Vitamin D

Susiesoo

Hi all,

I had a fairly successful appt with my Rheumy this morning in that blood tests are all ok, he's happy for me to stay on 3mg Prednisolone and 15mg MTX. And I can come off Alendronic acid which I hate, so good news.

Then he said my vit D level has gone up from 50 to 58 so that's ok, but they would rather it was 80 or above. I take a supermarket vit D supplement which he said to continue, but I wonder if anyone knows anything about vit D, ie does it come in different strengths or quality? I didn't think to ask him at the time.

So far I have been seen every 3 months and now he doesn't want to see me for 9 so I suppose that is some sort of progress.

Once again, thanks to all for this wonderful forum.

Susie

dreamdaisy

Well, that sounds like a positive appointment - especially coming off the alendronic (what a faff that med was). I don't know much about Vit D but I do take a combined calcium and Vit D chewable tablet (well, when I remember!) I'll PM you the details. DD

Susiesoo

Thank you, DD. I'll look out for it.

Susie

frogmorton

Hi Susiesoo

Yes a good appointment there methinks

Vitamin D is definitely considered relevant isn't it these days?

Just been topping up on the natural stuff in the garden - sun

Take care

love

Toni xxx

stickywicket

I think Vit D always comes in 10 micrograms and those of us aged 65+ or who don't get much sunlight (maybe due to meds :roll: ) should take one a day according to the NHS website. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vitamins-minerals/Pages/Vitamin-D.aspx

Oily fish and eggs are good natural sources of it.

Sounds like a good appt. Well done

barbara12

Hi Susie
Like DD I take vit D with calcium...the vit D helps us absorb the calcium, but like Toni say we can get it off the sun,and like SW fish and eggs...I'm glad it was a good appointment x

lily

Hi Susie

Im on vit d as im deficient in it.i got it last year from the doc and was told to spend at least 20 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon in the sunshine as well, a lot of us with arthritis have this deficiency

Im on pro d3 1000iu once a day, got to admit I have spent quite a while in the back garden today, long may this weather continue

Take care
Lily x

Susiesoo

Thank you all for your replies. I will be looking further into the dietary aspects of vit D as I think I need more than a "rough idea". I just wish this grey sky would break more often so we could benefit from some sun. We rarely get any here in the middle of the country. When we do I am out in it although I now hear that being on MTX we are not supposed to. Just can't win :roll:

Susie

knuckleduster

Hello Susie

When I had my one and only disastrous appointment with a doctor from my local hospital's pain clinic, he told me to take 1000 mg of vitamin D a day. When I spoke to my local helpful pharmacist about this, she said that it was rather a large dose and had I had a blood test to confirm I was low in vitamin D. Well, I hadn't had a blood test and as I was already taking a multi vitamin supplement (which I told the doctor verbally and on a six page questionnaire I had to complete which he didn't even bother to glance at) which contained vitamin D, I would be over dosing by a dangerous amount.

In fact, I would go so far as to say my appointment with the pain clinic doctor was a bad experience and if I ever need the services of a pain clinic again, I would be tempted to pay my money and go "private".

Janet xx

dreamdaisy

We can go out in the sun, Susiesoo, but we have to be careful; sunscreen is a must and sunbathing is out (especially at mid-day) but even in the shade some of the beneficial rays will get to us. DD

elnafinn

Hi Susie

The usual daily dose for an adult is 400 to 800 iu (international units), which is equivalent to 10 to 20 µg (micrograms).

I am interested in VitD and calcium because I have osteoporosis and am on medication and need to take enough calcium and Vit D to make the med work properly.

If you like herrings or rollmops these are very high in Vit D. Tinned sardines in tomato sauce and tinned pilchards in tomato sauce are good sources of VitD too, grilled salmon and Bangladesh curried fish too but by far the highest is grilled herrings or rollmops!

I copied and pasted this from a NHS Chloices link:

Short daily periods of sun exposure without sunscreen during the summer months (April to October) are enough for most people to make enough vitamin D. Evidence suggests that the most effective time of day for vitamin D production is between 11am and 3pm.

A short period in the sun means a matter of minutes – about 10 to 15 minutes for most people – and is less than the time it takes you to start going red or to burn. The larger the area of your skin that is exposed to sunlight, the more chance there is of making enough vitamin D before you start to burn.

People with darker skin will need to spend longer in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D.

In the UK, our skin isn't able to make vitamin D from winter sunlight (November to March) as the sunlight hasn't got enough UVB (ultraviolet radiation. During the winter, we get vitamin D from our body's stores and from food sources.

Elna x

Susiesoo

Thank you for your kind replies. Elna, thank you for copying that for me. Think I'll be eating plenty of salmon - can't quite cope with the others!

I'm off to London for the weekend as we have tickets for Moody Blues at O2 tomorrow. I love London so can't wait.

Many thanks to all, Susie