you deficient on vit b12 too? What were ur levels for b12 and d? 

My husband is extremely distressed coz of fatigue mainly coz it is not letting him perform well at work and apparently he looks fine so his bosses do not think he s really ill! Given that his current d levels are at 11 ng/ml, how much time he would take to ateadt get rid of some fatigue? He has already taken 3 50,000 iu weekly loading doses so far. 

Just to add his b12 were at 284 and he took some aggressive shots and sublingals and his level reached 2000 after a month. No improvements in his balance issues or fatigue so far!

salvi81...  what other medication does he take, or has taken?  How old is he?

 

Also, google  "How much vitamin D do you get from the sun?

by Maria Trimarchi"  It's on the "How Stuff Works" site.  Great information about vitamin D.

Hi,

He has been on hypertension medicine for about 3 years now. Apart from that, couple of ENT's gave him Serc without examining him properly-it turned out he didn't have any inner ear problems. It sort of worsened his balance issues (one of the side effects of Serc if you take it without any problem in inner ear). Recently, he's started taking some supplements such as Omega-3, Magnesium, Co-Q10 enzyme and is on 1000 mcg sublingal B-12 daily. He takes zinc sometimes too. These supplements were started about 2-3 weeks back. 

I just need suggestion-what can he do to fight off the extreme fatigue?? It's causing havoc for them and no one at his work understands this because, as I mentioned earlier, physically, he looks fine.

He probably needs to go back to his doctor.  It might just be that he needs to be on a different blood pressure medicine.  There are several different blood pressure medicines that act in different ways (calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, diuretics, etc).  If his doctor is not getting the problem fixed or his symptoms lessened, find another doctor.  It might take many different doctors until you find one that can help him.  All doctors don't know everything.  Doctors are just like any other profession, there are good doctors and there are bad doctors.  I hope he can feel better soon.  Praying for you both!

Hey Savi81,

I just wanted to let you know that the fatigue does get better but it takes time. A lot of the symptoms that your husband is having I've had/have and I started wth a vit D level of 10, so very similar to his.

 was prescribed 50,000iu once a week for 8 weeks and then a maintance dose of 2000 a day. I started treatment back in october, some things improved in a few weeks while other have been much slower but I can see improvement.

One of the most disturbing symptoms for me is the balance issues, could you describe what kind of balance issues your husband is having? does the room spin, does he feel like he is swaying, trouble walking, leaning etc? is it constant or comes and goes?  i was also prescribed meclizne (an antivertigo medicine) and it didnt help. Also there is a strong anxiety component to this balance issue. Does he have anxiety? mine was triggered at the same time that my symptoms worsen and I have found that treating the anxiety has made those specific symptoms so much better.

Please know that I am in no way a medical professional I just want to compare notes and give you some peace of mind if possible.

About a month ago I posted this as a response to someone looking for feedback on symptoms improvement from the vit D deficiency. I posted the symptoms I was having and in parenthesis how they've improved:

" Extreme fatigue (has improved but still there)

Brain fog (now gone)

Terrible anxiety (mild now)

Mild depression (now gone)

Off-balance/dizzy off and on (remains but I dont get it as often as before)

Sleeping all the time (gone)

Hip pain (gone)

General muscle pain all over (somewhat improved but still have it) 

Chest palpitations (gone)"

My doctor has told me that it usually takes about 6 months to start seeing any changes as it takes your body a while to fully repair any damages from the deficiency so hang in there!

Hi lizzyluv

Well the balance problems that he has, is more like unsteadiness. It's like he feels unsteadiness within his body. Sometimes he feels like he's being pulled to the ground or pulled to the left or right side of his body. He says that it is related to movement at times. He also says that he feels he cannot walk because his legs cannot take the weight of his body and he feels like He will fall down. I guess some element to this is weakness of legs? He does seem to have some anxiety although he does not confess that. He actually panics badly when he feels fatigued or feels that his balance because he relates to something really serious perhaps some cancer! Has bad mood swings also. Has started 50,000 iu weekly so we ll wait for results. By the way I always taught that the Benz problem is bored because of B12 deficiency I never knew that we didn't do deficiency can also cause this issue.(he was deficient on B12 also).

Hey Salvi81,

My balance/dizzy symptoms sound similar, for me it's random spells that make me feel like i'm floating, or moving to one side or the other even if Im not. I've undergone extensive testng to discard any vestibular issues and everything turned out fine. I can definitely tell you that they have diminished since taking vitamin D.

