Vit d level v low! 52 nmol/L;ref range is 50 - ... - Thyroid UK
Vit d level v low! 52 nmol/L;ref range is 50 - 120nmol/L.Calcium is in range(q high).so should it be ok to supplement,and how much?
Please be aware that the more VitD you take the more calcium your body makes and if you say that your calcium is already high you could be doing more harm than good. The extra calcium your body will make when you take the VitD could lead to kidney stones or could be deposited in the heart (worse case synario) . If I were you I would find out WHY your calcium is high (have you got any actual results that you can give us - with ranges) and have you ever had your parathyroid checked as this can cause low vitD and high calcium?
Moggie x
My vit D level is 12 !!
Your level is really not bad, I wish along with many others that I could get anywhere near that.
As Moggie says if your calcium is high then you need further tests. You can still supplement but as you are above 50nmol/L you won't be needing very much.
Is your GP telling you to supplement ? I would be surprised at that level.
..her result was nmol/L not ng/L so divide it by 2.5 and you can see it's low. Hope I have that right !!
Cloud put her results down as nmol/L not sure where you thought the ng/L came in ? so 52 nmol/L is low in the range but not deficient.
My result is 12 nmol/L which is severe deficiency.
...take a look at grassrootshealth.com and look at the converter ! When you posted your D as being 12 - you didn't put a measurement. I assumed it was ng/ml as it was so low. Some labs measure in ng.ml others in nmol/L. I live in Crete and they use the former measurement.
Am sure you will feel better when you severe deficiency has been resolved.....hope so.
My problem is I can't tolerate the supplements, I should be taking really high doses but can only manage 800iu now and again so not much hope of getting my level anywhere near 50nmol/L. I also have high calcium so all a bit iffy.
..have you tied the sprays ?....
I have a 3000iu spray but haven't tried it yet, slightly worried about after effects of the higher dose but will have to be brave one day.
Can i ask what side effects u r experiencing from vit-d?i didnt know there were any..outward.
cloud, Moggie has a very good point there, it is worth checking why your D is comparatively low and the calcium is high, it can be a symptom of parathyroid issues and ought to be looked at if only for elimination purposes.
Are you excreting any calcium in your urine?
Also, are you taking calcium supplements?
Marie XX
I had a dexa scan some months ago, I had the results, I have osteopenia. I spoke to the clinician and told her that I was prescribed a calcium and vitamin d. supplement, she advised me against it. I can get all of the calcium I need from natural sources and the vitamin D from the sun. I since learned the excess calcium may have something to do with the gallstones. I am still trying to find out as much info as I can.
Thanks everyone.That is an interesting point;parathyroids;i dont know much about them.Will look into it, but what test is there for it and is doc likely to do it?My serum calcium is 2.40 mmol/L ref:2.15-2.55mmol/L.i do take a multivits and the one i take now has 160mg calcium and i do actually take a vit -d supplement of 500iu a couple of times a wk or so(or occasionally a 1000iu spray!)i was careful not to take any the day bbefore testing.But doesnt vit -d store up so the blood test is not a true indicator of my levels,as it were..(maybe i shuld stop supplementing and take test again after few months,perhaps?)I was taking it cos i guessed i mite be low(as i am a bit of an 'owl' !Is a bit reassuring that others have a muchlower level but mine is not optimal is it.(no ifea if i am excreting calcium urine..).I have read that taking vit k2 is important when taking vit-d so as to avoid the calcium problem..(i do take it some times).How complicated it all is;not needed when brain need rest.
The important test is the urine test which will tell you if you are excreting calcium. because that means it is leaching from your bones.
It Is all so complicated, and of course we have particular problems with autoimmune disease, which means that often we don't get what we need from our food for many reasons.
My mum had pernicious anaemia - it was diagnosed when she was a child - looking at the history she must have been one of the first to be diagnosed and treated with raw liver, since she was born in 1910. She also had vitiligo, but did not realise it. She just used to cover herself up all the time because she said she 'looked like a skewbald pony'! I had no idea then that her problems could be connected in any way to my Graves; disease and never at any time did a doctor make the connection either.
I remember all her life that she regularly used to get periods of total exhaustion and what the doctor called 'nervous debility'. She would have a couple of weeks off work, and eat raw liver sandwiches with plenty of salt and pepper, and after about a week she would start to perk up. I can't help wondering sometimes if that was not better than all the pills and sprays, just as the original thyroid treatments were actually more effective.
Wherever possible, nature's way is best, because unless you go overboard and, say, eat far too many carrots, a good balanced diet never gives you too much of anything.
Sorry, I know this is a bit off the point, but certainly it seems not logical to continue taking calcium supplements if your calcium is already high. And I would certainly want to know what is going on with the parathyroids and if the calcium is being excreted in the urine.
