Other than fatigue, symptoms of low vitamin D may be vague and somewhat difficult to detect. The symptoms may include:
- a general achy feeling in the muscles
- moderate pain in the bones
Severe vitamin D deficiency will make these symptoms more pronounced:
- muscle weakness
- severe pain in the bones
- difficulty walking and moving around
- dental cavities
- increased allergies (in children and adolescents)
Vitamin D – The Grand Deceiver
Vitamin D deficiency is being talked about as the Grand Deceiver. In an article by Dr. John Cannell, head if the Vitamin D Council, vitamin D deficiency is revealed to mimic or even present as:
- sun sensitivity
- gingivitis
- frequent infections
- autoimmune diseases
- diabetes
- fibromyalgia
- stroke
- osteoporosis
- ankylosing spondylitis (spine-fusing inflammatory disease)
Does any of this sound like you?
Or, someone you know?
You will never know if you have vitamin D deficiency unless you get tested.
Think your family doctor has tested you for low vitamin D? Think again.
In Canada, socialized medicine has not covered vitamin D testing for years. And, most family doctors won’t test your vitamin D unless you practically beg them to do it. They will say “it’s unnecessary; most people are deficient” or “it’s an unneeded burden to the healthcare system; laboratories already have enough to do.”
Don’t believe any of it.
It’s your health. Get yourself tested.
At least once a year. Every year.
How do you know if yours has been tested? Ask for a copy of your blood work.
Since vitamin D is not covered by socialized medicine, you have to pay for this test, at least in Canada. So if you haven’t shelled out any dollars at the lab, then you haven’t been tested.
Testing Your D
Vitamin D can be tested with a blood test. Specifically, 25(OH)vitamin D.
Vitamin D can even be measured from the comfort of your own home. There are labs now that test vitamin D from a simple finger prick and a few drops of blood.
Ideal levels are 125-250 nmol/L (or 50-100 ng/ml; your test will either be in international units or standard units, so look carefully so that you don’t get them mixed up!).
Treating Your D
It’s darn near impossible to get vitamin D from your diet alone.
Actually, the best source of vitamin D is sunshine.
(Here in Ontario where I live, 95 percent of my patients are vitamin D deficient, and 99.9 percent of the doctors here still never check vitamin D levels! Ugh!)
So, depending on how much sunshine you get and where you live, you may or may not be making enough vitamin D.
The only way to know is to get your vitamin D checked!
Again, if you want to find the underlying cause of your fatigue, you need to find the right doctor – one that’s trained in functional medicine.
In fact, I know a brilliant functional medicine doctor who would be delighted to help you—me! (Come on, I had to get a shameless plug in at some point!)
Dr. Carri Drzyzga, DC, ND – The Functional Medicine Doc
Find the Cause. Fix the Cause. Feel Normal Again!
