Vitamin D Supplement

[small fry]

I have been dealing with muscle and joint pain. My pain is in my lower back and both hips. Sometimes one side is worse than the other. It is most painful in the morning after sleeping and lying on my side. I was dx'd with a vitamin D deficiency due to celiac. The dr rx'd high level of Vitamin D for 2 months. I felt GREAT after about 1.5 months. However about 1 month after being off the vitamin D the pain was back. They checked my vitamin D level and it had dropped 50 points in one month. They did another EGD and after 9 months gluten free my small intestines had not changed much. My doctor is convinced the Vitamin D deficiency is causing the muscle and joint pain. I am on an over the counter vit D supplement now. Anyone else taking vitamin D supplements?

[Mountain Mama]

I am! My vit d level was nothing 2 months ago. My dr put me on Highland Labratories Effervescent Cal-Mag. It has 400 IU's of vit d, 600mg cal, 300mg magnesium and a few other things. She is having me take it twice a day, along with my daily vit which has 350 IU's of vit d. She said because it is a liquid and bubbly, it is absorbed better than a pill.

[alamaz]

Do you take fish oil? Cod Liver Oil has Vit. D. in it and the fish oil is supposed to help soothe inflammation as well. The dose is one teaspoon but I generally take 4 teaspoons a day. Also, can you get outside in the sun at all? Sunlight is the best way to get your Vit. D. Just sitting in the sun 10 - 15 mins./day can help a lot (don't wear sunscreen and make sure to sit outside in the morning or late afternoon hours to avoid the "bad sun").

Amy

[loraleena]

Carlson's Cod liver oil is supposed to be the best way to get Vit D over the counter. Check out Mercola.com for information on this.

[lonewolf]

I've been gluten-free for quite a while now and my vitamin D levels were still almost non-existant a couple of months ago. My naturopath put me on 2000 IU's of vit. D a day and will test me again after 3 months. I'm taking 1000 IU's of Thorn Laboratories and 1000 IU's of Carlson (taken from fish oil) each day. I'm hoping my skin will improve - I have bad psoriasis.

[Ursa Major]

In the fall of 2005 my vitamin D level was 24 (50 to 150 is normal, 125 is optimal). I've been taking Carlson's cod liver oil (two tablespoons a day) and at my last checkup it had gone to 150. You don't want it to go past that, so I've cut back now.

Amy, the BAD sun at noon is not bad at all, the morning and afternoon sun won't do a thing for your vitamin D levels. You need to get out when the sun is strong, with as much of your body exposed as is decent, to get enough sunshine to make your daily quota of vitamin D. Just don't stay out long enough to get burned.

The rule is to move out of the sun when you start being pink. After that your body won't convert any more of those rays into vitamin D, and you'll do yourself damage.