I also started having panic atacks at the beginning because it's a sensation that its very scary to experience, in fact my ENT told me that for people wth balance issues or any type of vertigo they usually prescripe anxiety meds to go along with other treatment as it's something that leaves you very unsure of your own body. I havent taken anxiety medication but I can 100% tell you that anxiety has in the past made the symptoms feel worse, specially with the constat worry of "what's next to come, what if, etc". Accepting that I was adding to it by means of my anxiety literally made me feel 50% better immediately, that's not to say that I wasnt panicking anymore or worrying about it but it has been a learning process, a book that has helped me so much to understand how your mind can make you feel actual physical symptoms and how to face and move on is "Hope and help for your nerves" by Claire Weekes. I'd suggest giving it a try and hopefully your husband is open to read it. I hope you don't think I am dismissing your husband's symptoms with saying it might be partly anxiety but when you said "He also says that he feels he cannot walk because his legs cannot take the weight of his body and he feels like He will fall down" it reminded me that in the book  the author talks about a woman whose complant was exactly that. Also if you read some of the reviews on amazon (that's where I bought it) you will see how many people's anxiety presented itself as dizzyness and balance issues. At some point, after the tenths of tests done and money spent, with everything coming up normal, you have to start accepting that the attitude towards the way you feel might be a contributing factor.

For me it went like this, I started feeling some symptoms directly related from the vit d deficiency all real, then my worry and incessant thinking about it took me to a point where that's all I could think about, me, all the time and the fear of what will I feel next or what if it never goes away consumed my life for months. Even today some days are a struggle but nothing like before, you gain perspective and peace when you finally accept and start looking outside of yourself and giving your mind a break. Trying not to feel a certain way only reinforced those feelings, was I stll feeling them? yes, but the difference is that I am no longer scared of them, I live my life as happy as I can despite the fact that I might feel weird or unsteady, with time I've seen such improvement from last year and Im sure I will be back to my old self soon

Also don't forget to take some time to take care of yourself, even in the midst of all this, the impact of trying to help and constantly find solutions for your hubby can take a toll on you

Thank u so much for ur reply. I think I forgot to mention that I myself am VIt D deficient (17 level). I do have some symptoms such as chest palpitations (which almost feel like cardiac arrest!) but I guess am not too concerned about it and just taking the weekly doses. I guess anxiety does have some role to play because I, by nature am a very calm person and don't take any illnesses to my nerves. My husband on the other hand, does have tendency to get worried at smallest of things. This has been longest spell of illness for him so far and given the fact that no clear diagnosis has been given by doctors yet, it hs made him more agitated.

From what I am noticing, he has days when he feels better and upbeat and then there are days when he's down. Like yesterday he told me he was feeling sightly better in terms of fatigue. But today, he is terrible. He says he feels very fatigued and out of balance. He was also sayin that he feels like heaviness over chest/heart-kinda feeling of being unwell. Was getting breathless and hence started worrying-what if it is a heart problem?? And i tried comforting him telling him it is not. I wanted to ask u if it sounds familiar? Can this feeling be related to this deficiency?

Funny you should mention that, just yesterday I had a moment where my heart was beating so fast and I had a heavy feeling in my chest. I usually start obsessing over it and then panic sets in. In the past I have focus too much on that and asked my husband to drive me straight to the ER (twice!) had EKG's done and everything was perfect. Yesterday, I literally told myself "Oh my heart is beating rapid and this is an odd sensation, but i know there's nothing wrong so Im going to try to pay no mind" Im not kidding but in 20 min the sensations completely subsided..

However, it's good to be kind to ourselves and remember that when your immune system is weakened whether is a lack of vitamin D or something else,your body is working extra hard to perfom even basic functions adding to that a heightned anxious state of mind and things can feel a lot worse than they are. Before taking vitamin D, I did have a lot of shortness of breath even doing little things and that has completely improved so it could be that even your lungs are somewhat compromised by the deficiency.

I definitely experienced an up & down pattern regarding my symptoms, some days I felt completely recovered and the next day not so much. I think there are many factors that affect your recovery, weather, stress, sleep, diet, any allergies etc. The best thing he can do is to try not to compare each day and take it day by day . If he is constantly checking on his symptoms there is always something that he could worry about. Like you said, you also have a vit D deficiency but your attitude towards it is different than his which makes it more manageable.

