Sometimes I feel like beating a dead horse... Vitamin D

I'd double the D to two pills twice a day and take them as close to an empty stomach as possible. Don't recall when to take the K in the scheme of things as I don't take extra K. Are you taking magnesium with every single calcium dose?

I have had low D for a long time, but I'm not switched yet. My doctor said to take them on as empty a stomach as possible and even at 50,000 units, I barely would crack 20. My NUT (who was actually pretty awesome, wish she was down here!) said to try one dose on empty stomach, one with as much fat as you can get in and 30 mins of sunshine. You don't have to lie out in the sun, just a walk without sunscreen on first thing in the am. Did the trick. Still on the low end of normal but better than the 10-13 level I was struggling with.

HOWEVER, again, I haven't been switched so I don't know if the fat thing would work for you because of the malabsorption .

I *think* I recall a vet named Carolyn who frequented the rants and raves boards that used some kind of special lamp on her bare butt for like 20 minutes at night before bed and saw good results in bringing up her D, but I can't promise you that I'm specifically remembering anything correctly...........

Perhaps someone else knows what I'm talking about?

BTW, I take 150IU a day of Vitalady's D in 3 separate doses.  Some of us take it alone in the middle of the night and have reported good things.

I also agree that while 41 is not optimal, it's not critically low, either.

I am in that same boat  Gosh a pain in my toosh. 

I dont know if you have thyroid problems but my low vit d levels are a result of hypoparathyroidism. This is not to be mistaken for hypothyroidism...granted I do have both but the hypoparathyroidism effects how your body absorbs vit d. So does hyperparathyroidism also not to be confused with hyperthyroidism. These two things affect your parathyroid hormone production (PTH). This is rare but if you are intrested look them up. (because I can babble on) . Just google "hyperparathyroidism and hypoparathyroidism effects on vitamin d" I am a big advocate in checking your thyroid. It's an important and vital fuction in our body.

Battle the vitamin d level!

I use a variety of delivery methods for D3. I take 2 sublingual D3s in the AM and a 50,000IU capsule at night. I tan once a week for only 8 minutes and I walk outside in 15 minute snatches all year long. I've been slack this summer but as soon as the OPTEMPO at work eases, I'll be back outside 4 times a day.

I'm not convinced the mega shots work all that well but the experiment is good just in case.
 
--gina
 

No call yet from Sue with my PTH... but we still have a half hour of work day left...

I am wanting to get my levels up because of the link between low D and chronic pain.  I am tired of hurting all the time.  With my kidney woes and back discs out I am on medication every day.  They even resorted to the patch because of the absorption issues.   But, if vitamin D will help I will take "mega" doses.

Does anyone know of a possible time frame for it to come up?  If I do the shot, and 5 of the 50,000 a day for a month, would it show up in labwork?

Hoping beyond hope that I can get my pain under control before school starts and this is a last ditch effort.  (Have been going to water rehab this summer, which seems to make it worse.)

Wow, I never heard of low vitamin D levels causing chronic pain, that is very interesting.  I will say that I was severely vitamin D deficient preop and now my levels are great and I don't see a difference in my back pain.  I am also on the pain patch, which works much better due to malabsorbtion.

Like the others said, 41 isn't great but it isn't terrible.  Please be careful in how megadosing you go being you have kidney problems.  I have recently done alot of research on kidney problems and kidney stones - had severe attack and recent surgery due to kidney stones and found out that too much vitamin D can actually cause kidney stones.  About 2 months to being diagnosed with my stones, my vitamin D levels were in the toxic range - too high to measure.  I have since cut my dose and am back in the normal range but I never knew too much D could cause a problem.  I was always told here on these boards that vitamin D3 can't cause problems if too high, but I have since learned otherwise.  I am not saying not to increase your dose, because you should but getting an injection and 250,000 units per day for a month is a woper of dose and sure to send your levels way up.  I just hope not too high to cause your kidneys problems.

Yes, vitamin D deficiency can cause chronic pain. [edited to remove personal information]

Here is an article that talks about it: Chronic Pain: Does Vitamin D Help?

I won't try to post the whole article. I linked to it above. Here is an excerpt:

 

Not getting enough vitamin D in your system may be linked to chronic pain.

Over the past 10 years, several researchers have found an association between extremely low vitamin D levels and chronic, general pain that doesn’t respond to treatment.

Many Americans are running low on vitamin D. A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in 2009 showed that vitamin D levels have plummeted among all U.S. ages, races, and ethnic groups over the past two decades.

But does not having enough vitamin D cause pain? That's not yet clear. But here's what you need to know about vitamin D and chronic pain.

 

Boosting Vitamin D, Easing Pain
Greg Plotnikoff, MD, senior consultant with the Allina Center for Health Care Innovations in Minnesota, still remembers the woman in her 40s who told him that he was the 30th doctor she’d seen.

“Twelve of them had told her she was crazy,” says Plotnikoff, formerly an associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Minnesota Medical School. “She had weakness, achiness, fatigue -- three pages worth of symptoms. Doctors had offered her antidepressants and seizure medications and all kinds of things that didn’t work. I checked her vitamin D levels -- and they came back barely measurable.”

After six months on an aggressive, high-dose prescription vitamin D replacement, the woman could cross off every symptom on her three-page list. “I knew I wasn’t crazy!” Plotnikoff says she told him.

That's just one woman. Her case doesn't mean vitamin D will erase pain for everyone....

 

I have RA and my levels have always sucked. I def. think that there is a correlation between pain and D. JMO though.

Got a call from Sue.  My PTH is 71, all other levels are smack in middle of normal range.  She is going to snail mail me a copy of the labwork.

Said PTH is high.  That's not good... right?