I swear I saw a post on ST about someone that was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency. And the subsequent road to recovery.
I coach an athlete that was just diagnosed and I am looking for advice.
So far, make sure it’s D3 she takes.
I really would like to talk with athletes that have gone through this and how the recovery went?
I felt tired all day every day for a year.
Allergist noted my symptom, suggested testing for D
I was borderline low
She prescribed 5000iu a day of D3 for 12 weeks, then get retested.
I’m 6 weeks in and it was a miraculous transformation. No longer tired all the time. It took about 3 weeks to kick in for me.
I got blood work at the end of last year because I wasn’t able to recover from day to day (even easy runs were tanking me) and I felt like I was just “F*this” all day every day.
I had low Ferritin and VitD. 8k VitD liquid (Thorne FX) daily and iron along with a change to my diet and… a happy lamp. (needs to be 10k LUX white light) About a month and a half in and I’m feeling better, although I’ve still got other issues to deal with.
Doctors recommendation of VitD for her, and have her try a lamp if she wants to try something else.
I got tested for iron too, was hoping I would be low and would get magically faster. No luck. I’m just genetically normal =)
When I was tested a few years ago I was below the minimum … I live in the North East … go figure. I was 18 ng/ml
At the time I was very tired. My exercise was lacking because of it.
My doctor prescribed a 20,000iu Vitamin D prescription that I took once a week for I believe it was 6-8 weeks. After that I went back to the regular 2,000iu a day.
I will say that my eneergy levels did rise during that loading phase. It wasn’t dramatic but it was noticeable. Since then I have been able to keep my levels more “normal”
The fact of the matter is multiple doctors have told me they don’t really fully understand vitamin D. They don’t know what ideal levels even really are. They shoot for around 50 ng/ml but most of us in the North East or other areas that lack sun in the winter are rarely close to that level even with supplementation. Another thing to consider is absorption. Simply taking the pill does not necessarily mean its being delivered to your blood stream. This is why re testing is always a good idea. Hope this helps in some way.
Right, when I ended up just being a tiny bit below most definitions of normal I was not hopeful, but the change was dramatic for me. So maybe the normal range is off, or maybe I need more vitamin D than others? who knows.
From what I have read Vit D absorption is not usually problematic. It works if you eat or if you don’t, with alcohol, with coffee. So that is nice. Some people might need to adjust dosage depending on season. You can get too much, so you need to get tested a couple times to figure it out.
They don’t know what ideal levels even really are. They shoot for around 50 ng/ml but most of us in the North East or other areas that lack sun in the winter are rarely close to that level even with supplementation. Another thing to consider is absorption. Simply taking the pill does not necessarily mean its being delivered to your blood stream. This is why re testing is always a good idea. Hope this helps in some way.
I think it is highly individual.
I am getting ready to go buy some vitamin D for my newborn baby in a few minutes. He was 3 weeks premature and has a touch of jaundice. I just had this discussion with the pediatrician on Monday. So between me, my son, and my mother, I have gotten 3 different doctors responses in regards to Vit. D. I had zero absorption issues and bounced back to a reasonable level via pill no problem. My mother wasn’t as fortunate. She seems to have some issue absorbing Vit D via pill. Most likely there is some sort of gastro-intestinal reason for this. She is a non drinker non smoker who eats healthy so I don’t think it’s anything other than genetics. She also suffers from low iron and magnesium levels. For this reason I believe it can be beneficial for a whole blood workup to be done if Vit D. isn’t returning normal. I am not a doctor so I am just going off what I have retained from what doctors have told me.
I got tested for iron too, was hoping I would be low and would get magically faster. No luck. I’m just genetically normal =)
me too 
And after two or three month’s of “rest” I’ll be even moreso!
I am working up a mean Crow Pose in my yoga class though…
Deena Kastor talked about that on a podcast interview with Runner Academy. You can look her up and what she did to recover after the deficiency led to her broken leg.
I’ve suffered from anemia my whole life. If your serum ferritin gets really low, like in the teens, it can be very serious. I’d recommend discussing a serum ferritin test with your doctor for all endurance athletes.
I take a Vitamin D3 supplement as well once a day because I live in a northern climate and have tested low. I’m not sure how serious slightly low D levels are for men, but my doctor recommends the pill.
-Robert
I think MOST white people that live in cold places get this in the winter. At least any friend I know who went to the Dr in the winter and was tested was low.
So I think they are 2 kinds of this… people that have chronic low vitamin D, maybe because they can’t produce it correctly… vs normal white people in cold place getting less sun in the winter.
I take 5k IU in the winter, makes a HUGE difference. In the summer I have no shortage of vitamin D and cut it off.
I felt tired all day every day for a year.
Allergist noted my symptom, suggested testing for D
I was borderline low
She prescribed 5000iu a day of D3 for 12 weeks, then get retested.
I’m 6 weeks in and it was a miraculous transformation. No longer tired all the time. It took about 3 weeks to kick in for me.
I’m replying to Jack and all the other folks who have chimed in with their deficiency stories…
Is there any evidence that taking a daily multiple vitamin with the normal daily requirements of Vit D would have prevented this?
For those who were prescribed vitamin D3, did your doctors also require you to take vitamin K2 (“mk7”) as well? I’ve been hearing about this recently - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11684396
Some go as far as to say that taking D3 without K2 can cause calcification of the arteries as it is the MK7 that directs the D3 to the bones and not the blood vessel walls. Just curious what people’s docs are saying.
I’m sure it could for some people.
I was, most days, so didn’t work for me.
Most multivitamins are around 600iu
So 10x less than typical treatment
I felt tired all day every day for a year.
Allergist noted my symptom, suggested testing for D
I was borderline low
She prescribed 5000iu a day of D3 for 12 weeks, then get retested.
I’m 6 weeks in and it was a miraculous transformation. No longer tired all the time. It took about 3 weeks to kick in for me.
I’m replying to Jack and all the other folks who have chimed in with their deficiency stories…
Is there any evidence that taking a daily multiple vitamin with the normal daily requirements of Vit D would have prevented this?
yes, the Thorne FX complex I use has K2 in it. 200 to 1k
Make sure to take it with eating fat (nuts, avocado, etc) as it is fat soluable and can’t be digested that well if taken by itself.
I have had chronic fatigue in the past and was on vitamin D over winter amongst other supplements.
I’m surprised that a cyclist living below 35 degrees latitude would have a vitamin d shortage. Just curious–do you always wear sunscreen on your arms and legs when you ride or are otherwise outside? (Sunscreen prevents vitamin d production).
Or ride primarily in morning/evening light? (Vitamin d production from the sun occurs generally between 10 am and 3 pm).
I ask because I’ve run into athletes in San Diego with low D, and one of these two scenarios generally describes them.
We had a baby and then I stayed indoors all the time for a while.
I’m surprised that a cyclist living below 35 degrees latitude would have a vitamin d shortage. Just curious–do you always wear sunscreen on your arms and legs when you ride or are otherwise outside? (Sunscreen prevents vitamin d production).
Or ride primarily in morning/evening light? (Vitamin d production from the sun occurs generally between 10 am and 3 pm).
I ask because I’ve run into athletes in San Diego with low D, and one of these two scenarios generally describes them.
We had a baby and then I stayed indoors all the time for a while.
Ahhh! That explains it!
We had a baby and then I stayed indoors all the time for a while.
Ahhh! That explains it!
yep
and then I was tired so I kept staying indoors!