I just received print outs of blood tests this year to chart tsh/t4 etc. I had a vitamin d blood test in March and was told the results were fine by receptionist. However on the print out it says;
"42.4nmol/l: vitamin d results between 25-50 indicate insufficiency. Review clinical and other markers of metabolic bone disease"
I understand vitamin d deficiency is common amongst us, not sure why but will research. I will start supplementing vitamin d but can anyone advise which supplements I buy? Thanks all.
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pennyrose
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That's awful. They didn't even have to make a decision - they were told your body had insufficient vitamin D and just ignored it!
I've just started NOW Vitamin D3 - 5,000 IU. It says on the bottle to take 1 every two days with a fat containing meal which suits me - I'm a 'one a day' person - and preferably at breakfast time otherwise I forget to take them.
I've also just started on vitamin K which seems to go with vitamin D and which my physio said 'everyone (or maybe it was every woman of my age) ought to take' for strong bones - she said not to bother with drinking milk etc just to go for vitamins D and K. I got them from Amazon.
Before that I was using a vitamin D3 spray from Holland & Barrett and I think I will go back to that when the NOW ones are finished. I found it was easier just to have a quick spray every morning. haven't had my D3 tested since last October so will do it again around then.
vitamindcouncil.org There is a list of ALL the conditions linked to low VitD. VitD is not just a vitamin - but a steroidal pre-hormone and is linked to many actions within the body. Type VitD into the Search Box on the Green Bar and have a read of what pops up
I take 10,000 IU's daily and even though I live in Greece I tested insufficient after years of living in the sun. As we age we do not process the UVB rays in the skin where it metabolises into VitD.
All Health Practitioners were sent a letter by the Chief Medical officer of Health detailing those that should be tested for VitD. It seems to me that GP's did not get to see this letter from the comments on this forum.
Mercola.com sells a D Spray with the vitamin K2 - otherwise take it separately. I take mine with yogurt - full fat Greek
I suspect they saw it but from judging from my (and so many others on here) experience they just don't want to know.
I got a 'no' from my local surgery and the endo I spoke to about it said he thought it was just becoming fashionable these days - a fad - but 'if could provide him with evidence that it worked then he would happily authorise it!' Fat chance of that as, like all the others I have seen, I never saw him again.
In the sent off to the place advertised on TUK, got a home kit and had it done privately. Needless to say I didn't know then all that I know now.
He though testing and supplementing Vit D was a fad? Bizarre! Is the spray good? Do you just spray onto your face or arms or something? Sounds interesting x
Yip. That must have been about a year ago now, was still having B&R.
I asked for my B12 to be tested and he said yes to that but when I said vitamin D as well he said he wasn't convinced that there was anything in all this people wanting vitamin D and that it was just fashionable at the moment, if I could give him evidence that it worked then he would be prepared to do it.
I've just started to use BetterYou daily VitD spray. It tastes of mint and is very pleasant. Each container has 100 measured sprays so lasts just over three months. Far easier than a tablet - spray under tongue or on side of cheek. I am also using their Vit B12 which is fruit flavour.
I know - awful isn't it - it is just a money exercise saving I imagine. The ideal would be for all doctors to familiarise themselves with all the symptoms on the TUK checklists then test D, B12, folates, ferritin, and a full thyroid function - including T3 whatever the labs say about that when people present with symptoms - particularly if the doctors are starting to think you are a hypochondriac.
I've come to the conclusion people with a list of vague symptoms probably have some sort of thyroid problem - I know I did!
...testing the basics before you join a surgery could be the best way to go. It could save millions on the raft of testing that takes place for so many conditions. I'm beginning to think that B12 deficiency is HUGE due to the change in diet over the last 50 years. Not many people eat liver after the Mad Cow incident. Liver being one of the biggest sources of B12..... I know VitD deficiency is now being considered the hidden cause of many conditions - including TB...and so it goes on. Thank goodness those of us with open minds can keep on learning and improving matters. I think Docs are so bogged down with Admin they do not have time to read and catch up - and so their poor attitudes towards patients is borne out of guilt that they have been caught out....
Good idea - I'm sure they could save a fortune if they did that.
You're right about diet - don't know when we last had liver even though I quite like it. Perhaps if McDonalds sneakily incorporated it into the nations burgers that would help.
