Women who suffer painful menstrual cramps might get relief from vitamin D3. Italian physicians recruited 40 women with dysmenorrhea to take either a very large dose of vitamin D3 or a placebo. The women had low levels of vitamin D in their bodies at the outset, and those with the lowest levels reported the greatest amount of menstrual discomfort.
Two months after taking 300,000 IU of vitamin D, women rated their pain as significantly lower and they did not need to take pain relievers for their periods. Those who had gotten the placebo were less likely to report a reduction in pain and many were still taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen or naproxen. Experts are cautious about the results, however. The study was small and the dose of vitamin D is so high that there may be unanticipated risks. They recommend that women stick with doses such as 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day until further research has been completed.
[Archives of Internal Medicine, Feb. 27, 2012]
The People's Perspective on Medicine