I just got a call.. my blood work came back and I have a Vitamin D deficiency.. Any clue what that means??? Or why??? They put me on a Vitamin D 50,000...
Common with PsA and all too common with adults in general especially if you live "north" its comes from exposure to the sun as much as anywhere. Good D levels help with joint pain.
Ditto everything tntlamb said. I came up low in Vitamin D last year, and started taking a daily supplement (5,000/day in a gelcap), and it does help me to supplement.
A couple times a year I take high dose D4 for 6-8 weeks (once a week), and I take 2000iu daily of D3. Vitamin D deficiency is common for people who don't live along the equator - and even more common for people who spend lots of time indoors.
have it too but cant take vid meds or infusions , do I got some cream and sit in the sun alot
I have had a Vitamin D deficiency off and on for quite a few years. I take 2000/day gelcaps and usually every year or so I end up with the 50,000/week for about 4 weeks to get it back in control. I live in NC and love the sun and outdoors and when weather permits I am always outside - spring, summer and fall the only time I am indoors is to work and sleep. But still have the deficiency. I did notice a few months ago when my levels were really low that I seemed to have more joint pain, my doctor told me this was not uncommon plus it goes along with some of those pesky female problems people my age have. A vitamin D deficiency can cause other problems as well. Keep telling my husband we need to win the lottery (of course we would first have to play) so we can move to the tropics, don't guess we will not be moving this week, we didn't buy a ticket!
Believe it or not you can win the lottery without playing despite what the ads say. I have never played (all right once in awhile when I feel lucky.....) But my ex-husband was always in arrears on child support. When he won they sent the winnings to me! Too funny but he stopped playing long before the arrears were paid!
I read in the literature how common it was so I started myself on D3 4000iu daily. My doctor said that was ok with her but I have never had a level drawn.
Very common with P and PsA. Vit D is an immunomodulatory hormone, as well as being a plain old vitamin (so its in the mix somehow but they are still researching how).
I live in the subtropics and get stacks of sun, but still have low Vit D levels and supplement with 1000 units every day.
I stopped doing it whilst on summer holidays (boat and beach every day), and wasn’t quite as well as I had been - then I noticed the general muscle pains and light fatigue that I was getting seemed to reduce when I recommenced the Vit D. (not the terrible, grinding PsA fatigue, or really painful joints - they are under control from Enbrel - Vit D is probably part of the picture, but won’t fix the bad symptoms).
I believe the Vitamin D is needed to aid in the absorption of calcium. My rheumatologist checks my Vit. D level as well as having me take 600 mg. of calcium 3 times a day. Even though I am taking the calcium and Vit. D my bone density has decreased and so now I am taking Fosamax once a week to try to prevent osteoporosis.
My rheumatologist is watching the health of my bones and joints so if I am not clear on how things work together, I make sure to ask her lots of questions about it.
common in all people PsA or not.
often comes up in the winter where we don't get much sun.
does make a difference in the way you feel physically and mentally.
I have been on 100,000 iud of vitamin D for months now. It helps you to retain calcium. It's so crazy as you read don't take too much vitamin D and then these rheumys give you megadoses. Who knows...
I do sublingual D drops and got one of those SAD lights (I live up by Seattle, we don’t have sun for most of the winter) I added progesterone cream at night and have been able to finally start weaning off of the Ambien. I think Vit. D is pretty important.
To Redhedgurl63: Do they think the vitamin D deficiency is related to sleep? I ask because I have trouble staying asleep. If that problem could be related to a deficiency, maybe I need for my doctor to pay more attention to it. I live in Georgia and our climate is very different from your part of the country.
Redhedgurl63 said:
I do sublingual D drops and got one of those SAD lights (I live up by Seattle, we don't have sun for most of the winter) I added progesterone cream at night and have been able to finally start weaning off of the Ambien. I think Vit. D is pretty important.
