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Vitamin D deficiency. My whole body aches, what can I do?

Posted , 14 users are following.

adrienne3636
adrienne3636

I went to the doctor for muscle pain in neck, upper back, kidney area, buttocks, and thighs...basically all over and had blood work done. My vitamin D is 10 (extremely low), CPR is elevated, 10.2 and CPK is 142. Is there a link between Vitamin D deficiency and inflammation? I'm in so much pain everyday. Anti inflammatory pills do not work and I'm looking for suggestions to help with the pain. Has anyone else experienced muscle pain with vitamin d deficiency? It's hard for me to move. I'm 33 and feel like I'm 73.

1 like, 28 replies

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  • jenny19687
    jenny19687 adrienne3636

    Posted

    Yes I experienced pain with low vitamin d. Have they prescribed a high dosage of vitamin d?it shoukd get better in time. 
    • adrienne3636
      adrienne3636 jenny19687

      Posted

      My doctor prescribed 50,000 vitamin D once a week for three months. Hoping the supplements will help the pain.
  • ptolemy
    ptolemy adrienne3636

    Posted

    Muscle pain is a very common symptom of vitamin D deficiency. Your raised CRP could be due to a cold or some sort of bug. The other day my CRP went up to 132 from 12 and I really panicked! I think that may have been due to a bug, but not sure. It seems to be going down again. As Jenny says are you taking vitamin D supplements? If not you should be. What did your doctor say? It does take at least three months to build up your vitamin D levels. As yours is so low it may take longer. Try and sit outside for a few minutes each day without sun cream. Some foods do give you vitamin D but the main amount comes from the sun. 
    • adrienne3636
      adrienne3636 ptolemy

      Posted

      Thanks for responding. The doctor put me on 50,000 vitamin D once a week for 3 months. The doctor didn't say much. I'm not pleased with the care that I'm getting. She acted like it was no big deal but it is because I'm in so much pain. Hopefully after the 3 month course of vitamin D I'll notice a difference. Until then I'll also try to get more sun.

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy adrienne3636

      Posted

      They reckon around twenty five per cent of the UK population are vitamin D deficient and that is why there are so many aches, pains and tiredness around.
  • clivealive
    clivealive adrienne3636

    Posted

    If the course of Vitamin D doesn't improve your symptoms it may pay to ask your doctor to check for a Vitamin B12 and/or Folate deficiency - both of which can produce neurological symptoms.

  • EileenH
    EileenH adrienne3636

    Posted

    The fact your CRP is elevated and vit D low suggests you may well have an inflammatory autoimmune disorder. What is the local normal range quoted on your results? It may be under 1 or under 10. If it is under 10 then it is just borderline so perhaps doesn't mean much, if it is under 1 then it is considerably elevated. CRP indicates inflammation is present and that isn't normally the case with vit D deficiency. However, low vit D is often found in autoimmune disorders.The normal range CPK also suggests it isn't a muscle-tissue destroying one. The vit D deficiency alone  COULD cause your symptoms but not necessarily - my husbands vit d was 7 - and he felt as fine as he has for the last 23 years since having cancer!

    Your GP has put you on a recognised supplementation programme as that is the first thing to rule out. If it works - all well and good. You may start to feel better quickly or it may take more than the 3 months - everyone is different. But if after a few months you don't feel better - do ask your GP to refer you to a rheumaotlogist to rule out other underlying problems. 

    • adrienne3636
      adrienne3636 EileenH

      Posted

      The CRP range on my test is 0.0 - 5.0 and mine is 10.2, yikes! The pain is so bad all over that my GP decided to run a CPK test and I got the call a few days ago that it is indeed elevated at well (142). She said that it shouldn't be over 115 so she wants me to see a rheumatologist. Only problem is I was recently laid off and no longer have health insurance so it will be really costly to do more testing. That's why I'm here trying to see if I can find some similarities with others with vitamin d deficiencies. I'm hoping the supplements will work. I also had an ANA panel done to test for autoimmune diseases and it came back negative. My mother has an autoimmune disease and told me that her tests came back negative a few times before she was finally diagnosed so that maybe could be the case for me. Not sure what to do. Just need some relief from this pain.

    • EileenH
      EileenH adrienne3636

      Posted

      That isn't majorly high - I know people where it was in triple figures! 

      I do understand your problem even though I don't live in the US, lack of healthcare cover is not an item for me and never has been thank goodness.

      The raised CPK suggests there is something autoimmune going on - but to get it identified you will need expert care. It shouldn't be raised just because of low vit D though.

    • EileenH
      EileenH

      Posted

      PS - your GP isn't going to put you on other medications with a much better idea of what is going on. 

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy EileenH

      Posted

      Hi Eileen, I may be wrong but I thought that CPK normal level should not be above 150. Adrienne says her's is 142, which seems reasonable if I am correct.

    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      My comment was in relation to her CRP level eliciting a yikes from her...

      Her doctor is quoting an upper limit of 115 for CPK - and I have just found 2 consective links on google which say 120 in one and 198 in the other! It will depend on the lab - every lab has its own "normal range" depending on the technique used. That why I keep asking for the local normal range - which is always on the report sheet and why it is very useful to ask for your own copy including that info. I've known plenty of doctors who look at the number and tell the patient it is fine - without looking at that very important information.

    • ptolemy
      ptolemy EileenH

      Posted

      Hi Eileen, I do agree about normal levels. I have noticed normal ranges change on printouts I receive for the same thing quite often. Probably like BP which particularly in the US the normal seems to be getting lower and lower, Also cholesterol is another one. 
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      Normal range is what covers 95% of the nominally healthy population - so their striving for ever lower figures will be reflected in that too.
    • ptolemy
      ptolemy EileenH

      Posted

      I suppose it is all those statins they are giving to everyone which are distorting the figures! 
    • EileenH
      EileenH ptolemy

      Posted

      Those figures have no place in normal ranges... frown
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