Hi there!  For the past month or so my joints (shoulders, elbows, hips, knees, ankles) and the muscles around them have been very achy.  My knees are achy to the point that it hurts to lift my knees up to walk up the two steps to the door of my house, my elbows to the point my 32-oz bottle of water was too heavy and hurt to pick-up, so I had to switch to a smaller 16-oz. bottle, my lower back and hips hurt to sit in any position (at work, on cou*****ar) for any longer than about 30 minutes without having to get up and walk for a few minutes, which of course my knees hurt when I first get up and it's hard to walk for the first 20-30 steps or so.  I feel good otherwise, tired and achy, but good. 

I went to my PCP about it and he ran a ton of blood work and said all that wasn't normal was my vitamin D is still low (28 - normal is 32-100).  It was low on my 6-month labs, too, (32) so I started taking a supplement (listed in my daily vitamins below), but when my PCP checked at 8-1/2 months it was even lower.  He told me to up it, but I've left two phone messages asking how much to up it, but he's on vacation, so no answer yet. 

Anyone else have  these symptoms?  If so, do you have any suggestions for help?  Could it be the low vitamin D.  If so, any idea how much I should be taking?  I take 2 of the Bariatric Advantage multi-vitamins per day with 667iu per vitamin, 2 per day of Caltrate 600mg Calcium with 400 iu of D in each tablet, and 2 per day of a Vitamin D3 2000iu per tablet supplement.

Any thoughts? 

I have been wondering the same. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1980 for muscle and tendon pain but no joint pain.  I recently read the same info your PCP gave you. My last labs, 3 weeks ago showed my Vit D level to be 21. In the last 2 weeks my spine...the entire length, has gotten very painful and it wears me down as the day goes on. I am going to discuss this with both my rhumatologist and my PCP.  What if that is what has been wrong with me all along?  Oh the years in pain I might have lived with  for no reason. My PCP told me to take 2,000 iu of Vit. D 3 daily.  I upped it myself to 4,000. I have labs again in 7 weeks. Hopefully it will be up by then or I will be looking for another answer from someone. Good luck to you!

Low Vit D and pain is well documented.  There is an interference in the nerve pathways.  Your D is way too low, as you know, and you really need to get it up.  right now you are taking 4000 u, it would be wise to start at least 10000 u per day.  Make sure that your D is dry D.  
Caltrate is calcium carbonate.  Our rearranged plumbing has effectively removed the acid necessary to break down calcium carbonate, therefore it goes thru your system unchanged and you poop it right back out!  You need to change to calcium citrate (Citrical is a brand).  I wouldn't count the D included as I can't tell if it is dry D.  Make sure to follow up with your doc next week and get a good regimen in place.  Also, beware of prescription D - it is oil based and you will not absorb enough to change you lab values. 

An easy way to get more D is spending 10-15 min in bright sunlight (no sunscreen) 2-3 times a day.  Vit D is actually a hormone and is synthesized by our bodies.  You still need mega supplements however.

Cindy

dry vitamin d from vitalady. the amounts in the multivitamins aren't even enough to register. i've been taking her 10,000 iu every day since January and in 8 months, mine went from 42 to 66, we all absorb differently and doctors freak at the larger amounts, but some folks even take the 50,000 iu and retest in a month.

the sooner you get it up the better, good luck!

judi

I wrote about the same thing earlier.  I do have Fibro but just my legs, knees  and feet hurt.  Why is it called dry vit. d?  I hate this.  A person just doesn't feel like doing anything. 

they want you to take dry cause the rx that doctors prescribe comes in a gel and is D2 vs. d3. apparently d3 is what we need and we are less likely to absorb the stuff in a gel, cause it is a gel.

everyone's mileage may vary but I have seen lots of people have good results with the megadoses from vitalady so I'm totally on the bandwagon.

I feel for you with Fibro. I know several people who have it and can't begin to imagine it. 

