How long could I have been vitamin d deficient?

by Patty
(Lewiston, Idaho USE)

I am a 51 year old female and recently switched doctors to one that addresses women's health - menopause in particular. After a fasting blood test this week, I found out that I have a vitamin d deficiency with a level of seven. I am on 50,000 IU once a week for a month and go back in 3 months for another lab draw.

Several years ago I had complained to my former doctor that I was experiencing bone and joint pain. He tested me for Lupus which came back negative but now I am wondering if it was my vitamin d level all along and this has been ongoing for years. The bone and joint pain has persisted but I just basically got used to it which seems dumb now.

I was also diagnosed with high blood pressure a year ago but had always had low blood pressure before. Can a deficiency happen quickly or does it take a long time to become this deficient in vitamin d? Could my hyper tension be linked to the low level of vitamin d?

Thank you.

Comments for How long could I have been vitamin d deficient?

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Vitamin D Deficiency usually has been going on for years...
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Patty,

Ugh. Yeah, that is so frustrating to find out that your problems are likely due to something so simple, yet doctors just simply don't have a clue. Unfortunately, it IS likely that your Vitamin D Deficiency has been going on for many years- maybe even decades- depending upon what your lifestyle has been.

If you were actively sunbathing tanned and bronze for years, then probably not. But for how ever long your lifestyle has been similar to what it is now, then it's likely that you have been Vitamin D Deficient.

And yes, it could VERY much help your bone pain and it definitely COULD be at least a part of the cause of your hypertension- although I doubt that it is 100% from the Vitamin D Deficiency but other modifiable lifestyle factors like diet and exercise as well.

Also, Patty, your doctor is WAY off on a few things.

First off, I imagine that he is giving you a prescription for Vitamin D, right? Well, be sure to take a look at the page on why researchers say Prescription Vitamin D is not Suitable for Supplementation. Your doctor is doing you a big disservice writing you a prescription for Vitamin D!

Second, the dosage that he is giving you is for WAY to short of a time frame. Take a look at the Treatment of Vitamin D Deficiency page and you'll see that 50,000 a week for only 4 weeks is a HALF to one third of the time that is suggested by researchers.

And with your level being SO low, it's likely that you'll need the whole 12 to 16 weeks of 50,000 IU's per week to get your level up.

Since it is safe and effective to take 10,000 IU's of Vitamin D per day for long periods of time, you may want to consider getting a Vitamin D3 Supplement and simply taking 10,000 IU's per day until your next level in 3 months.

With your level being so low, your doctor's suggestion is going to leave you FAR short of the mark.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

Decrease Inflammation for Better Immune System Health

Tired all the time and have been dealing with this for 15-20 years
by: Anonymous

i have finally reached my breaking point. After dealing with fatigue, brain fog, outright exhaustion and poor memory for the last 15 -20 years I am finally realizing that I am not a wimp that just needs to suck it up.

I see people, I see that this is not the way that they feel day to day. I have dealt with feeling tired and always looking for the next opportunity to take a nap and even planning my day accordingly. I am done with it! I am looking for a solution.

I am a 37 year old male. I have gone to the doctor multiple times over the last 20 years to figure out why I can't sleep sometimes and why I can sleep 18 hours straight other times. I get home from work and go right to bed. I don't have the energy to do the things that I love to do.

I had a full work up last week and the results came back with a deficiency in vit D and extremely low B-12. My T-4 was 5.9 and my T-3 was 106. Both are in the normal range but on the low side.

My doctor put me on 50k of Vitamin D and after reading your posts I realized that it is D2 and she is behind the times. I am going to switch to D3. There was no mention of adding K2 and magnesium. I am going to start taking those as well.

I have felt horrible for the last 15 years and just dealt with it. My Vit D was at a 17 last week. My calcium was a 9.6 and my globulin was 1.8 just making the minimum 1.5 in range.

Can raising my Vitamin D really alleviate my tiredness? Is it possible that I have a thyroid condition even though my thyroid testing came back in range? Or is possible that my testosterone level at 410 (348 being the minimum in range) could be playing a factor too? Or are they all related?

Need help and I need it quick. This is not the way to live.

Thank you in advance!

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