My husband is like you, he is very relaxed and never really worries about things while I am like your husband, I stress, worry and overthink all day long. How old is your husband? how is his sleeping?

One thing that has made a BIG difference for me is adding magnesium right before I go to bed. My dr said magnesium should always be taken if you are taking vitamin D, they don't have to be taken together. Not only is magnesium nature's stress reliever (it has a nice calming effect!) but it also helps with many other things including balance, muscle tingling/numbness, fatigue. If you decided to try it make sure its not magnesium oxide which is very laxative and not very well absorbed.

For him, the imbalance is constantly there-it fluctuates through the day, like more when standing and less while walking- but is there so not the spells like you had.

He has been taking magnesium but I just checked it is magnesium oxide! What other forms would u suggest I should look for?

Thanks

Dear gtcttww,

                    May I please ask which brand of vitamin D3 have you chosen?

 I have taken just 1000 i.u. of the brand Vitabiotics and I am feeling very tired afterwards, therefore I marvelled when I heard that you take 10000 i.u. and feeling good !

Kind Regards,

Natalia

Dear gtcttww,

                  may I please ask which brand of Vit D3 do you use. I have taken just 1000 i.u. of Vit d3 brand Vitabiotics, and I am feeling very tired afterwards, therefore I marvelled when I read that you take 10000!

Kind Regards,

Natalia

I am not tied to any specific brand.  Not sure if one brand is any different than the other.   Have taken several other brands.  I either take one 10,000 iu or two 5,000 iu.  Whichever is on sale.  As long as I take 10,000 iu daily.

Hi lizzyluv, i literally have all the symptoms you talk about. basically i had a surgery in april 2013, and thereafter i had to be away from sunlight for afew months in bedrest. Anyway i developed a bad deficiency in vitamin D and i have started 4000IU daily. this has made me feel so much better. less anxiety, less aches, less fatigue, better sleep. Does your doctor know why the body gets (dizzy) with such a deficiency? its so odd. i was just wondering if you got an explanation. p.s. i know when your vitamin D levels are chronically low (like me), my parathyroid glands started secreting high levels of hormone.... because vitamin D is converted to C when there is too little C available, so i guess that was maybe a way for my body to ask for more vitamin D.

 

Also, the dizzyness is more of a Faint**** feeling. Its kind of like my legs cannot carry my body, and im being pulled from one side to the other at different times.

IMPORTANT SIDENOTE: anyone who is feeling better, and feeling less *Faint*, or not faint at all please write to us here on your newfound health. I cannot see any post where someone said MY ISSUE IS SOLVED. Also its important to work out and keep in good bodyfat percentages, so....i want to hear from fitness enthusiasts, what have you done to handle working out with this Vitamin deficiency symptoms? do you workout at all?

this is an old post and it is doubtful you will see my reply now but if you do then research the difference between taking D2 and D3 to correct a Vitamin D deficiency.  Research is ahead of what is still in current practice and currently all RX strength Vitamin D is still D2.  There is alot of research that supports that D2 can not correct a Vitamin D deficiency, and that patients need to be taking the D3 form...which oddly is in the OTC version.  You can not buy 50,000 unit doses of D3 over the counter, but you also can not buy prescription strength in D3 either yet.  I have also found many doctors won't recheck your Vitamin D level saying insurance only pays for it once or twice a year, but unless you recheck after the 8 week or 12 week of the RX strength you would never know it doesn't work and he's still going to be Vitamin D deficient which can cause everything from chronic pain to cancer.  Different insurance plans have different guidelines on how often they will pay for the Vitamin D to be tested, but that is the only way to know when you are at optimal Vitamin D levels, and no longer deficient.  Just taking the inferior Vitamin D2 50,000 RX tablets for the normal 8 to 12 weeks most Drs prescribe it for does not mean the Vitamin D is ever absorbed, or that the deficiency if fixed.  They don't test again usually, so the patient is still suffering and still deficient.  It will be caught a year later when alot of doctors are willing to rerun the tests for you.    Don't take my word for any of this...google it for yourself, and your husband's sake then make them make sure he isn't deficient in Vitamin D, or any other vitamin or mineral for that matter before you resolve yourself to fatigue forever

Hi Salvi81.  I have a Vitamin D deficiency with symptoms very similar to those you describe for your husband.  Can you let me know how he is doing now.  In particular how is his fatigue and muscle weakness and ability to walk?  These are the areas I am most concerned about for myself.  I have been supplementing with 10,000IU D3 for 7 weeks now and notice no difference whatsoever in levels of fatigue and muscle strength.  I would appreciate hearing how he is doing now.

