Vitamin D deficiency and FM/CFS?

I was low on it again too. The doc put me on 50,000iu a week for a month. Now I take 2800 a day. 2000 of regular D3, and 800 are in my calcium. I find it helps with energy levels, but haven't noticed it helping with the pain much. But I always feel better when I take it. You might want to look into the malic acid/magnesium supplements mentioned on fibro 101. They help with pain and stiffness.

Best wishes to you for a wonderful day.

Hugs, Karen

Yes I had/have it. I was put on 50,000 IU per week to get it up to normal, then after that was over I self-vitimined myself with 2-3 of the 1,000 IU Vitamin D3 pills a day. I still do this. I take 2 (2,000 IU total) when I feel basic, but when I feel more run down, I increase it to 3 pills.

I just started taking Vitamin B12 (silly me, I thought the "B-Complex" vitamin I was taking would contain all the B vitamins, but it only had B6 in it!)

Too soon to tell if it's really helping or if it's a placebo effect, but I had a fairly decent day yesterday and a better day today.

My GP said not to be too quick to assume it's all about the Vitamin D, of course saying if I lost weight it would help my joints feel better (but hey, if I could feel better, I could move more, couldn't I?) So its a "fun" Catch-22 we're stuck in sometimes.

Since a lot of us have irritable bowel symptoms, I think it's also possible we don't absorb our vitamins due to that. I'm not sure though....I am very curious though!

Karen, how much do we take of the malic acid and mag. Can you get it in the drug store. I do have mag. 250 mgs. ???

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?rlz=1C1CHNV_enUS363US364&q=magnesium+glycinate&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15821899229119016417&sa=X&ei=hP5KTtHBJ6m1sQKCy-iqCA&ved=0CF0Q8wIwAg

That link is the type of magnesium that my doctor recommended to me (twice a day). You'll notice in the above link that the glycinate form supposedly causes less loose stools than some types of magnesium. (I did not have any problems in this area when I started taking them...)

I read something before that the enteric (hard coated) supplements may not work as well for people who have absorption problems (something about how they are digested, I don't remember exactly), whereas these are capsules that quickly dissolve. Even though the malic acid/magnesium supplements that are often talked about on here are the hard-coated kind, I have been taking them too... my take is this, if they can't hurt, and might help... why not!

Hey guys,

I cannot believe how similar our symptoms are in terms of Vitamin D I've read that the link can also be made to IBS as it's harder for us to absorb certain foods/minerals/vitamins...you get my drift I've also read, but am not sure how many studies have been conducted, that Cymbalta could also be responsible for this phenomena. Being Canadian, yep, my specialist said the exact same thing. I take 2000iu/day and was also at one point taking 50,000iu/week. My nutritionist said she's seen people who take 5000iu/day because they are chronically deficient.

I wish I could say that taking more has helped me deal with the direct pain, but it has not. I still take it just to be safe as this poor 'vessel' *aka my body* has been beat up enough by the Fibro thanks , lol! I can't wait for the day when they say 'stem cells available to cure EVERY ailment humans have ever faced.' That day will indeed be a victory for mankind .

Keep hoping, keep praying, and keep looking towards the stars We'll get there soon enough.

Vitamin D deficiency effects our entire body and can be an issue for any syndrome.disease.  My Vitamn D level was 22, which is very low.  I keep it around 60 now with 5000IU's daily of D3.  They say most people do not get enough Vit D, especially with the pushing of sunblock, which prevents us from absorbing it from the sun.  There are only a few hours a day when you can get the proper D from the sun here on the east coast, hours which I am working.

Vit B12 is very important too.  I take 5000mcg of B12 daily and a B Complex vitamin also.  I can't say if it helps with pain unless the fact that I have been on B12 for 6 yrs is the reason my pain level is low.  I know I will always have to take B12 and D for my health, along with a multi vitamin and the B Complex.

Angel, if you're able to get to your doctor for a blood panel, then they can specifically tell where you are at now and that may help determine the amount of vitamin B that you need. If I had just tried it on my own, and not had the doctor told me I need the injections, I probably wouldn't have improved as much.

My Vitamin D was at 18 so I knew larger doses were going to be required to get it back up in a decent range.

I'm looking forward to getting numbers again soon to see where things are at now. But I did learn something this week, Zyrtec makes me REALLY tired (I was taking it for some recent allergy activity). Not only am I super fatigued from it, but I also stay in bed longer and wake up stiff as a board. It's odd how we have to sort out these things as part of the learning experiences to make sure we don't just attribute everything to the fibro.