Vitamin D and IBS. Did it help you?

[Luisa22]

It seems like the jury's out on this.

Sheffield University say it doesn't help IBS symptoms, based on their study (July 2021) here:

sheffield.ac.uk/news/vitami...

Then Dr Ruscio says that a placebo-controlled clinical trial (July 2016) definitely had a positive impact on IBS symptoms, but the only drawback was that bowel habit didn't change (diarrhea, constipation), although all other symptoms did.

This is Dr Ruscio's article:

drruscio.com/can-vitamin-d-...

Many different articles online report contradictory results for vitamin D treatment and its impact on IBS. One says it's great...another says it's useless.

Of course, there are sites which glorify it for the treatment of IBS, but I noticed that many of those had a vested interest with either direct vitamin and supplement sales involved, or affiliate links. So what else are they supposed to say?

I tried it about 2 years ago and it made no difference to my symptoms. But I was going through a rough time But this year I did notice that during all that sunny weather which went on for weeks, I was so much improved. I began to feel "normal" again but for one or two mild glitches possibly food related when I tried to re-introduce some foods to my diet.

It's only been since October as the light has started to fade and there's not much vitamin D from the sun (if we see it) plus an endless cloudy gloom, that I have felt worse again with more distension, discomfort, wind, sensitivity to fibre foods again, loose bowel movements and diarrhea at times. So I wondered.

I'd be really interested to read any feedback.

Has supplementing with vitamin D, or more exposure to sunshine helped anyone's symptoms here?

(edit...please could you also say if it was vitamin D2 or vitamin D3 if there was any improvement?)

[xjrs]

I supplemented with Vitamin D3 (I believe) both in pill and liquid form. Any tiny amount of Vitamin D supplementation made me highly constipated. Apparently, what you don't require ends up in the intestines causing constipation.

Interesting about the sunlight discussion. Could there be other reasons for feeling better in the Summertime? Do you feel more relaxed in Summer, spend more time outdoors in nature, exercise more? All these things will help IBS.

Since I am dairy free, the way I get vitamin D is by eating oily fish. I have 2 mackerel fillets and a small tin of red salmon spread across the week. When I had my latest blood test from the GP and I specifically asked for a vitamin D test, my Vitamin D showed in the normal range albeit, being slightly at the lower end of normal.

[Luisa22 in reply to xjrs]

That is really weird xjrs, and I have heard from some other people with IBS who said it had a tendency to make them constipated. The reason it's weird is that the above study, plus the doctor's blog, and something else I read this evening, said it makes no difference to "bowel habit" (by that they mean constipation or diarrhea.) So their studies and conclusions don't make sense do they?

I think the studies were done with high doses (50,000 iu once two-weekly, or 3.500iu (I can't remember exact figure) daily. So one would think that at those doses, it might be just a little more than sufficient for the body and the constipation effect might happen.

[xjrs in reply to Luisa22]

I keep a log when I take new things and the slightest amount (this was very much within RDA amounts or less) made me constipated. Like everything to do with our guts, since all our systems are unique from one another, what happens for one person, may not necessarily happen for another, although there may be some general trends.

[asenath in reply to xjrs]

Hi xjrs, I have IBS-d, and Anxiety/stress. In Summer I take 2000 iu Vit D3 daily, and 4000, during Winter. This has stopped my need for a SAD lamp, and has improved my anxiety. Maybe this improvement has inadvertently benefited my stress related IBS, I'm not having as many flares as I used to. I'd not considered a link between Vit D and IBS before, will have to look into it a bit more.

Also I take Acidophilus daily, but have seen your posts on Alflorex and have considered changing to this, not sure yet.

[Weezie99]

It has made no difference for me. I tested very low on Vit D a year ago. Doc rx'd tablets for me. A year later...lab results well within the normal range, but my IBSD remains the same.

[Blearyeyed]

I think most of these researchers miss the point when trying Vitamin D for IBS .Vitamin D will probably only have a big impact on any type of IBS if it helps the root cause or health condition that has triggered the IBS in the first place.

Good nutrition and plenty of water is universally helpful to all IBS sufferers .

If you are low or deficient in Vitamin D , or have other health conditions which benefit from increased Vitamin D , like Fibromyalgia, Arthritis, Connective Tissue illnesses , Neurological or Cardio problems etc. etc. then the effect of Vitamin D on improving those conditions will inevitably help to reduce the triggers for the IBS.

I do need the Vitamin D , and when I get deficient it does make a difference to my IBS -C. But that is also true about other vitamins especially , Vitamin B 12 , Vitamin C, Folates and my iron levels.

Basically , everyone has a unique health profile and dietary needs which has caused their specific type of IBS , so what is a miracle for one can be poison for another, or make no difference at all to someone else.

Finding what works best for you , and the root causes of your IBS is important for us all .

[Hidden]

I have been taking vitamin D for over 4 years to help with osteopenia in my hips and now the menopause and it certainly hasn’t helped my IBS

[KayGeeBee]

I've been taking 10ug Vitamin D daily for about eight years. I found the suggestion on an IBS forum somewhere after googling that my symptoms were worse in winter. My cramps went away within days. A couple of years later I wondered if I still needed to take it so stopped. After a few days the cramps returned, then they went away again after resuming. I repeated the test a year or so later with the same results. So I won't repeat the test again - I'm staying on it. I've only had cramps once while on it, a few months ago and so have increased to the dose to 20ug/day for now. I would say though that Vitamin D has only treated the cramps. Other symptoms such as flatulence, irregularity and stress-induced diarrhoea persist, so it is only of partial help.

[Luisa22 in reply to KayGeeBee]

Well, that's good, even though it hasn't helped your other symptoms, at least it took away the pain. Yes, stay with it.