Then there are so many processed foods. I often look on packaging and put things back on the shelf when I see what has been added to things that are simple and straightforward if you make them at home. Extending shelf life has a lot to answer for.
Only thing is we don't want is for doctors to do new patient checks then be refusing to take patients because they have too many health issues.
Maybe give incentives for reducing conditions by looking for the underlying cause with proper testing that we both know about.... Instead of paying them to prescribe AD's and Statins when nothing has been done to rule out underlying causes. I appreciate they both have their place - but they should not be handed out like sweeties....
Am lucky to live in a country where they still take pride in cooking from scratch. We still have to be on the look-out though...things are a changing....
Oh if only checking up on the basics like vitD and B12, folates and ferritin first was in fashion - I've been on statins - once - for a week, I was offered them again recently and declined, after I had spent week on Simvastatin I could barely walk so never again.
When I was hyper my cholesterol was the lowest it has ever been and last blood test it was high again. My TSH is / was creeping up and my theory is that that is why my cholesterol is increasing.
We are a cook from scratch family - I was thinking about when I thought I would buy an emergency bag of crumble mix even though I know it is really cheap and easy to make myself. That and making white sauce, another really easy and cheap thing to do, are my least favourite things to make but the stuff they put into that sort of thing you just don't even want to know about never mind eat.
Another thunder storm rumbling away in the distance - was woken up at 03.00 by an absolutely massive one right overhead.
It's sheeps though. Found a fab organic sheeps yogurt in Sainsburys when I was last in the UK - truly delicious. No I am doubting myself - was it goats ?
All great advice above but don't forget to take magnesium too if you can. I suffered magnesium issues after successfully raising my vitamin D. It's all sorted now though
It's amazing how bad vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency can make one feel!
I get bags of magnesium flakes from Holland and Barrett, put them in the bath eps long with some lavender oil and soak. Lovely. My husband used to use magnesium oil for his aching knees and swears by it.
I keep meaning to make my own mag oil - from what I can see there doesn't seem to be any actual oil involved, looks like it just goes oily when you make it.
I'm sure I read on here you can rub it into the soles of your feet.
you can try the natural way first - at this time of year, if you like.
try exposing your arms and legs and face for 5-10 minutes each day to bright sunshine - but NO sunscreen ( blocks vit D production)
I have beena dvised this amount of time will not cause skin issues ( I am very very pale), but will provide up to 40,000IU / day of vit D.
I use a suppliment as I was 20nmol or 8.4ngram, and therefore a bit deficient, I use the oil capsules from puritans pride, but there are many varieties that are good - just be sure it is D3 not D2.
At your levels I would try 5,000IU / day for a week, and then go to 2,000IU / day or every other day thereafter, but see if you can get it from the sunshine first - the main issue is protective glass, clothing and especially suncream - apparently this has lead to significant vit D decrease globally over the last few years.
I've started cycling to work over the past few weeks which is 1/2 an hour each way and because it's lovely and warm I've had my arms exposed - would that help do you think?
The highest level I could find 25ug (1,000 IU) - so I'll be on a few a day to begin with! x
My GP said 20 minutes of one hand being in the sun would be enough to top up for example, but I guess it depends on how depleted you are initially, in order to get to that point.
Endo did a Vit D test for me as was concerned as GP said I was over medicating (wrong). This was all on the strength of a DXA scan she said the fracture clinic had insisted I had (wrong again, I volunteered for research purposes) and had said my results were bad. That's not what they told me, osteopenia normal for someone of my age-then 63. Result from Endo test was somewhere around 25 so pretty low and was put on 20,000 IU, one a week for 12 weeks, retested-87, maintenance dose of AdCal, 800 IU daily. After about a year retest-91 so doing its job. 2 days ago had another DXA organised by new Endo and new GP. Radiologist was brilliant. She talked me through my results when I spotted the print out on her desk. I'd also managed to get a copy of my previous result which actually said I have osteopenia but result was above average for my age-hip 110% and spine 108%.
Now I am out of the osteopenia and just scrape into normal bone density at 66 Years old.
Two lessons learnt, Vit D supplementation works for me though I have also been supplementing vitamins and minerals for 9 months which may well have helped. And the other, always insist on getting your results and getting the true picture!
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I was thinking about magnesium recently. Would Epsom salt baths be a good idea? Thank you all! Xx
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