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Vitamin D deficiency

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Z

zuludog

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
For months I've been suffering from various aches & pains which my doctor can't seem to cure. Then I heard of vitamin D deficiency, so I Surfed for it, and I seem to fit both the risk factors and the symptoms

Now, I know it's easy to make yourself fit symptoms, but I appear to have 5 out of 5 of the risk factors, and 5 or 6 out of 6 of the symptoms
The only things I don't have are two risk factors that I have disregarded as not being relevant - having dark or coloured skin (or whatever is the current politically correct term), and being pregnant

So I started taking vit D tablets about 10 days ago, and seem to feel a bit better already. Is this wishful thinking? What is the usual length of time to judge whether it has a genuine effect?
 
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Not sure Zuludog, but I've certainly been hearing more and more about VitD in recent years.

Hope your improved feeling continues.
 
Vitamin D

Thought you might like to see what I've been considering; it might apply to you

RISK FACTORS
Lack of sunlight/staying indoors - yes
Covering your skin/wearing long clothes outdoors - I do go out in sunshine, but I have fair skin, so don't stay out any longer than necessary, and I certainly don't sunbathe
The website says 'living in Canada or the bordering US states' - Britain is about that latitude, and I live in the north of England as well
Over 65 - I'm 65
Obese - I'm not officially obese, but my BMI is 29.2 which is pretty close

SYMPTOMS
Tiredness - yes
Aches & pains - yes
Feeling 'blue' or mildly depressed - yes
Head sweating - yes, I change my pillowcases every few days
'gut troubles' - yes, I have acid reflux
Psoriasis - not sure. Don't think it's severe, but I have a few patches of rash recently which I dismissed as a sort of 'chest dandruff'

Some of these symptoms create a circle - aching - stay in - feel fed up - stay in - still aching - very little sunlight - stay in - little exercise - overweight - stay in. You get the idea

Now I see what the problem might be I'm taking supplements, and making more of an effort to eat well and go out more
 
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My GP advised vitamin D supplements when a deficiency showed up during a blood test some months ago, and also I was turned down during a routine blood donors session because of it. So I took the GP's prescribed supplement and have continued with supermarket vitamin D supplements since then as maintenance.

Both the surgery and the blood donor people said that it's very common in the UK (northern European lack of sunlight, d'uh!) and easily remedied.

I had had some of your symptoms, zuludog, various aches & pains and tiredness, and the supplements (plus more sunlight) have cleared it up.
 
Thanks for the reassurance, Pine Marten

Yes, tiredness; sometimes (and quite frequently of late) I have to weigh up whether it is worth the effort to do some things - cleaning, changing the sheets, or going to the shops to buy fresh food when I have cans in the cupboard
I'm well aware that then it's a very short step to self neglect and that cliche of being retired & older 'letting yourself go'

Well, I changed the sheets this morning and vacuumed! Just now I'm going to the shops to stock up, and I plan on going with The Ramblers on Saturday

I suppose I could have asked my doctor to do a vit D level, but there's a 2 to 3 week wait for appointments. It will be interesting to see how I feel by, say, mid Sepember
 
Hope you start to feel much better very soon - enjoy your day with the Ramblers! 🙂
 
I'm just waiting for the results of a blood test to see if I have vitamin D deficiency. It would possibly explain a lot if true.
 
khskel said:
I'm just waiting for the results of a blood test to see if I have vitamin D deficiency. It would possibly explain a lot if true.
Click to expand...

Search Google for 'Vitamin D deficiency'.

Like much of the web and the websites you can get confused easily, but if you stay at it there's a lot of information.
When it's spelled out for you, you start to realise that you do have several of the symptoms, and as you say, it all starts to fit
 
I had aching legs every night, read about vit D so started taking it. Problem solved! I have tried not taking the supplement during the summer (I'm a sun lover) but the aches came back. Now take a daily supplement and no aching legs any more. 🙂
 
This subject features regularly on the leukaemia forum where I'm a member and the advice is to always seek medical advice before self medicating with Vitamin D. The body naturally regulates the intake from food and the sun so excessive vitamin D (which can be dangerous) is unlikely. Although vitamin D toxicity is uncommon even among people who take supplements, you may be at greater risk if you have health problems, such as liver or kidney conditions, or if you take thiazide-type diuretics. So best to seek a test to establish if supplementary levels are required.