Vitalady sells the d3 in 3 sizes, 5,000 IU, 10,000 IU and 50,000 IU. I think the 5,000 IU work out to be the cheapest and are teeny tiny little capsules. If you look around online you can maybe find them elsewhere too but you won't find them at wal mart.

give it a try, just keep an eye on your labs, and wouldn't that be great if it made your fibro feel better?

here is a link to an old post on the grads board discussing vitamin d if you want to read it:

Topic: 16 months out-bloodwork

Thanks everyone!!!  Awesome info!!!  I'm so used to my spine hurting all the way up and down that I hadn't even mentioned that part.  I keep rubbing it and wondering if the bones are supposed to stick out that much (it hurts to sit in chairs with backs on them), but my mom and hubby said the bones are normal (I'd just never felt them before!).

You all put a smile on my face with the quick help!  I'm going to go on vitalady's site right now and order some dry D.  Plus, get rid of my Caltrate and open my new bottle of Citracal (I bought it and got home and saw it wasn't the same as my Caltrate and thought I'd messed up - guess my brain was trying to tell me I had the wrong one in the first place!)

THANK YOU!!!

Me.

Why do you think I'm so militant on my vite supplements?

I've been taking 50k per day for 3 months.. my redraw has questionable results, so I'm getting a new draw next week to see how far I've come.. but I started out at 24.1 in May.

Same pain here so I feel for you.  I havent been formally diagnosed with Fibro but witht he issues I am having now it is thought its  protein maulnutrition along with eating nowhere enough a day imn general.  Maybe try upping your protein and see if it helps you any and ofcourse the D since u already know its an issue.  Look up ways to get in more D in your regular day.  I do know sunlight is said to help some too...
I am sure someone further out will see your message and be able to help more.
Best of luck.


Edited to add this link: http://gastricbypass.netfirms.com/vitamins.htm
It is handy to save on your computer for ref. anytime.

Thanks for the link - I'm so glad you edited your message to add it.  Lots of interesting info for me to read.  I did leave the site long enough to go on and order my dry vit D supplements and some more dry vit b1 while I was on there since my nut has had me on those for the past 3 months and i'm getting low.  it's been dark and rainy here for a week or so, but the weather's gotten nicer so i'll be able to walk outside for my walks at work and that should help, too.  i do two 15-minute break walks and a 45-minute lunch walk, so with the sun being out I should be getting some good natural d, too.

My D is in the toilet.

16.

Now, I did not know pain was a side effect of this, okay maybe I did, but, I guess I am lucky.

I am not hurting much yet.

Great Thread.  I just found out I was D deficient as well  I have Fibro, and ended up at a Integrative Health Doctor to work on my pain, insomnia, gerd and menapause symptoms.  She ran lots of tests, more than my PCP.  at my 6 month/physical.  Found I was D difficient, something common to Fibro sufferers, also B2 difficient.  I wish I had been tested for all this stuff before my surgery I'd been in pain and diagnosed with Fibro for years, probably was D diffiicent before surgery.   

 I too was taking the wrong type calcium. I like the Calcium Citrate Crystals from Bariatric Eating, They dissolve nicely in my crystal light!

I am trying to spend 15-20 mins in the sun 3-4 days a week, I don't have the malabsoption with my VSG,, so I don't know if the supplement she has me taking would help you,  It is a sublingual drop under the tongue, I take 3 drops a day (til my next blood work, then we reevaluate ).  (400 Unit/drop 1200 Units of Bio-D-Mulsion/day)  It is Vitamin D as Cholecalciferol.  It states "Bio-D-Mulsion is an oil in water emulsion, Vitamin D oil has been been dispersed into microscopic particles to aid absorption and assimulation ".  Manufacturer is Biotics Research Corp, Rosenberg Texas, 77471

 HI   
I have joint and muscle pain in all my joints, knees, elbows, hips wrist and even my hands.  I can hardly get dressed or walk when I get up in the Am.  It continues all day. When I sit, I slowly get up,   stand for a min, and then it still hurts to walk My hips hurt all the time... My shoulders hurt also, I have to help straighten my arm out, as the pain is to bad.  Went to Dr. he gave me muscle relaxers.  Did absolutely no good. , I know my diet is not as it should be, I eat very little sugar and little flour. I take gabapentin and carbatrol for trigenimal neurolgia, and have gained some weight from the meds.

Yes I have had severe Muscle and joint and bone  pain. And I did read the links about Vit D deficiency. After losing over 100 pounds I did think that I would not be feeling this way.  But I was low in Vit D on my last lab test but did bring it up to  normal with supplementation. I am determined to keep it that way.