Vitamin D level Poll

[SleepingBearDoNtWake]

Hello Everyone,

I think we have all heard about Vitamin D and how they think it might have something to do with sleep apnea. I don't understand it all, but I was just wondering, if any of you have had your levels checked? If you have, and it was low, did supplementing Vitamin D bring any kind of improvement into your life?
Do feel you slept better?
Your Sleep Apnea numbers improved on your Cpap?
Did you have more energy?
Less Fatigue?
Less muscle Pain?
Other improvements?

I have been on Cpap for several months now, but still don't feel better and my numbers are all great. So I am really wondering about other things that maybe affecting our treatments.
For me right now, I have found out that I have low vitamin D, and low testosterone. Both of these can lead to mood problems, low energy, and fatigue. I am just interested to see if other people with sleep apnea may be low in these areas because of the sleep apnea, and what affects they might have when, we treat these problems.

[ameriken]

I chose the 3rd option. It was checked, it was low, I've been taking about 2000 units of D per day, and I don't think it's having any effect on my apnea.

Thanks to the VA, for the first time in my life I had my D levels checked last year, about the same time I was discovering I had sleep apnea. The ASV has me breathing normally again at night, but I still feel tired, still have a difficult time waking up in the morning, and still have some congnitive trouble. However, it is all considerably better than prior to getting on the machine.

I'll be going in to the clinic in another week or so to have my levels checked again, so I don't know yet if I'm taking enough D.

[Linus]

I was tested for vitamin D and B in May 2011. My legs were killing me if I sat down for more than one hour and acid reflux was an issue. The low vitamin D and B levels were casued by Coeliac desease. Coeliac was discovered via endoscopy for acid reflux. Treatment for coeliac is a gluten free diet. I started gluten free on July 1st this year.

Immediately, I saw improvments in low blood sugar issues and hunger. Five months later, I have more energy, no more leg pain, I sleep better, the acic reflux has improved, and joint pain is gone. All these changes gradually occurred over a few months. I remember waking up one morning about two months ago and realizing that joint pain was gone. I could not believe it. SInce 2001 I had been dealing with lower back pain. It has been the best change so far.

CPAP and going gluten free have been life altering events for me. I went on CPAP three years ago for UARS and gluten free in July of this year. I can tell you that I feel better than I did when I was 29 and I am 40.

Everyone is different, situations are different, but low vitamin D tells me there are some malabsorbsion issues. You might want to get that checked out. I think taking vitamin B helps (I took supplements too), but uncovering the root cause will be even better. If your are interested, a blood test can indicate if further action is required. Ask for an IGA TTG blood test. It is an accurate marker for ceoliac. The cost is low for the test.

[msradar65]

I have critical low Vit D levels. I have been in 50,000 units twice a week now for nearly a year. The levels come up but are never in the normal range. As far as my apnea the vit D levels have no effect. As far as pain,. swelling, stiffness and joint pain it has made a world of difference. I also have tons more energy like I have never had in many years.

[napstress]

Believe it or not, I did not fit squarely into any one category. I had it checked. It was low. I took a supplement until the level was in the normal range. I didn't notice it helping with sleep issues, but when I went off it, I noticed that emotional lump in my throat return. I didn't notice it disappear when I went on the vit. D, but noticed that it came back when I went off. For this poll, I selected the option for treating it and noticing a difference, even though the difference wasn't sleep-related, because I get that emotional "plum-pit" in the throat feeling when I am over-tired. So it could have meant more energy.

[Emilia]

When we talk about Vitamin D it is important to remember that there are 2 kinds; Vitamin D2 and D3. D3 is the one that is critical to good health. It is really a hormone and its production usually diminishes as we get older. Many other things block its production such as taking statin drugs for cholesterol as well as wearing sunblock or living in Northern climes. The proper test for Vitamin D3 is the 25hydroxy test and even though labs will score results as being 'normal' at 30 to 100, the latest research shows optimal levels should be 50-80. It is suggested that if those optimal levels were the guiding 'normal' range, 90+% of humans would be classified as deficient.

The vitamin D council has excellent information and resources: http://www.vitamindcouncil.org

I started out with a level of 33 and after taking 56,000 IU's of D3 in micellized, liquid form for three months, I got it to 60. I still take 6 to 8,000 IU's daily to keep myself in that optimal range.

I do feel I sleep better and more deeply as a result of taking this. I also added more B12 and recently started taking Krill Oil. I am feeling better for taking all of these. As for sleep results, my therapy results have been consistent for a long time.... average AHI of 1.5 almost always.

[minniesc]

I have not had mine checked, but my pulminologist just wrote me a script to have it tested: I have been having an asthmatic cough for a while and aparently there is a relationship between low vitamin D and asthma. So hopefully will have the results soon.

[SleepingBearDoNtWake]

When I asked my doctor to test me for it, he kinda scoffed at me, but he did the same thing when I asked about testing my testosterone, as my doctor who deals with my depression says that low T is a possible cause of depression. They both came back very low.
Vitamin D I started yesterday, 1 pill once a week for 8 weeks at 50,000 units. I am hoping it will help with my energy and maybe some of my back pain.
The testosterone is a whole different story, I have been on the patches for about 3 months, and was retested to only find that my testosterone is a few points lower.
So, now I have to go see a specialist to see about injections.
I have had major depression for close to 15 years, and I am really hoping that maybe this is what I have been missing all along!
I have been tested for the B vitamins, Iron and thyroid, and they have all come back just fine.
When I went onto Cpap I was hoping it was going to cure my tiredness, but it hasn't helped. I can sleep all day and not even think about it.
I tried the cental Nervous stimulants and they just didn't work, they made me feel worse.
So I keep hoping and praying to find some sort of breakthrough. I don't know what I would do if I had energy to do things with!
and one the poll you can check more than one item. I was just so interested to see if Vitamin D is lacking in many of us with sleep apnea. It will be interesting to see the results.