The subject of B12 deficiency which can cause all the kinds of problems people have described seems a vital one for diabetics too because there's mounting evidence that long term use of metformin can affect B12 absorption.
According to some studies, between 10% and 30% of people who take metformin on a regular basis have some evidence of decreased B12 absorption.
These deficits can cause problems like numbness and tingling in the feet which it may be too easy to dismiss as diabetic complications.


The use of PPI's for acid reflux problems (like omprezole) can also deplete these levels.

It's amazing how often deficiencies in these key vitamins causes problems as described but they are rarely routinely tested for.
 
Thanks for the advice, Amigo

I'm due a medication review in early October, so I'll tell my doctor then
I'll carry on with daily vit D tablets till then, and see what he says. I think that will be long enough to see if there is a definite improvement, but not long enough for any serious excess problems

I take Omeprazole sometimes at a low dose, and also Metformin.

Although I do have some of the B12 deficiency symptoms they are also D deficiency symptoms, which seem to be improving. I don't seem to have any specifically B12 deficiency symptoms, but perhaps it would do no harm to take a B12 supplement now & again
 
I'm just waiting for the results back on a vitamin D test, to see if that's why I'm so tired, and a B12 test as well. I had a very bad B12 deficiency about 18 months ago, but I didn't display any of the common deficiency symptoms until my B12 was around 42 which is critically low. I think B12 should be one of the standard annual tests (given that it's easy to test for) because a good number of us don't show symptoms until it's critically low, whereas others show symptoms at what would be considered a sub optimal level (the idea range is between 500 and 2000 depending on which country you live in). It's also known that B12 deficiency and Diabetes are co-morbidities because people with diabetes tend to drink more fluid (fluctuating blood glucose levels) and B12 is water soluble so the body will flush it out.

I'd be interested to see if Vitamin D is low in me, I'm outside a fair bit but tend to be covered head to foot in sun cream and or clothes 🙄
 
Kooky, I read your thread on 'Exhaustion' and wondered about your B12 levels because I was wondering if you have a lack of intrinsic factor which impairs the absorption of B12. It would certainly lead to a feeling of exhaustion as a result of pernicious anaemia. Were you offered treatment when yours was very low? My mum receives injections.
Obviously your doctors are looking into these things but sometimes this is missed as a possibility. This explains (apologies if you've already considered this). Taken from the Mayo Clinic site;

'Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Vitamin B-12 deficiency can result from a diet lacking in vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat, eggs and milk. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia can also occur if your small intestine can't absorb vitamin B-12. This may be due to surgery to your stomach or small intestine (such as gastric bypass surgery), abnormal bacterial growth in your small intestine, or an intestinal disease, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, that interferes with absorption of the vitamin. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also be caused by a tapeworm ingested from contaminated fish because the tapeworm saps nutrients from your body. However, a vitamin B-12 deficiency is most often due to a lack of a substance called intrinsic faVitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Vitamin B-12 deficiency can result from a diet lacking in vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat, eggs and milk. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia can also occur if your small intestine can't absorb vitamin B-12. This may be due to surgery to your stomach or small intestine (such as gastric bypass surgery), abnormal bacterial growth in your small intestine, or an intestinal disease, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, that interferes with absorption of the vitamin. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also be caused by a tapeworm ingested from contaminated fish because the tapeworm saps nutrients from your body. However, a vitamin B-12 deficiency is most often due to a lack of a substance called intrinsic factor.

'Intrinsic factor is a protein secreted by the stomach that joins vitamin B-12 in the stomach and escorts it through the small intestine to be absorbed by your bloodstream. Without intrinsic factor, vitamin B-12 can't be absorbed and leaves your body as waste. Lack of intrinsic factor may be due to an autoimmune reaction in which your immune system mistakenly attacks the stomach cells that produce it. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia caused by a lack of intrinsic factor is called pernicious anaemia'.


