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Q. I have leg pain when walking and hip pain at night. I have a vitamin D level of 14. Is it too late to take vitamin D and if not how much should I take?A. Your low vitamin D level might account for your symptoms. Vitamin D deficiency appears more common than previously believed.
Many doctors prescribe 50,000 units of vitamin D once a week to correct a deficiency like yours. Here is one reader's experience:
"For several years I suffered from sore hips, knees and BODY! I chalked it up to getting older and going through perimenopause.
"On my last trip to the doctor I told her I was only 48 years old and felt like I was 100. She tested my vitamin D and the count was 11.
"She prescribed 50,000 units once a week of Vitamin D. I took one dose and felt like a new person the next day! For the first time in years, I have NO soreness ANYWHERE!"
It's never too late to take vitamin D. For more information about the symptoms and dangers of vitamin D deficiency and how to treat it, you may wish to listen to our interview with Dr. Michael Holick and Dr. James Dowd. Anyone who would like a CD of this one-hour discussion may send $11.99 in check or money order to Graedons' People's Pharmacy, No. CD-672, P. O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. Show #672 is also available as a podcast for $2.99 at www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Are you SURE you are to take 50,000 IU each week??? That seems like an awful lot. Can you overdose on that many Vitamin D's? I take 1-1000 IU daily plus I get some in a multivitamin and with my Citracal.
PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: DOCTORS PRESCRIBE 50,000 IU/WEEK TO CORRECT VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY. AS LONG AS VITAMIN D LEVELS ARE MONITORED, THIS IS NOT UNREASONABLE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME. IT IS NOT A DOSE THAT PEOPLE SHOULD TAKE ON THEIR OWN, UNSUPERVISED.
For years I have had a problem with my legs and feet. They hurt sooo much especially in the morning or anytime I have been off my feet for a while. I have had to lean on something until I would get my weight fully on my legs and feet, then I could walk. I am slightly overweight but not terribly so. The first steps in the morning were excruciating.
I had been taking 2000 units of vitamin D3 a day but after reading this, I bumped it up to 10,000 a day and within the very first few days have seen an improvement. I still feel crampy in my feet when I take my first steps but it doesn't hurt near as much. I have been living on Tylenol and Ib's but haven't needed them since increasing the D3. I will back the amounts of Vitamin D3 down to no more than 50,000 a week but right now it feels so good to not hurt as much. When I go back to my doctor I will discuss it further with him...
Yes. Normal levels should be 30+...ultimately 50. To get to these levels for most people you'd need to take between 2000-5000 vitamin D per day. Most people are Vitamin D deficient.
Vitamin D does get rid of leg pain. However, the only vitamin D to take
is vitamin D 3. It is absorbed by the body much greater and will do more good in a shorter period of time. I started suffering extreme leg pain five months ago and went to bed for almost two weeks. After a lot of tests, the doctor didn't know what to do with me. I started taking 10,000 IU units of D 3 daily and all the pain was gone in two months. It has now been three additional months and the pain has not returned. I still get in the sun, and take 3,000 IU per day.
An MRI found that I have a herniated disk and a pinched nerve. Walking is a little unstable at times, but the pain has never returned. D 3 YES!
I took D3 for 2 months and suffered horrible leg pain, to the point where I couldn't even lift my legs at all. I went through every medication to see if one was the culprit, but it wasn't until I stopped the D3 that the problem stopped. what could have caused this? I thought D3 was supposed to be good for you!
I thought I recalled from biology studies years ago that Vitamins A, D, E, and K were fat soluble and that they were stored in the body in fat and not excreted. A doctor recently told me that the body uses what D it needs and the rest is eliminated. How is a layperson supposed to figure out if this could be a problem or not?
I added 1000 units of D to my repertoire several months ago, just because of hearing so much hype. Since then,I've noticed that the excruciating leg/foot cramps I've suffered with at night have disappeared. I didn't make the connection, but surely this is it. I know several people who are D-ficient (ha) and one who did get bumped up to 50,000IU weekly. It's odd that docs have to be asked to check this. Thanks for great info!
When you say D should be 30 and up....30 what? Are you speaking of 30 ng/mL?
I supplement with D3(1000 units per day) My test results show me at 18 ng/mL for D3
and at less than 4 ng/mL for D4.......
This is not the 30 mentioned above....do I need more?
From above...30 nanograms per milliliter.
Many of the leading osteoporosis experts in the nation that I've heard from like levels closer to 50 or 60 ng/mL. If your levels are below say 20 ng/mL MD's will prescribe 50,000 units of D2 (eq 17,000 mg of D3) per week until levels come up. Anything under 30 ng/ml today is considered deficient. Most people are deficient in vitamin D.....even those that live in California for example.
I'm 46 year old male and take 2400 mg per day and my levels were recently 38 ng/mL and I live in the NW and am very active and outdoors a lot.
I thought Vitamin D in excess is harmful or toxic to our bodies, how would you know if it toxic or harmful? I have extreme pain in my knees and back, however, hesitate to take too much Vitamin D. I feel torn between the lesser of two evils.
I am taking 50.000 units twice a week. My legs feel heavy from this. I have asked the Dr. about this. I am wondering if it's not too much. When I first took this I had knee pain that disappeared. I was told I had rickets. There is another long name for that, it's called osteomalacia. But vit. D has helped for pain. Good luck to you all.
I am currently in treatment for Vit D deficiency (50,000 IU once per week for four weeks). I've noticed some confusing results so far. My back pain is GONE. Completely relieved. But my leg and foot pain is actually worse. I asked my Dr. about this because it actually feels like the large bones in my legs are healing (like pain after a break). My Dr. said he wasn't sure why the pain would be worse but we both wondered if the bone's process of rebuilding (after becoming soft) may be the reason for the pain.
Overall, I am feeling better and I am willing to continue in hopes that I will eventually be pain free. I will update in a few months. I do feel stronger and less fragile. Does anyone else have any comment about the possibility that the bone building again may actually be painful?