Strange Result at Doctor's Appointment

Evening all!

I went to the doctor today for a routine physical exam. For the last several months, I've felt anxious and out of sorts like many others have reported. Lab work was done last week so that she would have the results for our appointment. While perusing my results, she left the room for about 10 minutes and came back to tell me that my tests included an unusual reading she had never seen so low in all her years of practicing medicine. When she left the room, she did so to call the lab to confirm that the results had been double checked and then told me that my vitamin D level, which usually ranges between of 30 -100 ngs, for a normal reading, was 2 ngs. It sounded so funny that I started to laugh but she scorned and impressed on me the importance of the situation as they're finding that vitamin D helps with a myriad of problems, including mood balance, osteoporotic, and most recently, studies have shown that it might be a deterrent for some major cancers. In any event, I've been assured that with ample supplementation, we should be able to get those levels back to normal again but it made me wonder about two things.

Firstly, our main source of vitamin D is from the sun. When I was young, you never heard of vitamin D deficiencies because we spent all of our free time outdoors. What I have remarked as a bizarre observation in more than one thread is this unusual cloud blockage of the sun when it rises in the morning. It's become somewhat of a fascination for me and I have to say that out of seven days a week, the sun is usually blocked behind well positions clouds at least four to five days (in other words, it is blocked by a "cloud spurt" for lack of a better description, which seem to move as the sun does across horizon, whereas there are amble blue skies in the periphery). At first I thought this might be happening because I live by a river and perhaps fog over the water was creating this cloud coverage, but I've started taking pictures and they are definitely fluffy clouds not comprised of fog (or they're strange "fringed" type of clouds). Through the day, I see the sun less and less and it certainly isn't the "direct sunlight" I remember basking in from my youth.

So my question to you is this - has anyone else recently been been diagnosed with a vitamin D definiciency and if yes, have you been suffering from some type of malaise, anxiety or lack of energy? Secondly, do you think that all of the chemicals that have been sprayed and released into the environment could be blocking the beneficial rays from which we receive most of our vitamin D? If my quick internet precursory search was correct, it seems as if vitamin D comes from the more harmful UVB rays so it would make sense for those rays to be the target of blockage (if you believe in tinkering with nature in such a way, which I, personally, do not) but how is it we always balanced the dangerous effects from UVB rays (skin cancer) with the beneficial ones received in the form of vitamin D. That might seem like a silly question to some but not to those of us who aren't familiar with such things.

Well those are my thoughts and questions. Thanks for your input. It's not something I'm particularly worried about but I'm curious about others' thoughts and experiences.

Timidgal
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reply to post by timidgal


I dont have this problem much.. I run at night, but usually walk about 2-3 miles during the day time.
Another thing to note is that Vitamin D isn't quite made by the sun, however sunlight is important in the process of making Vitamin D. (This isn't important, just a bit of trivia I suppose)

I had a teacher (who is an MD) tell me that about 20 minutes or outside, even on a cloudy day is enough to create normal vitamin D levels. It's not something I've personally run into, however I know my mother has had an issue with it in the past.

I will look into this and get you links. But dont worry about this yet.

What happened was the medical standard for Vitamin D levels went UP, meaning tons of people, mostly in the Baby Boomers group, now are considered low on D, even though their personal level may not have changed, just because the standard bar went up.

This link talks about the recommended levels being raised in January:
Science News


And here is another link, this one (last paragraph) talks about the bar being raised, causing so many of us to suddenly qualify as deficient.
Vitamin Council


So this is no reason to worry, just get those levels straight, it's easy to do, and you're in the same boat as lots of the rest of us.

reply to post by timidgal


I too have a vitamin D deficiency... A recent development as well. I'm taking 5000 IU's a day and still can't keep my numbers up. Going back to the doc in a few weeks to check it again (among other things). I don't spend much time outside... I burn easily and live at high elevation.

My mood is not much different than usual, but I would say I'm generally not the most chipper person

reply to post by Miraj

Thanks for the education. Strange thing is that I'm an amateur photographer and spend a good portion of my day outside. I guess that's why this deficiency surprised me.

reply to post by Ameilia
This is GREAT info, Ameilia. Thanks so much!!

reply to post by xenthuin
5,000 BTU's??? Now I'm wondering about my prescribed treatment which seems extremely excessive - she wants me to take a mega shock dosage of 50,000 BTU's over a one week period. Once blood is checked and back in sync, she'll change me to 2,000 BTU's a day. This seems a bit excessive, no?

reply to post by timidgal


50,000 IU's over one week, meaning about 7,000 IU's per day? That doesn't seem so bad. Like I said, I'm on a sustained 5,000 IU's every single day (35,000 IU's per week) for months now, and still my level had barely moved at the last checkpoint.

reply to post by xenthuin
Point well made. Thanks for the reassurance!

Originally posted by timidgal
reply to post by xenthuin

 

5,000 BTU's??? Now I'm wondering about my prescribed treatment which seems extremely excessive - she wants me to take a mega shock dosage of 50,000 BTU's over a one week period. Once blood is checked and back in sync, she'll change me to 2,000 BTU's a day. This seems a bit excessive, no?

