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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Oh No, I'm Severly Deficient in Vitamin D, and I Have Multiple Sclerosis

Vitamin D deficient and multiple sclerosis, not cool! How does this happen? I drink milk, or I did when I was younger. My dad doesn't drink milk now, or ever and he doesn't have ms. I know people who are allergic to milk and they don't have ms. Is milk even the culprit? Do all ms'ers lack vitamin D? Who'd of thunk it! What other things am I deficient in? Be nice! How long has this been with me? Can it be turned around?

So here's the deal, the range for good vitamin D is 32 - 100. I'm sure there is a measure, but I don't know what it is. My # is 17! Oh my God, 17, this is serious! All kidding aside, it is serious. My neuro told me it is the lowest he has ever seen, but I unfortunately forgot to ask how many he has seen. I am starting a 12 week program tomorrow to raise my level. I will take a pill, I like it so far, 1 time a week, for the 12 weeks. That one pill is 50,000 units. Wow, how many glasses of milk is that? I will have blood work, then probably start a new 12 week.

What to do, what to do? I really want to start the LDN, but if I do and I start feeling better, I won't know why. Do I care why? I'm pretty sure I don't care, as long as I feel better. What if I feel bad, how do I tell which one caused it? Oh man, this stinks! I have the opportunity to try something new, 2 something news, and I don't know what to do. I suppose I will start with the vitamin D, give it a few weeks and see how I feel. If I feel better, cool, I know it worked, but if my arm falls off, I know it was bad. This ms, it just keeps you guessing!

7 comments:

Lisa Emrich said...

Hi Jughead,

Here's something to make you feel a little better. My internist wanted to test my Vitamin D level which came back deficient...

A 7.8 deficient on that 32-100 scale.

7.8!!

That's pretty severe. I'm starting with three of those little green pills (50,000 IU) each week for the first month, then one a week for about six months.

awb said...

Yikes, now that's low! Mine is twice yours. If our numbers were closer I'd say I would race you to 20! Good luck, I sure hope it helps us both.

Unknown said...

My,my... I don't know how low mine was. I do know that 1st was 50 with a range of [20-100] after 40 days of 10,000 IU a day of D3.

BTW you all are taking D2 which is considered to be 1/2 as effective as D3. That is if it a prescription.

I also know that way to many things have improved with regards to my health and there were some unusual symptoms,like tingling sensations, in the beginning which I believe to have been caused by regeneration of somewhat disused nerves.

Also as to why some are deficient and others are not, it is not known whether vitamin D deficiency causes diseases like MS or if these diseases deplete one's stores of Vitamin D. However since most vitamin D comes from sun exposure and not food, you can figure out why your deficient by noting how much unprotected sun you get.

Lisa Emrich said...

Hi LEC,

It's true that the prescription 50,000 UL is Vitamin D2 rather than the OTC choices which are D3. In my reading up on the difference, I learned that D2 is actually more bioavailable than D3 for folks who are overweight or obese. I don't know about AWB but that describes me accurately. My doctor has a plan to eventually switch to OTC D3, but for now this is what we gotta do to get those stores up more quickly.

That's great that you got your levels up so quickly. And it's good to hear that you feel better afterwards. Thanks.

awb said...

Hey gang, did Lisa just call me fat? I'm big boned, so there!

Tingling I got in spades! I sure hope it's the nerves waking up, I've been sleeping too long!

Lisa Emrich said...

Hey right back. I think I called myself fat. But if you wanna relate, then I'll call myself big-boned too.

I was aching to the extreme and so very sore at first... and definitely tingling. I've actually been able to cut back on Baclofen and Neurontin this week.

Looking to improve more.

awb said...

That is great to hear, and God knows I'm looking for an easy period! Thanks Lisa