Hi everyone,
Just had a Vitamin D test done from City Assays NHS lab. The result is
16.1mol/L- Deficient. I wonder if I should go to the doctor with this, will they help? Or can I self treat?
I have started taking some 'Better for You 3000 daily Vitamin D oral spray, I wonder if this would be enough?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Getting a loading dose from the doctor will be much quicker. You could grow old waiting for 3000iu to raise you that much.
Absolutely go to your GP with this result, it is Severe Deficiency and requires loading doses - see NICE treatment summary for Vit D deficiency:
cks.nice.org.uk/vitamin-d-d...
"Treat for Vitamin D deficiency if serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels are less than 30 nmol/L.
For the treatment of vitamin D deficiency, the recommended treatment is based on fixed loading doses of vitamin D (up to a total of about 300,000 international units [IU] given either as weekly or daily split doses, followed by lifelong maintenace treatment of about 800 IU a day. Higher doses of up to 2000IU a day, occasionally up to 4000 IU a day, may be used for certain groups of people, for example those with malabsorption disorders. Several treatment regims are available, including 50,000 IU once a week for 6 weeks (300,000 IU in total), 20,000 IU twice a week for 7 weeks (280,000 IU in total), or 4000 IU daily for 10 weeks (280,000 IU in total)."
Each Health Authority has their own guidelines but they will be very similar. Go and see your GP and ask that he treats you according to the local guidelines or this summary and prescribes the loading doses. Once these have been completed you will need a reduced amount (more than 800iu so post your new result at the time for members to suggest a dose) to bring your level up to what's recommended by the Vit D Council - which is 100-150nmol/L - and then you'll need a maintenance dose which may be 2000iu daily, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. You can do this with a private fingerprick blood spot test with City Assays vitamindtest.org.uk/
If your GP doesn't like the fact that you have done a private test you can point out that it has been done by an NHS lab, and if he still doesn't like it invite your GP to do their own.
Actually - this is a case of do as I say not as I do because I had a level of 15 and treated myself rather than go to my totally useless GP surgery. If you want to treat yourself come back and I will suggest what dose you should take and what supplements to buy.
If you do get prescribed D3 by your GP then your doctor wont know, because they are not taught nutrition, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3
vitamindcouncil.org/about-v...
D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems.
D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds.
Magnesium helps D3 to work and comes in different forms, check to see which would suit you best and as it's calming it's best taken in the evening, four hours away from thyroid meds
naturalnews.com/046401_magn...
Check out the other cofactors too.
Hi SeasideSusie,
Thank you so much for this info., great help. I'll brace myself for going to the G.P, been
put off Doctors because of thier lack of understanding with Hypo problems 
Hi SeasideSusie,
I'm really reluctant to go my GP, so very unhelpful last time, I would be very grateful if you could suggest what dosage and supplements to try.
Thanks
My suggestion is to roughly follow the guidelines in the NICE summary I gave above, to total 300,000iu over, say 6 weeks.
As you have Hashi's then buy the BetterYou 3000iu spray and start with triple dosing - 9000iu daily for 2 weeks (126,000iu), then reduce to double dosing - 6000iu for 4 weeks (168,000) then that will total the loading doses - 294,000iu over 6 weeks. Then reduce to 3000iu daily for 4 weeks then retest with City Assays as linked to above.
If your level is then within the recommended range (100-150nmol/L) you need to find your maintenance dose. It may be the 3000iu daily, it may be less, you might need less in summer and more in winter, it's all trial and error so we need to retest twice a year to keep within the range. As you are severely deficient, supplementing is for life.
Don't forget the cofactors mentioned above, they are important.
BetterYou do a combined D3/K2 spray which might be best for you. Otherwise you'd need the D3 spray and a K2-MK7 softgel such as Healthy Origins.
Thank you so much SeasideSusie. Amazing. 
x
As you have Hashimoto's low vitamin D is extremely common
hypothyroidmom.com/92-of-ha...
GP should prescribe loading dose
Have you asked them to do blood test for coeliac disease, or are you already changed to strictly gluten free diet?
If not already GF, get coeliac testing before seriously considering trying it
Hi Slowdragon,
Thank for your reply. I haven't asked them to do blood test for coeliac testing, and I tried some Gluten free foods - but not keen I'm afraid !
I'll see the GP about my Vitamin D Deficiency though- not looking forward to it
Thanks.
@Rebeckeryfox - I have been on a gluten free diet now for about a year, as recommended by my Endo.
I always smile a bit when folks say they don't like gluten free foods. I mean, what's not to like about meat, fish, eggs, veg?
In my year of GF eating, I have only bought two specifically GF products - soy sauce for stir fries and Worcestershire sauce. Of course, I had already been on a low carb diet for about 3 years before going gluten free, so it's a very long time since I ate bread, pasta or pizzas anyway.
Could you consider just trying a period of eating simple, non processed food, and see how that goes? I didn't particularly have gastro symptoms aside from a mild constipation, but I do feel extremely well GF.
Hi MMaud,
Thank you for your reply. I am also Type 2 diabetic, so I follow a low carb diet anyway.
It's good that you feel very well on GF, many thanks for the advice.
I reversed my diabetes using a low carb approach, and having gone gluten free my annual HbA1c done in February was 30mmol/mol or 4.9% (down from 33/5.1%), so I think it helped my body get a bit more efficient.
Having just been started on Levothyroxine, I'll be interested to see how that impacts on my A1c, if at all.
Wow! 4.9% that's amazing. Perhaps I should give GF another try!
Although the 4.9% is only 0.1 or 0.2% down on my results for the last 3 years (I toggled 5.0 to 5.1%, literally), I don't wholly attribute it to being GF. My diet is pretty good anyway. I do have a friend for whom going GF made a huge difference to her blood sugar levels. It seems like her blood sugars react much more to carbs containing gluten that the same amount of carbohydrate from foods which are gluten free.
If you do finger prick testing, you could find out some interesting things.
As I mentioned before I feel very well on a GF way of eating. It takes a while to get used to, and can take several weeks to show any impact, so if you do go GF again, give it several weeks before reaching any conclusions.
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