Low Vitamin D level appears to cause sleep apnea

[Lizistired]

I had my follow up D3 test.
Jan 18th - 92
Feb 18th - 55
I Didn't expect it to drop that much in one month!
I did donate a pint of blood after the January results came back. So the may or may not accout for a drop of about 10.
My other supplements contain 1500 iu D3, but I don't always remember to take them.
I'm going to add back 2000 iu a day and see what happens.
If I test again in 3 months, May 18, maybe that will be early enough that the sun won't affect the results.

Any thoughts?

Update: April 20th - >96
There is obvoiusly a big difference in how we absorb and use D3. I'm not going to supplement over the summer, and will probably get tested again in august.

[Suzjohnson]

I had my follow up D3 test.
Jan 18th - 92
Feb 18th - 55
I Didn't expect it to drop that much in one month!
I did donate a pint of blood after the January results came back. So the may or may not accout for a drop of about 10.
My other supplements contain 1500 iu D3, but I don't always remember to take them.
I'm going to add back 2000 iu a day and see what happens.
If I test again in 3 months, May 18, maybe that will be early enough that the sun won't affect the results.

Any thoughts?

Update: April 20th - >96
There is obvoiusly a big difference in how we absorb and use D3. I'm not going to supplement over the summer, and will probably get tested again in august.

How are you feeling Liz? Your absorption rate is amazing!

Suz

[RandyJ]

Remember to stop taking any D3 supplements 48 hours before a blood draw, as it can skew the test.

It goes without saying (but it should be said AND stressed) that no one should take more than 1000-2000 IU of D3 daily without a blood test every 90 days, to avoid poisoning.

[Suzjohnson]

Remember to stop taking any D3 supplements 48 hours before a blood draw, as it can skew the test.

It goes without saying (but it should be said AND stressed) that no one should take more than 1000-2000 IU of D3 daily without a blood test every 90 days, to avoid poisoning.

Randy, the calcium that I take includes 1000 IU vitamin D3, per bottle (as D3 Cholecalciferol). It is a liquid filled capsule that I take once a day with breakfast. Is this a useful form of D3 and would you recommend regular testing for this as well?

Suz

[RandyJ]

Randy, the calcium that I take includes 1000 IU vitamin D3, per bottle (as D3 Cholecalciferol). It is a liquid filled capsule that I take once a day with breakfast. Is this a useful form of D3 and would you recommend regular testing for this as well?

Suz

I can't really say whether it's a useful form, sorry, though I would guess that any form identified as D3 is ok. My doctor seems to prefer LiquiD3 drops, but in my case I am trying to raise vitamin D level from a very low initial value of 11.

I don't think testing is necessary if you're taking 2000 IU or less per day. (see vitamindcouncil.org)

[Suzjohnson]

Randy, the calcium that I take includes 1000 IU vitamin D3, per bottle (as D3 Cholecalciferol). It is a liquid filled capsule that I take once a day with breakfast. Is this a useful form of D3 and would you recommend regular testing for this as well?

Suz

I can't really say whether it's a useful form, sorry, though I would guess that any form identified as D3 is ok. My doctor seems to prefer LiquiD3 drops, but in my case I am trying to raise vitamin D level from a very low initial value of 11.

I don't think testing is necessary if you're taking 2000 IU or less per day. (see vitamindcouncil.org)

Thanks for your response, RandyJ. Yes, I plan to spend a lot of time at vitamindcouncil today.

suz

[Drowsy Dancer]

I think if we believe it is for life, it will be.

That doesn't mean, however, that if we believe that it's not for life, it won't be. We're not Tinkerbell here.

ETA: I did watch all five videos, and now I am really interested in D3. I'm not expecting to shelve my CPAP, but I am willing to experiment cautiously with D3 to see if it improves my sleep quality.

[inquiringself]

she says it is her viewpoint and understanding.. the video is filled with nice information about sleep and clearly she acknowledges the wonder of cpap. maybe the vitamin D is another factor in this complex equation... or maybe this will lead to something else... but in any case, it will be great to have a survey (poll) in this forum (anonymously) for vitamin D levels... i have been recently recommended 1200units daily and i do have a severe OSA...

[kong]

Vitamin D isn't likely to help your sleep apnea. If it did, I wouldn't have sleep apnea. Per doctor's orders, as a result, of another medical condition, I take 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 each month. Yet my AHI is still 40 unless I use a CPAP machine.

There is an extremely effective, drug-free, pain-free method of treating sleep apnea: It's called CPAP.

[RandyJ]

Vitamin D isn't likely to help your sleep apnea. If it did, I wouldn't have sleep apnea. Per doctor's orders, as a result, of another medical condition, I take 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 each month. Yet my AHI is still 40 unless I use a CPAP machine.

There is an extremely effective, drug-free, pain-free method of treating sleep apnea: It's called CPAP.