I understand it takes around three months to get improvement. Have you had your vit D level checked recently?

thanks for the reply ptolemy.  I kind of knew that but just wanted to hear someone else's actual experience for encouragement.  You are in a lot of groups.  Can I ask why and what interests you in this one?  What is your own experience?

Hi Robin. Just to let you know, it took seven months of high dose vit D treatment  for my symptoms to begin to turn around, and the joint pain and muscle weakness to improve, not the three months promised by my doctor. I know it seems endless (still does, 8 months on), but it has taught me what a serious condition vit D deficiency/osteomalacia can be. Hang on in there and look after yourself with good rest, food and pacing. All best wishes :-)

Hi Jaybelle.  I appreciate the reply and hearing your experience.  How high a dose of Vitamin D did you take?  Did you also suffer from fatigue?  I have very little pain, but have fatigue, exercise intolerance and muscle weakness and wasting.

I am vitamin D deficient, although it took about three months to double my blood markers. Even then I am still low, I lie out in the sun, if I can find any,  the vit D is slowly creeping up. I take steroids which can knock your vit D and calcium which does not help.

Oh God, did/do I feel fatigue! I'd get to a point after a few days rest where I thought I was getting better, then get up and find that after 20 minutes I was dripping with sweat (a first for me), hitting a wall and pegging out. My legs are still a bit shaky if I have to stand for more than ten minutes, but I'm trying to build the muscles back up with walking or twenty mins of a step routine most days. 

I took the standard 10 weeks of 50K IU vit D/wk, then I continued to take 35K IU/wk until about the seven month mark. At a blood vit D level of 103nnmol/L I began to turn a corner. I dropped the D to 400IU/day at that point. 

If you don't have bone and joint pain, it might possibly mean that you haven't developed osteomalacia (bone softening), and I suppose that might suggest that you will respond to the vit D supplement sooner rather than later. A colleague of mine suffered D deficiency after her second child, but she didn't have osteomalacia and said she was back to her energetic self in twelve weeks. 

Fingers crossed for you!

:-)

Hi Jaybelle:

Do you take the prescription vit. D or OTC vitamin D3?

Thank you

Jaybelle.  Thanks again for the reply which is encouraging.  I have had pain under my left rib, but this is virtually all and it has been diminishing.  I can relate to the sweating on making any effort.  Are you in the UK (I'm in Perth, Scotland) and to your knowledge do the UK blood labs always report in nnmol/L?

Hi, I was prescribed 10K IU/wk for 10 wks followed by 400IU/day thereafter. As I was no better after the intensive course, I followed Dr Holick's advice and continued to take a higher dose, which I bought OTC, of 5K IU/day for another 4 1/2 mts until my serum level was >100nnmol/L. 

you're very welcome - I couldn't seem to find any good luck stories when I was diagnosed: perhaps people stop posting here when they feel better, but I began to wonder if anyone ever recovered! As for the sweating, Prof Holick mentions in his book that sweating in infants used to be a diagnostic indicator of rickets back in the day, but seems to have been forgotten in the intervening decades. I am indeed in the UK - couldn't tell you whether labs use nnmol/L as standard, but it will be listed on your blood reports (ask for printout from doc) and there are online calculators to help you convert between different units of measurement. :-)

Wow lizzyluv, this has truly helped me so much! Vitamin d deficiency is NO JOKE. The symptoms that you have in the beginning almost set you up for new symptoms in the end. I'm 3 months into my treatment (started at level 18) and just got my levels checked (nice level of 73). My fatigue is there but NOTHING like it was I the beginning, but I still experience what I feel is anxiety and in that I believe it is what is making me slightly depressed. Everytime I feel butterflies in my stomach or if I have what feels like my heart skipped a beat, I'm thinking it's going to get worse or like you said the 'what if' begins to play in my mind therefore sending me into this spiraling emotional panic, it seems like the longest 10 seconds of my life. I'm glad you mentioned not taking anxiety medications, I've thought about it because at times I don't know if I'm ever going to get better. I've been tested for EVERYTHING and am completely healthy but this vitamin d deficiency has me thinking the doctors don't know what they are doing. 😉

How long did it take you to fully recover?

