New here!:) Low vitamin D..

[Khadijah-x]

Cautiously here!!
Congratulations everyone!

Hi everyone. Today I have a had a few faint positives, I can't fully get excited and I think I will be in denial until I get a dark test!

Anyhoo... I have recently been diagnosed with low vitamin D. I took the tablets for a few days but stopped as I felt they were giving me heart palpitations. I am back at the docs on Thursday to discuss further treatment.

I am worried that the low Vitamin D over the next few days before I get treatment and from the last 2 weeks since conception, will cause a problem for baby?

Thank you in advance for your advice and information

 

[HerdingDogs]

Welcome! I'm not sure about vitamin D and the baby. Can you call your doctor? I imagine in the long run it's something you need to address, but I wouldn't stress over a few days. Do you know why you have low vitamin d?

 

[Septie]

How low is low? Do you have values plus the normal range?
Congrats on the positive test!

 

[spunky84]

You and baby should be fine during the time you go back to the dr's on Thursday.

With DD mine were quite low. I didn't get my lab results until I was about 10 weeks and started them.

I think you both will be fine. If you're worried, try eating some vitamin d rich foods such as milk (fortified), eggs, cereal (fortified), and orange juice (fortified).

2 foods that are high in vitamin d are salmon (sockeye) and tuna (water packed), which are higher than the others listed, but I can't remember the rules and whatnot regarding fish/tuna during pregnancy. I don't eat fish, so I really never paid much attention to the thoughts on that.

While they might not get you all the vitamin d you need right now, if you're worried, it's still some extra until your appointment.

 

[AJR14]

Previous poster nailed it! Normal levels are above 30 and mine were 22 or something like that. What dose were you taking? You could try a lower dose. I take mine at night and don't have any problems with them. Also try more sun. That's what the nurse told me but I'm very pale and red headed so I use sunscreen lol. Rather low vitamin D then skin issues. Congratulations!!

 

[nixm]

Congrats!! I had an extremely faint positive and went to the doc immediately to get blood confirmation. I didn't get a dark test for quite some time....so don't worry if that happens My doc also told me if it's positive (no matter how faint) it's a positive.

I also have a vit D deficiency. I take 1 Calciferol tablet per week and multi vit every day. Got my levels tested 2 weeks ago and it was perfect. Maybe try and take it every other day or every 3rd day?

Do you know why yours is low? Mine is due to an autoimmune disease, apparently they have found a link between the two.

 

[Kika7]

I was prescribed 3 calciferol tablets a week, total of 60, 000 units vit D per week for 12 weeks. I wasn't supposed to get pregnant but I did while being on condoms and all known protection out there we know of... I'm worried about taking the killer doze while pregnant and last doze I missed cause I tested positive. I still haven't seen a doctor as im in the USA and my doctor is in the UK so let us know when you speak to your doctor Khadijah-x...

Vit d dificiency is any thing below 25 and anything 25 is normal --> https://www.mayomedicallaboratories.../transcripts/2009/2009-1b-vitamind/1b-14.html

 

[Tink_]

My vitamin D levels were at an extremely low level (3) when I conceived. They were so bad I had actually lost 2 inches in height!

I'm on a supplement and it's improving but it won't be amazing yet but I've just had a scan today and everything is looking great so try not to panic. I'm sure everything will be okay before you see your Doctor and just focus up until then on getting vitamin D from other sources.

x

 

[Khadijah-x]

Thank you everyone for the replies!

They haven't said why mine are low. Maybe the fact I wear a headscarf and my skin (apart from hands and face) are never exposed?

They have given me 800iu daily for 3 months. I will be booking in hopefully tomorrow or Friday and asking about trying a different brand?

I already take multivitamins and vitamin D still low, which the pharmacist said they are useless anyway as only an extremely minute amount in them.

Do you think I could eat enough vitamin D rich foods daily instead of taking the supplements?

I always prefer natural methods but I think I would have to eat a lot of salmon and cereal....

 

[Kika7]

800 iu is enough for healthy individuals that aren't deficient. I can't understand why they gave you so little, may be you're borderline deficient. If you're in the UK and you weren't put on 60, 000units per week then may be it's very mild or borderline issue, as UK instructions for deficiency are 60, 000 per week. And that's for severe to mild deficiency... Pregnant women that aren't deficient need 4,000 per day so your 800is way not enough --> https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/vitamin-d-and-pregnancy/

 

[spunky84]

Thank you everyone for the replies!

They haven't said why mine are low. Maybe the fact I wear a headscarf and my skin (apart from hands and face) are never exposed?

They have given me 800iu daily for 3 months. I will be booking in hopefully tomorrow or Friday and asking about trying a different brand?

I already take multivitamins and vitamin D still low, which the pharmacist said they are useless anyway as only an extremely minute amount in them.

Do you think I could eat enough vitamin D rich foods daily instead of taking the supplements?

I always prefer natural methods but I think I would have to eat a lot of salmon and cereal....

Just going off of webmd, it states 1,000 milligrams daily, but that may be for a pregnant woman without a deficiency. Obviously this is just an internet source so I would go by what your doctor suggests. When I had my levels drawn (also in January (2 years ago), they were 18. My midwife said that, especially this time of year (in our area), that level is not uncommon (but I'm also a hermit so that might apply any time of year lol). I was prescribed a 2,000 IU of vitamin d for 10 weeks.

Low vitamin d can be due to lack of sun exposure or not a well balanced diet (not saying you're eating badly! but might just need more vitamin d rich foods in your diet). So if this time of year you don't have much sun in your area, that could contribute to it. At least, this what I understand based on the info I was given.

I think it would depend on your lab value on whether or not they'd let you just get it from diet. That's something you would have to talk to them about. You may still have to do a supplement for a bit and then maybe be mindful about the vitamin d in your diet. We can't really say if that's something they'd allow or not.

There are definitely a lot of other foods out there that have vitamin d. The ones I listed are the ones with the highest values, but other foods have vitamin d as well. You just might have to research some to find out which foods have good sources.

 

[Khadijah-x]

800 iu is enough for healthy individuals that aren't deficient. I can't understand why they gave you so little, may be you're borderline deficient. If you're in the UK and you weren't put on 60, 000units per week then may be it's very mild or borderline issue, as UK instructions for deficiency are 60, 000 per week. And that's for severe to mild deficiency... Pregnant women that aren't deficient need 4,000 per day so your 800is way not enough --> https://americanpregnancy.org/pregnancy-health/vitamin-d-and-pregnancy/

Wow.... I am pretty glad my new doctor upped my dose then! I was worried the dose given was too high because of how low the others were! I was given 800iu before pregnancy but like you say that's still too low even for a non pregnant lady as my levels were 26!

I am now on 40000iu a week (once a day). I took 20,000 iu on Thursday and the other 20000 the next day as I was worried about taking so much in one go!

40000 in one go will be fine?

 

[Khadijah-x]

Thank you everyone for your very informative replies

My level was 26, due to the fact I cover everything except my face and hands plus living in the UK plus it's the winter, is going to cause a vitamin D deficiency for sure! It was was a doctor who randomly said I may have it after suffering from muscle spasms and aches and pains. I then requested a blood test and there you go, else I would be pregnant now and not know!