Re: Taking Vitamin D supplements
Posted: Mon Aug 19, 2013 12:47 pm
A comment was made in one of the diet threads that may have been read as suggesting taking 10000 iu of Vitamin D is good for CFS. Unfortunately I had not been able to respond to the comment before the thread was locked and it was important I did write a response. Hence the opening of a new thread. I am sorry that this caused unintended embarrassment.
10000 iu is the same as 250 microgms or µg of Vitamin D which is 25 times the
dose that the Chief Medical Officer recommends for those with little
sunlight exposure – i.e. many with moderate to severe ME. It is also 10 times higher than the recommended safe upper limit published by the Food Standards Agency (2003). These were the conclusions of an independent expert panel looking at over 10,000 pieces of international research.
Vit D is a fat soluble vitamin, so any excess taken orally is stored in the body rather
than excreted. It is possible to have too much and for blood levels of Vitamin D and calcium to go too high.
On a personal note, my daughter with CFS/ME, (diagnosed 10 years ago), was found
by blood tests to be Vitamin D deficient this year. Her GP treated her
with therapeutic doses of Vitamin D and her recent repeat blood check now
shows her levels are too high. This, however, is being monitored under professional guidance, so is a warning against self-medication.
To be safe it is best to only take the 100% recommended daily amount, (10 micrograms or 400iu), unless otherwise prescribed by your GP or doctor. It is reasonable to ask if your Vitamin D blood levels can be checked; any deficiency does need to be treated. My daughter told me that she did not feel much different before or after treatment, even though her blood levels were really very low to begin with, and indeed are now too high. It’s so hard sometimes to tell what helps when so many other unexplained symptoms are going on at the same time . I also have some feedback from GP’s to observe again a disappointing lack of improvement on treating and correcting Vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D issues are significant and we will understand more as time goes on but it is certainly not the “magic” pill.
10000 iu is the same as 250 microgms or µg of Vitamin D which is 25 times the
dose that the Chief Medical Officer recommends for those with little
sunlight exposure – i.e. many with moderate to severe ME. It is also 10 times higher than the recommended safe upper limit published by the Food Standards Agency (2003). These were the conclusions of an independent expert panel looking at over 10,000 pieces of international research.
Vit D is a fat soluble vitamin, so any excess taken orally is stored in the body rather
than excreted. It is possible to have too much and for blood levels of Vitamin D and calcium to go too high.
On a personal note, my daughter with CFS/ME, (diagnosed 10 years ago), was found
by blood tests to be Vitamin D deficient this year. Her GP treated her
with therapeutic doses of Vitamin D and her recent repeat blood check now
shows her levels are too high. This, however, is being monitored under professional guidance, so is a warning against self-medication.
To be safe it is best to only take the 100% recommended daily amount, (10 micrograms or 400iu), unless otherwise prescribed by your GP or doctor. It is reasonable to ask if your Vitamin D blood levels can be checked; any deficiency does need to be treated. My daughter told me that she did not feel much different before or after treatment, even though her blood levels were really very low to begin with, and indeed are now too high. It’s so hard sometimes to tell what helps when so many other unexplained symptoms are going on at the same time . I also have some feedback from GP’s to observe again a disappointing lack of improvement on treating and correcting Vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D issues are significant and we will understand more as time goes on but it is certainly not the “magic” pill.