Hope you find the cause soon and manage to regain your energy levels. 😱
 
I've had a look at the symptoms for B12 deficiency and pernicious anaemia, and although I have a couple of them, they are general or common symptoms like tiredness or depression which could be caused by other things, including Vit D deficiency; and since I've been taking D3 supplements, those symptoms have improved.
I don't seem to have other symptoms associated with pernicious anaemia or B12 deficiency

It's just over 2 weeks since I started taking Vit D tablets, and I continue to feel better. I feel livelier, and most of the aches & pains in my shoulders & upper arms has gone. I can put my left hand behind my neck for the first time in weeks

My weight has gone from 94.6kg to 93.1kg. Too early to say if it's a genuine reduction or just a fluctuation, but at least it's downwards

Went on the walk on Saturday, nice weather and very pleasant. A bit tired at the end of it, but hardly any of the aching that I had been getting
 
Yes apologies zuludog, I was really addressing the point kooky made in her post about B12 deficiency. I probably should have posted it on her 'Exhaustion' thread but it seems timely as she'd just mentioned it.

Hope you get to grips with the cause of your problems zuludog but it certainly sounds as if the Vit D tablets are having a beneficial effect. Having a bit of sun for a change will help us all too 🙂
 
That's OK, it's good to be made aware of these things. And yes, we're getting some sunshine! after what seems to have been a bit of a dull summer so far

If things carry on like this I think I'll try a few day's backpacking soon
 
Amigo said:
Kooky, I read your thread on 'Exhaustion' and wondered about your B12 levels because I was wondering if you have a lack of intrinsic factor which impairs the absorption of B12. It would certainly lead to a feeling of exhaustion as a result of pernicious anaemia. Were you offered treatment when yours was very low? My mum receives injections.
Obviously your doctors are looking into these things but sometimes this is missed as a possibility. This explains (apologies if you've already considered this). Taken from the Mayo Clinic site;

'Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Vitamin B-12 deficiency can result from a diet lacking in vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat, eggs and milk. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia can also occur if your small intestine can't absorb vitamin B-12. This may be due to surgery to your stomach or small intestine (such as gastric bypass surgery), abnormal bacterial growth in your small intestine, or an intestinal disease, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, that interferes with absorption of the vitamin. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also be caused by a tapeworm ingested from contaminated fish because the tapeworm saps nutrients from your body. However, a vitamin B-12 deficiency is most often due to a lack of a substance called intrinsic faVitamin B-12 deficiency anemia (pernicious anemia). Vitamin B-12 deficiency can result from a diet lacking in vitamin B-12, which is found mainly in meat, eggs and milk. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia can also occur if your small intestine can't absorb vitamin B-12. This may be due to surgery to your stomach or small intestine (such as gastric bypass surgery), abnormal bacterial growth in your small intestine, or an intestinal disease, such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, that interferes with absorption of the vitamin. Vitamin B-12 deficiency can also be caused by a tapeworm ingested from contaminated fish because the tapeworm saps nutrients from your body. However, a vitamin B-12 deficiency is most often due to a lack of a substance called intrinsic factor.

'Intrinsic factor is a protein secreted by the stomach that joins vitamin B-12 in the stomach and escorts it through the small intestine to be absorbed by your bloodstream. Without intrinsic factor, vitamin B-12 can't be absorbed and leaves your body as waste. Lack of intrinsic factor may be due to an autoimmune reaction in which your immune system mistakenly attacks the stomach cells that produce it. Vitamin B-12 deficiency anemia caused by a lack of intrinsic factor is called pernicious anaemia'.


Hope you find the cause soon and manage to regain your energy levels. 😱
Click to expand...

Thanks Amigo, I did have treatment last time around, and was tested for intrinsic factor, I have a genetic mutation (which my dad also had) of the protein which means it's less effective in general. I was veggie (actually closer to a vegan diet) so my reduced intake of B12 and the reduced effectiveness of the intrinsic factor ganged up on me. Interesting I tested negative for intrinsic factor antibodies, but had high levels of something else which suggested autoimmune and the was two months before my immune system ate my beta cells 🙄
 
Ah well glad it was considered as a possibility kooky. Just wanted to throw it out there because it's often misdiagnosed.

Good luck in getting sorted...may be just a process of elimination now.
 
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