Marie XX
I think you have confused matters by taking the multi vitamins. Your calcium isn't high at 2.40, its mid range so it would be advisable to stop the multi vitamins that contain calcium and just concentrate on your low VitD. Taking 500iu a couple of times a week wont help your levels, you need to take at least 2,000iu daily for your levels to increase. A dose of 1,000iu daily is a maintenance dose (in other words your levels will stay were they are and not increase) so you taking 500iu occasionally is going to get you nowhere.
What you really need to do is get your tests done one at a time i.e. B12, vitD, Ferritin, iron and folates and IF (and only if) low then supplement. Supplementing when you haven't had the appropriate tests done will either cause you more problems or just confuse issues as it has done in this case.
Moggie x
My doc refused to do B12 and folate tests as said a deficiency would be indicated by other tests(ie;full blood count)..i will try find multi vit w low calcium but wouldnt stop taking as think it gives me energy.Oh,i had ferritin test done and its 48ug/L ref:13.00-150.00ug/L...so could do with more iron which i suspected would be case.
My GP refused me a ferritin test on the same assumption but my high ALP levels, my high red blood count level and my low MCH level were all indicators that I was deficient in iron but she either didn't know what she was looking at or chose to ignore it (and I strongly suspect this could have been down to cost).
You don't have to be totally deficient in B12 for it to cause problems, in fact you need to be near the top end of the range for your thyroid meds to be utilised properly. I know how it is when GP's wont do tests, I only got all my tests done when I went to an endo but before that I had a battle to get any tests done. One thing that did work for me was going in and asking her "will you take notice of a private blood test result if I have one done" as some GP's will dismiss private tests without even looking at them, she asked which lab I was going to use and I named a few and then surprised me by relenting and doing the VitD test I was asking for. Low and behold it came back very low. You could try this with your GP and see what happens.
Look on the ingredient's on the back of your multi vitamins and see how many fillers and nasties are also in them - you'll be surprised.
Moggie x
I wouldn't worry about your calcium level as you are in range.
My calcium is 2.65 nmol/L and top of our range is 2.65nmol/L so along with my vit d at 12nmol/L I thought parathyroid BUT my endo who is a parathyroid specialist is not worried.
I had a pth blood test and it came back highish in range BUT it doesn't mean I have pth disease.
So you can ask for a pth and calcium blood test (best done together) but at your levels I would be surprised if you have pth disease. There are many people on the pth forum with really high levels and lots of symptoms but they haven't managed to get a diagnosis.
I have seen advice saying for a vit d test you should stop supplements 2 weeks before but I have never been told that.
The problem with taking random vitamins is that they all interact with each other, so you might take one vit and that throws out the levels of another and so on. A lot of experts say don't take any unless you are deficient or just stick with a multi vit which has the right amounts of everything.
hi all, god there so much i don,t no about my body , adrenals ,t3 t4 calcium etc , at hospital 28 aug, please can someone point me and tell me what i should be asking, going to try and have a chat with my doctor today to get reading of t3 t4 ?, all i no was he said I've got under active thyroid gland , was to ill to ask him anything that was 25 june when he put me on 50 mic of levothyroxine, blood tested on 1 july and put on 75 mic. today am feeling lots better , i.e. no nose bleeds , face, fingers gone down , and speech ok. can walk around, and staying awake longer, stopped going white as a sheet. sorry to go on and on , just need to get around whats just happen to me.any help advice welcome thank you x
You need to ask you doctor, firstly, to test your antibodies if he hasn't already done so as you need to know if you have the auto immune illness Hashimotos which is an illness that mean your own body is attacking your thyroid. If you have high antibodies then you Hashimotos and an auto immune illness and are likely to suffer from other things as well, especially gut issues like coeliac (Gluten intolerance) or be allergic to dairy products.
Next you need to ask him to test your VitD, B12, Ferritin (iron storage), iron and folates as thyroid patients will often be low in some, if not all, of these and being low in just one of the above could (and does) stop your body from using the thyroid medication to its full potential.
Then you need to make sure you are taking your meds properly - are you leaving, at least, a two hour gap either side of taking your medication before eating and drinking (except water) and are you taking any other medication and supplements well away (again two hours) from the time you take your thyroid meds. Calcium and iron supplements need to be kept four hours apart from your thyroid medication.
A lot of people find that taking their thyroid meds last thing at night helps as it is able to absorb better over night with no food or drink getting in the way so unless you take other meds that can only be taken of a night you might want to try changing your thyroid medication time to bedtime.
Think I have given you something to think over for now and to talk to your GP about.
Hope it helps.
Moggie x
