This is very interesting.
If you can cope with Jonathan 😜
youtu.be/zI0ptL9-wBE?si=T75...
My ears pricked up at around the 30 min mark. Calcium and the dangers of too much.
I was px'd it at the outset of PMR ( 8 years ago 😱) but never really took it consistently. I gave up after a few weeks.
So, I won't be chasing my Dr for my next dose of Vit D.
I think hypercalcemia has been mentioned on this board that you can have too much calcium.
Jonathan does rabbit on a bit doesn’t he.. 😏 and the problem with a lot of Zoe podcasts is they are addressed to all ages, and invariably healthy people . We need to put some of the comments into context.
That's their version. And as DL says, all aimed at the healthy. It is all about context and you cannot make such sweeping generalisations. I used to have a lot of time for TS but they are falling into the trap of many before them - we're right and every one else is not.
There has been a recent review of a lot of studies and the conclusion that has been come to is that there IS a role for vit D supplementation for the young, the older and anyone with a vit D deficit at any age. ZOE podcasts really are not aimed at those groups.
You need to have your vit D level checked every so often and aim to keep it at a decent level. I know if I don't take 4000 IU a day then my blood level slowly falls to a deficient level. Pred causes it to fall further than even the lack of sunshine.
By chance I watched that You tube on Vit D and learned a lot. There was one on Fungi too. I also saw my GP today about the high glucose reading HbA1C , 45 in a range from 20-41.
He was rather laid back about it and agreed that it could be linked to Pred. causing spikes. All he advised was to eat any sweet things as part of a meal and not on their own e.g a bar of chocolate in one sitting. I am ignoring that and cutting sugar out totally.
I looked back on the last two tests and Sept 2023 it was 40; March 2024, 39 and now 45.
He said he would request another blood test in January 2025 and No, they dont test for Vit D levels any more. He does not like Zoe either, so we begged to differ and I wont mention them again!
Another coincidence was yesterday, meeting a retired woman on the bus. She told me she had PMR from the Pfizer Covid and as she had worked all her life with vaccines she was convinced. We exchanged notes and I told her about this forum, so I hope she joins. She has a good rheum i at the Royal Free in London who was interested in PMR but she could not remember any names, and said everyone in the department was good. I might ask to be referred there next year if my tapering does not go well. I am at 7m.g again.
Anyway thank you everyone for your advice and comments on Diabetes and Pred they nudged me to see the GP at least.
I don't think any of us would deny the Covid jab can trigger PMR - but it isn't because it is from Pfizer, or that it is for Covid in particular but because it is a vaccine that stimulated an immune system which was on the point of being tipped over into derangement anyway. If it hadn't been the Pfizer jab, it could have been the flu or shingles jab, or the flu or shingles. Or whatever the next thing was that stimulated the immune system.
I appreciate your word "derangement" of an immune system. We all want connections and reasons for things going wrong.
There is so much covid around N London that I am going to have the booster. I am 3 behind most people because of the fear of a flare.
I agree with your view of Zoe too. They want to do more research and that is costly but it is just a pity the request is dropped into the middle of a scientific discussion, making you wonder if their motive is pure. Time will tell, but at least they have the guts to do the research independently and it's up to others to do the same.
One reason some have had problems with too much calcium is because they lack the micronutrients which control where calcium goes. Vitamin D is important for calcium absorption, but it does not tell that calcium where to go. Micronutrients, particularly magnesium and Vitamin K2, are essential to make sure calcium not needed for immediate life processes goes to the bones rather than floating around and eventually settling into organs or onto the walls of blood vessels.
It is very individual too and it seems to be for the well. It is also why we take K2 as well. My vit D level plummets if I do less that 800-1000 iu. I think we should all be checked more than we are and not just when we ask
my bone specialist pointed out that over the age of 65 the ability to convert sunlight to vitamin D decreases very rapidly. As has already been pointed out, Zoe's audience is young and healthy. did anyone see there recent podcast on how unnecessary protein supplements are...in the middle they advertised the supplement that they now sell!!
I came to the conclusion that they are more about their business being to sell stuff now - yes, they need funds to do their studies but they are far too generalised to be relevant to us. And their podcasts are a bit like watching paint dry now!!!
so disappointing.
Good dog! lol
Watching pain dry lol. I know it was a miss type but quite appropriate under the circumstances.
I haven't watched a ZOE for a long time and yes, I can see that they're more self interested now.
I thought it was interesting. On the calcium-D supplements, I found I was getting grumbling in my gallbladder and when I swopped to home-made kefir, it stopped.
I was taking K2 and D3, but my K also includes the recommended 400 iu of D so following this vid I am going to stop the additional D tablet cause it is too much.
Anecdote sort of related to this; a 'friend's' 15-year-old grandkid, on the spectrum, broke his leg and went to stay with her and her husband for care cause his parents work. He insisted that all he ever ate were Domino's pizzas, chicken nuggets and crisps. He also was nocturnal didn't go outside, and didn't try to walk, paddled himself round the house with his good leg in a wheelchair.
After 5 weeks the hospital removed the cast and the leg had not healed at all! So he was recast and sent home. Apart from the dire communication in this family, I was astounded that a young person, even with a crap lifestyle, would not have the youthful energy to heal a break. Terrifying.
Zoe Programme
Vitamin D
Never mind the adrenals, what about vitamin D?
Vitamin D study 