I'm certain that you can overdose on vitamin D. I have copied this from the vitamin D council.

Although most people take vitamin D supplements without any problems, it’s possible to take too much. This is called vitamin D toxicity. Vitamin D toxicity, where vitamin D can be harmful, usually happens if you take 40,000 IU per day for a couple of months or longer, or take a very large one-time dose.

Vitamin D is fat-soluble, which means your body has a hard time getting rid of it if you take too much. When you take large amounts of vitamin D, your liver produces too much of a chemical called 25(OH)D.

When your 25(OH)D levels are too high, this can cause high levels of calcium to develop in your blood. High blood calcium is a condition called hypercalcemia.

The symptoms of hypercalcemia include:

feeling sick or being sick

poor appetite or loss of appetite

feeling very thirsty

passing urine often

constipation or diarrhea

abdominal pain

muscle weakness or pain

bone pain

feeling confused

feeling tired

In some rare diseases, you may be at risk of hypercalcemia even if you have low vitamin D levels and haven’t taken much vitamin D. These diseases include primary hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis and a few other rare diseases. See our Hypersensitivity page page for more information.

How do I know if I have taken too much?

A blood test to measure your 25(OH)D levels can tell you whether you have too high of vitamin D levels. If your 25(OH)D levels are above 150 ng/ml this is considered potentially toxic and potentially harmful to your health. You know if your 25(OH)D levels are toxic by a blood test to measure calcium. If calcium is high and 25(OH)D is high, then you are getting too much vitamin D.

Very high levels of 25(OH)D can develop if you:

take more than 10,000 IU/day (but not equal to) everyday for 3 months or more. However, vitamin D toxicity is more likely to develop if you take 40,000 IU/day everyday for 3 months or more.

take more than 300,000 IU in a 24 hour period.

If you have taken this much vitamin D, seek medical attention. Your health providers will get your calcium and 25(OH)D levels tested.

Yes there is such a thing as vitamin D toxicity. The body does not pass out vit D like it does with vit C for example. This is true of a several vitamins, so taking multi vitamins with vit D in for example and also vit D by itself means you could be taking over the recommended amounts. A lot of people do not seem to be aware of this. They think the more you take the better it is. 

Hi! I just recently signed up for this site.

I"m wondering how are you feeling? what is your D level?

I Have been suffering more than 10 years from hedaches, migraines, muscle pain, fatigue, recently stomach and colon problems is more.  I'm so weak, 2-5 hours light phisycal activity  what I can do but I'm feeling that I'm runing marathon every day.

My primary doctor diagnosed me with Fbromalgya, and also I have some Tyroid disfuction (Hashimoto, but labwork not checked because my tyroid is still in normal level) 

I had appointment with the arthiritis doctor, she told me I just have low D, 13.  I got prescription 50000 UI D2/week, when I took it I became much worst, just 1-2 hours activity and almost ended up in ER.

The doctor who prescribed me the vitamin D2 does not believe that i got worst from the D2 dose.

Probably your doctor was wise to to start with that those, because i was very sick from my dose for 2-3 days. Now I'm really scared to take my D2, I bought some D3 and trying with lower dose. I feel pretty bad on my situation, and no help. 

Hi lizzyluv,

I am 35. I have had heart palpitations which are getting better high bp and t is too but I have anxiety dizziness/lightheaded headaches pressure in head I’m tired depressed weak don’t wanna get out of bed. I had sinus surgery and it didn’t fix the problem it made it worse been off and on antibiotics and it’s been 6 weeks since sinus surgery and 3 since I had upper teeth removed because the roots were in sinuses and dr didn’t tell me they were infected I had no pain. My symptoms are the same. 4 weeks ago I was cx with low vitamin D And given 50,000iu of it weekly. I also started multivitamins as well. I’ve had all kinds of blood work mri ctscan and X-rays and nothing else seems to be wrong but low vitamin d and recovering from surgeries. I don’t want to lose my job but I can’t get out of bed and the way I feel gives me horrible anxiety which I’ve never had in my life I think some days I’m buying! And I hate that. How have you been any update?