Ok, so I have had real problems with joint and muscle pain since a fall in Feb and they told me l had Hamstring tendionitus, but l asked for a blood test to check Vit d etc they did it all except D doctor reduced levo saying I was on too much from 150 mg to 125 mg very tired lots of joint and muscle pain asked for x ray - no its Hamstring !
So back to the Physio as no better and blood test for Thyroid and the vit d they forgot today l have been put on a high dose of vit d for 3 months 3,200 which l had thought might be the cause of the increased pain l have been having and tingling in nerves etc .
Then I get a text saying they want to start me on Statin's but l have read that these increase joint pain and that because we have thyroid problems its not ok for us to take them ?
I am seeing them on Tuesday, can some help with questions I should ask?
If rapid correction of vitamin D deficiency is needed, for example in people with symptoms or about to start treatment with a potent antiresorptive agent (zoledronate, denosumab, or teriparatide), prescribe a fixed loading dose followed by regular maintenance vitamin D therapy 1 month after loading.
The loading regimen should provide a total of approximately 300,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D, given either as separate weekly or daily doses over 6–10 weeks. See the section on Loading dose regimens in Prescribing information for more detailed information.
Maintenance therapy of vitamin D equivalent to 800–2000 IU daily (up to a maximum of 4000 IU daily for certain conditions such as malabsorption following specialist advice), given either daily or intermittently at a higher equivalent dose.....
If correction of vitamin D deficiency is less urgent and when co-prescribing vitamin D supplements with an oral antiresorptive agent, maintenance therapy (800–2000 IU daily) may be started without the use of loading doses.
Several vitamin D loading dose treatment regimens are available, including [ROS, 2018]:
50,000 IU once a week for 6 weeks (300,000 IU in total).
40,000 IU once a week for 7 weeks (280,000 IU in total).
1000 IU four times a day for 10 weeks (280,000 IU in total).
800 IU five times a day for 10 weeks (280,000 IU in total).
Note: this list is not exhaustive.
Once the loading doses have been completed you will need a reduced amount so you should make sure that you are retested after you have finished the loading doses so that you know how much you should then take going forward. Most doctors, if they continue prescribing, only give 800iu daily which isn't enough. You may need to buy your own when you find out what new dose you need.
If GP wont retest then do this privately (link below) and post your new result at the time for members to suggest a new dose to bring your level up to what's recommended by the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health - which is 100-150nmol/L with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health suggesting 125nmol/L - then a maintenance dose will be needed to keep it there, which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. This can be done with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:
Once you have your new level (when you've finished the loading doses) we can point you in the right direction to work out your new dose.
Vit D is fat soluble so should be taken with some dietary fat (fattiest meal of the day or with a full fat yogurt, cheese, toast with butter, etc) and take 4 hours away from any thyroid meds.
Have you got a copy of your thyroid and vitamin results? You are entitled to have a copy of them all so ask for it. When I had Graves disease and my thyroid was overactive my TSH was really low and cholesterol was the lowest it has ever been, now that I’m in remission my TSH has gradually crept up and so has my cholesterol. I pointed out the connection to my then GP and she just smiled and said ‘Mmmm’ so she knew about it. I’d much rather they gave me a bit of levo to get my thyroid level down which would bring my cholesterol down but nope - my results are ‘within the range’.
I regularly get offered statins and I always say no. I tried them many years ago when I’d say I was young and fit and after a week or so I had muscle pains, could barely walk and felt really depressed so I stopped. I don’t think they would do me much good at my age - I’m now 74 and as my blood sugar tends to be on the high side and I have a constant battle to stay out of the pre diabetes range I would rather avoid statins.
I use the City Assays blood tests lab mentioned by SeasideSusie and adjust my vitamin D accordingly.
Morning, thank you, I always says no to Statins as I think its big Pharma chasing commission the docs say it a NHS incentive but my other half changed after he went on them but, says I am mistaken ! can't win them all 😔
PS my dad went on statins for a few mths several yrs ago before "waking up". He switched to a Nutritional Therapy protocol instead and his cholesterol figures improved so drug-free since.
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