The whole vitamin D thing seems to be unsolved. Some people think it’s the deficiency that’s the problem, some think it’s part of the healing mechanism and it gets low as a response, and we’re not supposed to supplement. I personally feel low D is a contributor to illness, and find when I supplement I feel better and sleep better. I was having the Ambien discussion on FB with friends, many of whom complain about low sleep quality in the winter, and the one’s who take D said they improved their sleep. I noticed that my sleep improved dramatically after adding that SAD light to my routine, so I’d have to say “yes.” For me, D affects my sleep depth, quality and amount. Diet as well. Hormones, for sure. Adding the progesterone cream, and keeping up with my D is allowing me to slowly get off the Ambien. I’m down to half a pill, yet still sleeping. Shrug. Other’s may have a different take on it, but as I am also a 50 year old thyroid patient, this is the method that is working for me. Avoiding gluten, supplementing with D, managing my hormones and getting light daily into the cones of my eyes= sleepy time for redhed!!
You don't need much sun. I can only give you the Australian recommendations. The recommended amount is around 10 minutes a day to get enough Vitamin D. Even on overcast days there is usually enough sun. It is well known that we can get sunburn on overcast days in Summer. You need to get sun on at least 10% of you skin. Too much sun can cause skin cancer, so you do need to be careful not to overdo it.
It seems that it is becoming quite common even in Australia, particularly in pregnant women. Bella above hit the nail on the head with her suggestions. I would rather do the ten minutes a day than take another tablet
I understand that, however, that Makes the assumption that every single one of us has the same exact physical needs and metabolism. That there is an umbrella treatment that should work identical for each of us, and as a group, we know that’s just not the case. It’s quite possible that there are a number of things wrong that are preventing her from metabolizing vitamin D properly. We know that other minerals and vitamins are involved in the process And having any of those out of whack might lead to the need to supplement with extra vitamin D to counter balance that. Having multiple illnesses in my case only compounds the challenges. It’s quite possible that someone who lives in a sunny climates may still need supplementation due to Other complications not shared by everyone on this board. The interconnectivity that makes the human body such a mechanical marvel can also make it very complicated to adjust!
I just had blood work and my vit D was very low. I don;t know if its because I live up in new england and a female getting older I have just started taking D3 2000 u I wonder why so many like us that have PSA and take meds if its related??
A friend of mine had VERY low vitamin D last year, and she is perfectly healthy. We live in the Seattle area though... very little sun most of the year. Still, she was dx with very low vit. D in the summer, when we DO have sun.
peg said:
I just had blood work and my vit D was very low. I don;t know if its because I live up in new england and a female getting older I have just started taking D3 2000 u I wonder why so many like us that have PSA and take meds if its related??
I live just below Seattle. It's like I said, there's a lot of discussion among professionals as to just what a low D level indicates. Some think it means nothing, some think it's an indication of disease, and some think it's a byproduct of illness.
I have a theory that we're very much like an internal combustion engine. If the fuel/oil/air ratios are correct, everything fires properly, and onward we go. If you get one thing out of adjustment, it causes a cascade of errors and everything begins to break down. I think Psa is the end result of multiple system errors. A lot of science points to the stomach and or some sort of biological infection as a starting place for the inflammation. I honestly don't know. I was tested for everything, even the genetic thing that points to Psa, negatory on all of it. I was born into a thyroid disease riddled family and have hashi's, got lyme disease and over the course of 7 years developed the Psa. I've read about incidents where a group of ppl attending a common event who all got salmonella coming down with RA within the following few years...
Again, I don't have any answers, but it all has to be connected somehow, since our bodies are a system, not just a bunch of disparate parts. Maybe getting gut health, nutritional balance and hormonal/adrenal balance is key. I've focused on that as opposed to the drugs and have kept it sort of at bay for 7 years. Not perfectly, but when I do what I'm supposed to I certainly have some really good days. For me personally, that includes vit. D. But I may just be placeboing myself!