# Help! How do I interpret this?!?



## peaches (Sep 29, 2009)

Ok. So my symptoms of Hashi's have improved alot since starting the Cytomel and Synthroid but not all gone and sometimes I get hit pretty hard. I went back to my Endo and talked with her about it and let her know that I was worried about my vitamin D and ferritin.

She said that the Vitamin D was going to be the next thing that she checked for. She tested me and these are my test results:

25-D: range: 20-100 --- mine were 15.

She said that was low and prescribed me 50,000 IU one pill weekly for 3 months then one pill monthly.

Here are my questions:

1. Is 15 really low? What is normal?
2. My pharmacist said 50,000 is a standard prescription dose. Is it too much?
3. What are some of the symptoms of Vit. D deficiency?
4. What are some of the symptoms of too much Vit. D?

Anyones help would be appreciated. Andros any info you could provide would be awesome!


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

1. Is 15 really low? What is normal? YES IT IS LOW. IT SHOULD BE ABOVE 30. OPTIMAL IS ABOVE 50.
2. My pharmacist said 50,000 is a standard prescription dose. Is it too much? I'M ON 50K TWICE A WEEK.
3. What are some of the symptoms of Vit. D deficiency? TIREDNESS & DEPRESSION FOR ME.
4. What are some of the symptoms of too much Vit. D? NO CLUE!


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## peaches (Sep 29, 2009)

Thanks Heidi! That helps. I'm still discovering all the crazy things a thyroid can do. I am usually finding them out the hard way. What a crazy ride. I hope the vitamin D boost will make me feel better.


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

I felt so much better on the D. I didn't know it was the D - I thought it was from the thyroid meds. My FT3 and FT4 hardly changed after my first round of treatment. I was feeling so much better - I asked my endo and he said maybe because my D had come up so much - from 30 to 70ish. So indeed, it can affect how we feel.

I bet you'll feel even better once you start taking the high dose of D. 15 is very low!


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

:

1. Is 15 really low? What is normal?

Most labs show a normal range of 30-100 though many endo's want to see it at 50 or higher.

2. My pharmacist said 50,000 is a standard prescription dose. Is it too much?

There's really no such thing as too much Vitamin D UNLESS it's pushing your calcium into the toxic zone.

3. What are some of the symptoms of Vit. D deficiency?

Need to distringuish between deficiency and insufficiency.
Deficiency <20
Insufficiency is between 20 - 30

Lethargy and bone and muscle pain. Exhaustion. Example: I was able to walk 1.7 miles in 25 minutes when Vitamin D was normal. When my Vitamin D tanked I could only walk perhaps 1/4 the distance in the same amount of time.

4. What are some of the symptoms of too much Vit. D?

Hypercalcemia.


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

peaches said:


> Ok. So my symptoms of Hashi's have improved alot since starting the Cytomel and Synthroid but not all gone and sometimes I get hit pretty hard. I went back to my Endo and talked with her about it and let her know that I was worried about my vitamin D and ferritin.
> 
> She said that the Vitamin D was going to be the next thing that she checked for. She tested me and these are my test results:
> 
> ...


5/09 I got tested at 26.5 (32-100)

12 weeks later at 50K IU weekly it went up to 51.1

I felt fantastic - the lingering fatigue seemed to disappear. I have to supplement with 2K-3K daily now otherwise I feel a drop in my energy levels. It's probably time for a re-test as it's been a year and I'm curious.

I was very worried about side effects of the 50K IU dose but didn't seem to notice anything different except the energy boost about the 3-4th week into treatment.

What was your ferritin level? Mine was low as well -


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## CheleRose (Apr 26, 2010)

Hi,
Here are my 2 cents on the topic. Yes 15 is very low. I was at 5 in April...yes 5. I then started doing my homework and kept reading that people who took the 50,000 of D2 (lil green pill) they quickly raised their numbers, but sadly felt worse months aftward with falling numbers even when they were taking daily 1k-2k D2 replacements. I just had mine tested again last week, I am up to 24...here is what I did (and am still doing), I went and bought chewable D3 2,000 iu's from Whole Foods and take daily. I sit in the sun ( live in northern california) each sunny day for about 20 mins of just showing my arms and legs (face was covered by hat). What I did see change were a few things... my antibodies for Hashi's great reduced (maybe a coincidence?). They are currently lower than they have ever been at a testing. I was getting a lot of numbness and nerve pains, and that seems to be better...again, not sure if that is actually the D3 or lower antibodies...who knows, I still have a high TSH though. My knees are still killing me, and I do still have aches and pains, but I also have a goofy thyroid we can't figure out.

I very much recommend taking the D3 instead of the high D2 because it seems to stay in our system longer and you may want to look into that as well.

Good luck and I hope you feel great once you get your levels up!
p.s. My ferritin is very high


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

peaches said:


> Ok. So my symptoms of Hashi's have improved alot since starting the Cytomel and Synthroid but not all gone and sometimes I get hit pretty hard. I went back to my Endo and talked with her about it and let her know that I was worried about my vitamin D and ferritin.
> 
> She said that the Vitamin D was going to be the next thing that she checked for. She tested me and these are my test results:
> 
> ...


I personally would have preferred that she ran your ferritin test.

My opinion about Vitamin D is not a popular one.

Authored by a team of researchers at the California-based non-profit Autoimmunity Research Foundation, the paper goes on to point out that molecular biologists have long known that the form of vitamin D derived from food and supplements, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-D), is a secosteroid rather than a vitamin. Like corticosteroid medications, vitamin D may provide short-term relief by lowering inflammation but may exacerbate disease symptoms over the long-term.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-04/arf-vdm040809.php

If you read this, you will see that for those with autoimmune, the body automatically downregulates Vitamin D because it exacerbates and incites the antibodies and autoantibodies.

It is my humble opinion that 10 minutes in the sun every day that you are able is suffient to keep you in good stead. Plus, many foods have Vitamin D right in them.

I am so so glad you are feeling better though. This is the "best" news!


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## Lovlkn (Dec 20, 2009)

> Authored by a team of researchers at the California-based non-profit Autoimmunity Research Foundation, the paper goes on to point out that molecular biologists have long known that the form of vitamin D derived from food and supplements, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-D), is a secosteroid rather than a vitamin. Like corticosteroid medications, vitamin D may provide short-term relief by lowering inflammation but may exacerbate disease symptoms over the long-term.


I don't think I would be willing to give up Vit-D as the benefits are far greater than the risks.

I say test for both Vit-D and Ferritin as I have been noticing a trend of positive results for deficiency on both for Thyroid disease patients.

I am so thankful I had a friend who was thinking clearly enough to recommend I have both tested.


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## CA-Lynn (Apr 29, 2010)

Andros wrote: "It is my humble opinion that 10 minutes in the sun every day that you are able is suffient to keep you in good stead. Plus, many foods have Vitamin D right in them."

I eat plenty of Vitamin D rich foods and am in the sun at least 4 hours a day year round [southern CA] and still I"m fighting this Vitamin D thing.

50,000 IU weekly seemed to get a good handle on the problem and now that I'm on 50,000 IU bi-weekly I've plummeted down the foxhole again!

I"m going to take a WAG here: I'll bet cytokines have something to do with this.


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## HeidiBR (Apr 4, 2010)

Lynn,

I think you are correct. I don't think you can increase Vit D to a sufficient level through diet or even sun exposure.

I think it also depends on how our bodies process D.

What's a WAG?


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## peaches (Sep 29, 2009)

WAG: wild a** guess is my definition. At least that's what it is in Georgia anyway.lol!


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