I don't think anyone thinks Vitamin D will help sleep apnea. What is IMPORTANT for people to understand from this thread is that you can feel lethargic DESPITE having well-treated sleep apnea and an AHI <5 if your vitamin D levels are low. Many people with low vitamin D who aren't aware of it might think that their cpap therapy isn't working.

Therefore, things like vitamin D and inflammation levels should be checked when one feels tired and run down despite having good AHI numbers.

[ozij]

Vitamin D isn't likely to help your sleep apnea. If it did, I wouldn't have sleep apnea. Per doctor's orders, as a result, of another medical condition, I take 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 each month. Yet my AHI is still 40 unless I use a CPAP machine.

That statement may be true, but is irrelevant to the issue, for 2 reasons.

• You don't say what your' vitamin D level is at present - it could be abysmally low because of your other condition.
• And just for the sake or argument, based only on the information you've supplied, your other condition may be causing both OSA, and a need for Vitamin D.

I do agree that a person with a correct level of Vitamin D may still have sleep apnea and need to use CPAP.

I don't think anyone thinks Vitamin D will help sleep apnea.

Dr. Stasha Gomiak, the neurologist who was mentioned in the first post on this thread does indeed think so.
http://drgominak.com/vitamin-d

Low D goofs up sleep. Most of the neu­ro­log­i­cal prob­lems my patients have are not directly related to D hor­mone, they are related to the fact that D hor­mone defi­ciency causes sleep dis­or­ders; insom­nia, sleep apnea, REM related apnea, unex­plained awak­en­ings to light sleep, inap­pro­pri­ate body move­ments dur­ing sleep. All of these dis­or­ders keep us from heal­ing our bod­ies dur­ing sleep. When the sleep improves the headaches, seizures, foot burn­ing, tremor, body pain, walk­ing dif­fi­cul­ties, depres­sion, mem­ory loss, etc. all get bet­ter. (See the sleep hand­out for more detail about why.)

For those interested in this possible explanation for some cases of sleep apnea, here is a repeated link to her lectures. http://drgominak.com/lecture
She maintains lack of vitamin D may be one of the causes of sleep apnea. And according to her, the right levels of vitamin D will help. She is not a fool, and she does not say all cases of sleep apnea will be resolved by vitamin D. Nor does she say "use vitamin D instead of CPAP".

The videos are worth watching.

[Jay Aitchsee]

Update: April 20th - >96
There is obvoiusly a big difference in how we absorb and use D3. I'm not going to supplement over the summer, and will probably get tested again in august.

Hey Liz, I missed your update here. Have you noticed any difference since you stopped taking the supplement? I'm having some trouble getting mine regulated too. I've got my serum level up to about 60 with continued 2000 supplementation, but then my sleep starts getting fragmented with minimal deep. If I stop for a few days and then restart my sleep become less fragmented with more deep. I haven't tried a regular periodic dose, like once a week, but I think that's next.

Jay

[Drowsy Dancer]

I had my D3 level tested via Vitamin D Council (did anyone else find it really hard to squeeze enough blood out of their hand?), and my serum level (Pacific NW, late May) is 44. I take Vitamin D drops. Not horrible, but not 60, either. I shall press onward with the drops.

[joselisana]

hen, it takes several months of being able to sleep well again before changes take place. I invite everyone to watch the video and comment here on your impressions and experiences. Please don't start taking huge amounts of Vit. D3 without a doctor's supervision,thank you!




-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rc Helicopters|Mini Rc Helicopter Reviews|Rc Helicopter

[Lizistired]

I had my follow up D3 test.
Jan 18th - 92
Feb 18th - 55
Update
May 24 - > 96 ???
So I am off of D3 for the summer and have labs scheduled in August. I get plenty of sun in the summer even though with the drought I haven't mowed in 6 weeks!

I Didn't expect it to drop that much in one month!
I did donate a pint of blood after the January results came back. So the may or may not accout for a drop of about 10.
My other supplements contain 1500 iu D3, but I don't always remember to take them.
I'm going to add back 2000 iu a day and see what happens.
If I test again in 3 months, May 18, maybe that will be early enough that the sun won't affect the results.
Any thoughts?

I wish I had tested before I started the supplements because I noticed a difference in how fast I fell asleep after I started them. Then I went through spells of fighting leaks all night... temperature changes, humidity issues. Sleep isn't defined. I sleep better with the windows open than with the AC. Then there is pollen and stuffiness. With the AC on I need the humidifier in passover mode. Add sleep hygiene or lack thereof... like being up this late. I'm just glad I don't have meds in the mix.
It's just one more thing to add to the arsenal. There is something to it, but it sure isn't a one size fits all and there is no magic number.
I would prefer to get all I need from the sun. Supplements all have added garbage, or synthetic components. I just found out the thiamine (mononitrate) in my B complex is fat soluable..... thiamine is supposed to be water soluable. My D3 supplements are combined with corn and soybean oil. I'm glad it's summer and my garden is growing. Okra, kale, zuchinni, squash, tomatoes, peppers, herbs and sunshine for a couple of months!