Vitamin D

[detritus]

I just got blood tests back that show I'm extremely deficient in Vitamin D. I started doing a little research on the internet about vitamin D, and found an interesting study about vitamin D and MS. They mentioned that Vitamin D helps the body to differentiate between "self" and "enemy". Since between the Celiac's and my RA, my body is definitely attacking itself, I found this very intriguing. Has anyone else come up vitamin D deficient?

[kareng]

I did. I think a lot of us have. Take your supplement and feel better. I know of people who are deficient and don't have celiac disease. We don't get it in our diets and we don't go in the sun without sunscreen. Also, in most of the US and Canada the sun isn't intense enough many months of the year.

[Looking for answers]

Unfortunately, yes. I began becoming interested in this years ago, thanks to Dr. Mercola. He has written a lot about the connection between Vitamin D deficiency and autoimmune disorders, cancers, etc. I believe this contributed a lot to my health problems...not that it causes gluten intolerances, but it may be enough to trigger or "activate" the gene if you have it. Same with RA, MS. Check out mercola.com....you'll probably become as fascinated by it as I did.

[kayo]

I live in New England where the sun is sometimes more absent than present. I'm outside soaking up vitamin D (and freckles) whenever that orange globe makes an appearance. Despite my attempts at getting natural vitamin D and taking supplements I've struggled with vitamin D deficiency for years and the only advice my RA doc gave me was 'take vitamin D'. I had a range of 11-20 for years despite taking 1000mg of D daily. Normal range is 25-80. I think he was under the impression I wasn't taking it. You'd think that he would have been clued that something was going on, right? Sigh It wasn't until I saw the celiac specialist did she make the connection. She put me on 50k units weekly for 8 weeks. That's over and I now take 2000 mg daily. My level is now a healthy 36. This a great clue that the diet changes are working. I still have some things going on that are unknown (maybe fructose intolerance, maybe bacterial overgrowth) but I'm healing.

[Roda]

I've been told by my endocrinologist, gyn and gi doctor that my vitamin D level should be a minimal of 50 and optimal at 70. When I started supplementation about 1 1/2 years ago my level was around 17. It is up past 60 now. I have been taking prescription 50,000 iu of vitamin D since then and all my doctors said for me to stay on it year round.

[tictax707]

I can't remember what my levels are, but they were also pretty low. I have osteopenia, but it's not just celiac related... I am also an endurance athlete, and some days I'll burn more calories in a workout than I do in a typical day. It's hard to keep on top of the caloric outgo versus income. My doctor also put me on supplements, but the ones that were really high in vitamin D also gave me wicked gas. So I am trying to keep on top of it with my old caltrate supplement, soymilk, and time in the sun. I get about 1700-1800 daily. It's been less than a year since I found out about the osteopenia, but I am not sure how long it would take to turn the vitamin D levels around.

[frieze]

Vitamin D is measured in IUs (international units) the prescription ones, the little kelly green gel caps, are D2--- not the better of the two commonly available forms. What you really want is D3 which you can get at the health food store, and probably the grocery. The dosage i have seen suggested is 1000 units per 25# of body wt, daily, until levels are up where the need to be.

[mushroom]

I don't believe 1700-1800 is a day is enough to start with. That's a good maintenance dose though.

The way my rheumatologist described it to me, if your gas tank is empty, you don't put in just one gallon - that will barely get you to the next gas station. You need to fill up your tank first, and then keep it topped up, otherwise you are always running on empty. So I was taking 50,000 iu every week initially, and now every month (of D3). 50,000 iu seems to be the normal kick-start dose.

[detritus]

I don't believe 1700-1800 is a day is enough to start with. That's a good maintenance dose though.

The way my rheumatologist described it to me, if your gas tank is empty, you don't put in just one gallon - that will barely get you to the next gas station. You need to fill up your tank first, and then keep it topped up, otherwise you are always running on empty. So I was taking 50,000 iu every week initially, and now every month (of D3). 50,000 iu seems to be the normal kick-start dose.

Yes, that's what I was given-the 50,000, iu one per week. I'm supposed to take it for 8 weeks. I'm wondering if eventually my body will be able to extract the vitamins it needs naturally, once my villi are healed. Also, my RBC count is low, but my iron levels are ok......what would I take to increase my red blood cells?

Thanks for all the responses, by the way:)

[quincy]

Yes, that's what I was given-the 50,000, iu one per week. I'm supposed to take it for 8 weeks. I'm wondering if eventually my body will be able to extract the vitamins it needs naturally, once my villi are healed. Also, my RBC count is low, but my iron levels are ok......what would I take to increase my red blood cells?

Thanks for all the responses, by the way:)

my endo doc put me on 50,000 iu's twice a week for 6 weeks, then a re test of my levels. I wanted the D3 but she told me it wasnt available in this dosage. once you get your levels up then you can do maintenance at 2000 or so a day with D3.

it is also recommended to get a bone density test and to take calcium plus D twice a day. my bone density test revealed osteopnenia in my right hip bone and I am a male who works out and runs... it was quite a shock.

red meat is good for red blood cells and so is spinach etc.

[sb2178]

RBC: possibly folate or B12 (or both)

You'd have to have your dr look at the size of your RBC (it helps if you have a baseline) or other bloodwork.

Yeah, I've been deficient/low now and previously despite OTC supplementation. And no, I don't wear sunscreen but I do live in the cold dark north. It's fairly common. The high dose did bring me back up to normal, but then my levels drop again... I'm now just on 4,000 IU/day endlessly.

The connections btwn D and autoimmune diseases are interesting, but given the length of time needed to study the development of AI diseases, it's difficult to clearly establish a causal association rather than a correlation (present!) in humans.

[anabananakins]

I've been told by my endocrinologist, gyn and gi doctor that my vitamin D level should be a minimal of 50 and optimal at 70.

My endocrinologist (I'm insulin resistant) called me today with my results and gave those exact ranges. And mine was 2! And I live in Australia! I was so surprised but now that I've been reading about it, I'm freaked that more people aren't aware. I can't work out what my dosage is compared to yours, but I'm supposed to take 3 tablets and the bottle says the recommended dosage is only one.

This will bring me up to a nice round 20 (various) pills to take each day. Packing for 4 weeks away is going to be fun...