achy joints, muscles - any others? vitamin d deficiency??

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

I am almost 11 year post op and have started this past year with iron and vitamin D dificieincies...my D was a 14 I think. and  my doctor gave me a presciption D which was I think a once a week 50,000 unit little green jell pill.  After 6 weeks of taking it I had to stop cause I develop alot of abdominal cramping..was sent for a colonoscopy to make sure my low iron wasnt for some other issue but everything came back fine and they said its from my WLS surgery.  I dont know what supliments to take that wont constipate me from the iron and bother me me like the presciption vitamin D did.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks

Lisa

Like was mentioned to the earlier poster, see Vitalady. The D your dr prescribed is wrong - that green one, shaped like a gooshy little football = wrong stuff. You don't absorb that. 

Iron is also likely to be low if you haven't been supplementing right. Vitalady has several kinds available that work for us, or can help steer you toward what you need. She is the BEST. 

Chances are you are low on other things if you were to get THOROUGH blood work, which doesn't seem to happen without pushing for some of us. If you the didn't draw like 17-22 vials of blood for you labs, get the list from Michelle (vitalady) as well, and make sure you are getting everything checked that you need. Comparing what you take to her list of suggested supplements is also a very wise move.

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.