My doctor just told my by phone yesterday (Wed.) that I have Vitamin D deficiency. He wants me to take a supplement of 2000IU.
I just can’t believe it’s true. I take a Vitamin/Mineral Multiple with 100% of the daily allowance of Vitamin D every day. Furthermore, I have a bowl of cold cereal with Vitamin D-enriched milk every day.
What am I missing here (literally and figuratively)?
Sunlight.
10 chars.
I am in India (where there’s lots of sunshine). My brother is experiencing pain on entire right side of his body(from head to toe) from a long time. He has done MRIs but nothing came. Finally, one doctor asked for vitamin D blood test, and vitamin D deficiency(least expected) was found. Doc prescribed 60000 IU per week vitamin D for 8 weeks. He is also taking morning sunshine and egg yolk besides the supplement from 2 weeks and feeling some improvement in pain.
It seems like everyone has a Vitamin D deficiency, and I’m just not sure what to make of that. Is the normal range set where it should be?
Yes, there is a normal range.
There are several factors involved in the sudden “epidemic” of Vitamin D deficiency.
Doctors are checking for it more, thus, they’re finding deficiencies that might have been missed before.
People are more mobile. You have more dark-skinned people migrating to climates with less sunshine, and their dark skin means they need more sun than light-skinned people to generate Vitamin D.
People stay indoors more. This also reduces the amount of sunlight they are exposed to, which again reduces Vitamin D production.
People are wearing more sunblock. This also reduces Vitamin D production.
It’s been found that people are less able to absorb Vitamin D from food as they age, and people are living longer.
So there’s no one explanation for all this but a number of factors. As Vitamin D has been found to be important for more than just healthy bones (as if those weren’t important enough!) it’s a good idea to get your levels up to the normal/healthy range.
I was just told this as well, and it’s strange to me, especially since I do get out side plenty, and I don’t wear sunscreen as much as I should. I also have cereal most mornings so I’m wondering why as well. I just have to remember to take my vitamins every morning.
I’ve been dealing with this for a while as well. I get out in the sun a lot but always wear sunscreen - my DR said that lots of folks in New England and other northern areas have this issue.
I too was recently told I have vitamin D deficiency.
For 12 weeks I have to take a little black pill once a week.
What’s weird is, I’m a total milk-o-holic. I would have never guessed I was lacking in vitamin D.
I do live like a vampire though.
My guess would be low absorption. Especially in the winter months. I was thinking about getting a vitamin panel done because I think I’m low on D (and possibly B). I’m indoors all day for work, I tend to just relax at home on the weekends, and I don’t take a multivitamin.
I was told I had a vitamin D deficiency when my doctor started including that test in his blood tests during annual physicals a couple of years ago.
No biggie. I buy a huge bottle of 600 vitamin D tablets (2000 IU) at Costco for basically nothing, and it lasts me almost two years.
Oh, I know there is a normal range. I’m just wondering if it was initially set on the high side. All the reasons you give for the rise in deficiencies make perfect sense, and I’m sure that many people do have a deficiency. I’m just not convinced that the “normal range” cutoff is realistic.
Even people who get tons and tons of sun don’t necessarily get into the “normal” range, and there’s a lot of variation in the assays used.
The only reason vitamin D is in milk is to aid in calcium absorption. It is not a therapeutic amount of D for supplement on any level for anyone. Same for multivitamins.
If you want to make your own sufficient levels of vitamin D, you have to go outside in shorts and t-shirt at minimum undress ( at least arms, legs and face/neck exposed) for 15 minutes a day, twice a day, with no sunscreen and in full unobstructed sunlight. Since that’s pretty much impossible for a large portion of the population of the planet, there is a large number of people with insufficient vitamin D.
Since I avoid sunlight and work nights, the amount of D2 in my body is too small to measure according to my blood tests. I take 10,000IU a day of D3 and that level is exactly in the middle of the range (not that I can remember what that range is at the moment).
my vit D is also low and my doctor has me taking D3, I think 10,000. also vit K (which is very expensive!) because she says otherwise it will leach calcium out of your bones. or something.
anyway, if you take a vit D supplement, look into taking K as well.
Moved MPSIMS --> IMHO.
I’m not an expert but I recall reading that Vitamin D is absorbed best by the body if consumed with fat. So you might try taking your vitamin pill with your largest richest meal of the day. They also make chocolate vitamin D supplements for this purpose.
Bless them.
I developed hypocalcemia after my parathyroid was injured during my thyroidectomy a few years ago. My body couldn’t hold any D because there was no calcium for it to hang onto, no matter how much milk/yogurt I ingested or how long I stayed outside.
My major symptom? The muscles in both hands “froze” and I developed a noticeable twitch on my face. I also had a lot of joint pain that definitely was not arthritic.
I had to take prescription D (I don’t remember how many units) for a few months as well as mega doses of calcium supplement.
As long as neither my D nor my serum calcium falls below a certain level, I can take OTC D (5000 units). I’ve been told both are always going to be on the low side, so I should expect general fatigue and joint aches as well as a predisposition for easily broken bones as I get older. Fun times 
Vitamin D deficiency is big in medical circles and doctors are calling for more of it in people’s diet. I have a suspicion that in ten years this will be found to be an overreaction. My doctor want me to take 2K units a day. I figure it can’t hurt, but am skeptical.
My wife was just told she also has a D problem. We lead the same lifestyle so I had mine checked, it was fine, in fact on the high side of normal.
The only real difference is I work on the yard frequently out in the sun.
A lot of people have this deficiency. I more recently had a visit, and while everything checked out well, I was also prescribed some large vitamin D supplement for a period, before falling back to regular 1000 IU capsules.
More sunlight, they say, but its easier said than done, especially going into the winter months.