Posted on 04/16/2010 11:15:56 AM PDT by luckystarmom
I need some help and I thought freepers could help.
My daughter has low vitamin d due to anti-seizure medication she is taking.
We are giving her 4000 IU of D3 every, but her levels have only gone from 19-24 (under 30 is deficient), and we've been supplementing for over a year.
Our pediatrician is not sure what to do.
My daughter is also symptomatic of low Vitamin D. This past year she has gotten lots of colds, her allergies are worse, and her problems with asthma are significantly worse.
I know there have been lots of posts about problems with low levels of vitamin D on free republic, and I thought maybe some of you might have some suggestions on ways to bring up her levels.
We live in San Jose, California, and it has been raining a ton, so getting out in the sun is not an option currently.
Any suggestions for what to do would be appreciated.
How old is she? Can you up the supplement dosage? What about using a tanning salon occasionally?
Do you have a light-therapy lamp? It’s for SAD, (seasonal affective disorder), but it might help with vitamin D. Anyway, it’s non-invasive, and could be worth a try.
if needed,
doctors give vit d shots.
50,000 units once a week for 4 weeks, then go to once a month
That's the best source of Vitamin D.
I’ll second the “Sun” motion.
If she is taking supplements, I’m not sure telling you about more egg yolks, sun, and cod liver oil will help.
I use teh SAD light during the winter months and have started taking vit D this year. Seems to help, anything would be better than the low I was in.
I was just reading this today:
http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/sunshine-vitamin-d-and-death-by-scientific-consensus/
There is an article here on FR about it, but I lost that link.
Anyway, they seem to indicate you can take up to 10,000 IU a day without negative side effects:
“Nevertheless, the NIH’s current recommended dosage for vitamin D supplementation remains basically unchanged since it was established to prevent rickets. In fact, the maximum safe dosage of vitamin D3, the preferred dietary form, is currently 2000IU. This is extremely unfortunate because it takes about a hundred IU to raise serum blood levels by 1 ng/ml in a healthy adult. To get into the optimal range, 40 to 60 ng/ml, one would therefore have to take 4000 IU daily. It would take even more if you were obese, are taking certain medications, or have one of a number of medical conditions that degrade or prevent the creation of usable D. The evidence, incidentally, is that 10,000IU is entirely safe.”
From MedscapeCME Clinical Briefs
Vitamin D3 Supplements in Winter May Help Protect Against Influenza A CME/CE
News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
CME/CE Released: 04/02/2010;
April 2, 2010 — Vitamin D3 supplementation during the winter is linked to lower incidence of influenza A, particularly in specific subgroups of schoolchildren, according to the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial reported online in the March 10 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
“To our knowledge, no rigorously designed clinical trials have evaluated the relation between vitamin D and physician diagnosed seasonal influenza,” write Mitsuyoshi Urashima, MD, PhD, from Jikei University School of Medicine, Minato-ku, in Tokyo, Japan, and colleagues. “We investigated the effect of vitamin D supplements on the incidence of seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.”
Schoolchildren were randomly assigned to receive vitamin D3 supplements (1200 IU/day) or placebo from December 2008 through March 2009. The main endpoint of the study was the incidence of influenza A, diagnosed by influenza antigen testing (rapid influenza diagnostic test [RIDT]) on a nasopharyngeal swab specimen.
In the vitamin D3 group, 18 (10.8%) of 167 children had influenza A, as did 31 (18.6%) of 167 children in the placebo group (relative risk [RR], 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.34 - 0.99; P = .04). The association of decreased influenza A incidence with vitamin D supplements was stronger in children who had not been taking other vitamin D supplements (RR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.17 - 0.79; P = .006) and in those who started nursery school after age 3 years (RR, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.17 - 0.78; P = .005).
Among children with a previous diagnosis of asthma, 2 children in the vitamin D3 group vs 12 children in the placebo group had asthma attacks as a secondary outcome (RR, 0.17; 95% CI, 0.04 - 0.73; P = .006).
“This study suggests that vitamin D3 supplementation during the winter may reduce the incidence of influenza A, especially in specific subgroups of schoolchildren,” the study authors write. “....Moreover, asthma attacks were also prevented by vitamin D3 supplementation.”
.......
Tons of info here. Dr. Cannell seems very knowledgable. I hope you find help!
Got any thing that can help?
Check out: Link to Vitamin D council
Mine was 14 about 4 years ago. It's taken me about 4 years just to get mine up to 50+. My doc wants me to be around 100. I take 5000 a day. According to vitamin D council most people us about 4000 a day. And according to my doctor, if you have any auto-immune problems your body will soak up D.
If you live far enough south, spend 10-20 minutes a day in the sun with as little on as possible. Have your level checked about this time of year march/april. It'll be the lowest and again at the end of summer around sept./oct. to see what it is at the highest level.
Ooops! Forgot the link! Vitamin D Council http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
Don’t take A with D. A and D use the same way to get into the cells. A will get in first and block the D. This isn’t very technical way of describing it, sorry, best way for me to explain though.
It’s been a very rainy winter in N. California. There has been no sun.
This morning it was sunny, and I told her at lunch to take off her jacket role up her sleeves and hang out in the sun.
We do have skin cancer that runs in our family, but I don’t have them wear sunscreen to school. She has PE outside 4 days a week, and then they eat outside if it isn’t raining.
However, her levels were low in August, and we have a pool and spend lots of time outside.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.