[ThirdOutOfFive]

I have been taking vitamin D for longer than I have been on PAPpy. I continue to take the vitamin. I believe that, like so many other diseases/conditions, there is more than one thing involved. Our body is one organism, what affects one part, affects all. So, a vitamin deficiency may play a part in OSA, it is not likely to be the whole cause.
However, if taking vitamin D has eliminated your need for PAPpy, congratulations.

[Emilia]

@Sleepingbear.... if your D is a Rx, and you are in the U.S., that is D2 not D3. You should be taking D3 to get proper supplementation and efficacy. My doc wanted to give my that Rx, and I refused it.... she admitted to being woefully uninformed about vitamins (most doctors are) and agreed to me taking the D3 I researched and bought. I got excellent results from it and still do.

Most labs under score 'normal' levels.... and also do so on thyroid TSH scores. Most labs will score a TSH up to 4 as normal whereas the American Thyroid Association recommends .5 to 2.5 as optimal. I try to keep mine between 2 and 2.5.

[Muse-Inc]

I don't clearly fit into the offered categories. I was one CPAP therapy for a yr before mine was tested...it was 17. Doc put me on 50K of the useless and potentially toxic D3...my level went to 19, big improvement NOT.

I did my own research and started taking D3, slowly increasing it with every quarterly blood test until I got it up to the 70s. It took 18 months to find my right dosage at 15,000 IU/day of D3 packaged with oil to increase absorption, only testing this way helped me arrive at the right amt for me.

That slow 18-month progression is hard to correlate with changes in OSA as I was backsliding into full apnea again from mouth breathing that I didn't know I was doing until I found this site and was educated. I can say that my volatile moods normalized to what they were in previous yrs and I quit crying at the drop of a hat.

I've convinced all my loved ones and friend to get tested; 95% are <30, the new standard for adequate.

[Goofproof]

Seeing as we age it tends to be low, I never had it checked there are two tests one of them is more likely to be correct. I was taking 4,000 units caps but now take 10,ooo unit cap daily. P.S. I'm still alive. Jim

Just got a bunch of lab teats back and the lab numbers for the tests look better than they have been in 3 years, so something is doing betterm maybe the "D" helped.

[KSMike]

I had mine checked last year; it was alarmingly low (16 I believe). My doctor put me on a very high dose for a month but I never got around to getting it rechecked and never took any more of it. I had my new physical a few weeks ago and had it checked again. It was almost as low as it was last year. He now has me on 3 months of a high dose, and I WILL get it rechecked this time.

However, I think he only checked D2, and what he has me on is D2. Now I'm wondering if D3 was ever checked.

[napstress]

The proper test for Vitamin D3 is the 25hydroxy test

This is the test my doctor ordered for me, and she did prescribe D3.

and even though labs will score results as being 'normal' at 30 to 100, the latest research shows optimal levels should be 50-80.

This is interesting. I just had it tested again in October and it was 34. My doctor wrote "good" next to it. But she didn't notice that in February it had been 47. I was very surprised that it was lower shortly after the summer (in which I baked myself silly) than it was in the dead of winter. Especially since I've been taking 2,000 IUs/day for maintenance. If the lower end of the optimal range is 50, my level of 34 is nothing to brag about. Though it is better than my original 16.

It is suggested that if those optimal levels were the guiding 'normal' range, 90+% of humans would be classified as deficient.

It is for this reason that I am not quick to jump on its contributing to apnea.

[Catnapper]

My doctor systematically checks Vit. D levels for everyone at least yearly. Mine was at 13. She told me that it was a likely contributor to the breast cancer that was diagnosed previously. She also prescribed the D2, which I was unable to take because I was allergic to the food color in it. I asked the compounding pharmacist if she could make it without the color. Bless her heart, she said "Why not take the one that works?" She and the doctor agreed to give me D3 instead, an over the counter solution that would actually solve the problem. Just as someone mentioned before, I take the one in oil, in this case, olive oil. Generally I take 20,000 units daily to keep my level close to 60. If I take less, it falls rapidly. It took a long time to reach that level, maybe 2 years.

I have read that older people (myself!!!) need more Vit. D anyway and have a lessened ability to utilize it. Also people who are overweight need more. The sun only helps in the summer at noon with a lot of your skin exposed to it.

Improvements? Many, but the oddest one was that I no longer get that bone-chilling coldness as I am ready to go to bed. I used to need a hot soaking bath, electric blanket and heating pad to get rid of the shivers and horrible chills that hit me at the end of my day. It was terribly uncomfortable and had been that way for several years. No doctor could explain it. Who knew I needed Vit. D?

Some research points to low D as a risk for several kinds of cancer. Having been there and done that, I will continue to take lots of D3 hoping to prevent recurrance.

Catnapper - Joanie