If it seems excessive to you, or you feel uncomfortable, you don't have to do it. You can always do your own research (which you obviously are), you can always get a second opinion, and you can always decide on a different treatment (such as taking a lower level of D over a long period of time) and see what suits your body best.

This isn't imminently life threatening, so you have a lot of leeway to take the time to research and decide for yourself. Some people can get their levels corrected by simply adding a multivitamin.

So my husband was recently diagnosed with the same thing. He was taking the 50,000mg of vitamin D and after all his tests they found he has a pituitary issue. He goes to see the endocrinologist next week to see why the pituitary is shrinking. Not sure which issue caused which issue yet.

Watch out what test they did some doctors don't test for both forms of Vitamin D many only test for .25(OH)D

There are two forms, .25(OH)D and 1.25(OH)D with a number of disorders the .25(OH)D levels can be very low and the 1.25(OH)D level very high. This is fine because the body can use both types.
If you have this and are given mega doseages of Vitamin D to bring up your levels of .25 D you may end up with vitamin D toxicity(severe hypercalcemia)
labtestsonline.org...

I have Sarcoidosis and have to watch doctors do not try to kill me. with to much vitamin D

Other disorders those with hyperparathyroidism, kidney disease, tuberculosis, or histoplasmosis.
These disorders may be asymptomatic and only found because both test were done for Vitamin D.

I just wanted to post a few things to "stir up your research" per say.

1) Vitamin D has been researched to actually prevent some forms of cancer
www.cancer.gov...

2) If UVA and UVB are so bad than how did our ancestors survive?

3) Wearing sunglasses is said to help protect your eyes. But glasses that are too dark can hurt them as well. Also add that your eye is designed to repair its self just as fast as it is damaged (i read this as a kid and cannot find a source so please correct me if that opinion has changed)
www.self.com...
More info on sun, eyes and and other things
www.naturalnews.com...

Enjoy and I hope I at least gave you some new directions to look into.

p.s. Also research the relationship between B vitamins and sunburn.

reply to post by timidgal


I've read of several causes for vitamin D deficiency, the biggest i'm aware of being the diet of the average american today. I was diagnosed with a potassium deficiency actually, supposedly from over consumption of caffeinated beverages. To anyone with any sort of deficiency, i'd recommend boost nutritional drink. It's done wonders for me, xD

reply to post by paranoid7887


Dietary Vitamin D is hard to come by. And since we're told to eat a low-fat diet, the its bio-availability is suppressed. Sunlight. That's the only real way.

reply to post by timidgal



Do you mind if I ask how old you are.

ALS

In response to my post, if you are of a more experienced age then this article might be of interest.

New research has warned that many women do not obtain enough vitamin D during the menopause, which could lead to a series of health concerns.

www.bestmedicalcover.co.uk...

ALS

I have a vitamin D deficiency as well.

But yeah, I have anxiety all the time. My anxiety manifests itself in nausea, so it prevents me from eating sometimes too (probably part of why I'm malnourished). Unfortunately, fixing the vitamin D deficiency only gave me more energy... it didn't do anything for the anxiety.

My doctor ended up giving me that vitamin D pill that is slow releasing over a months time... it's a vitamin that you take once a month. Nice and convenient.

Ok, I'm a nursing student and thought I would chime in. Vitamin D is needed for blood calcium balance, blood clotting, bone formation (think osteoporosis and osteomalacia) and neuromuscular functioning, which includes the pumping action of the heart. Mainly, a person needs vitamin D for adequate calcium levels, and it's needed to absorb calcium and phosphate in the small intestines, both of which are extremely important electrolytes for energy. It also has a stabilizing effect that may offset cell differentiation which leads to cancer, but research is still ongoing on this.

Did your doctor give you any further information regarding your serum calcium levels? I ask this because it's possible to be outdoors and get adequate sunlight but if there is a synthesis problem of absorbing the vitamin D from the cholesterol in your skin, you will not get enough vitamin D no matter how much time you spend in sunlight.

Also, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means it is stored in fat cells. This is why getting a megadose of vitamin D will work because the excess that is stored in fat cells is utilized when blood serum levels start dropping.

This is just some general information. In the big scheme of things, there isn't much you can do about how much sunlight is available to get vitamin D naturally, but taking oral supplements is just as good a source, although it costs a bit!

Originally posted by justsaying

Also, vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, which means it is stored in fat cells. This is why getting a megadose of vitamin D will work because the excess that is stored in fat cells is utilized when blood serum levels start dropping.

This is just some general information. In the big scheme of things, there isn't much you can do about how much sunlight is available to get vitamin D naturally, but taking oral supplements is just as good a source, although it costs a bit!

Well, fat-soluble vitamins also need the help of lipids to be absorbed into the intestinal tract. What researchers are starting to find now is that isolating nutrients through supplementation orally isn't nearly as efficient as its natural counterpart. Sunlight, and cholesterol, is absolutely crucial for natural vitamin D synthesis and should be the first option for Vitamin D...then cod liver oil.

reply to post by Ameilia
Wow, a lot of these replies didn't show up in my inbox for some reason so I apologize for the tardiness of my responses.

Ameilia, I ended up taking 4,000 BTU's a day and for the last month, it's made an amazing difference. I'm having my levels checked again at the end of November and will post the results. Thanks for the assurance (even if I did see it a bit late, it's much appreciated).

TG