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Low Vitamin D Level


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I just met with our DAN doc today and my son has very low vitamin D levels. He explained that vitamin D is crucial to immune system function, so it makes sense. My son just did IVIG last week for PANDAS and will continue monthly for Selective Antibody Deficiency (to strep pneumoniae). The DAN doc also pointed out that his IgM levels are on the very low end of the reference range - something the immunologists have never mentioned.

 

Just thought this was interesting for those dealing with immune deficiency on top of PANDAS (many of you!).

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I just met with our DAN doc today and my son has very low vitamin D levels. He explained that vitamin D is crucial to immune system function, so it makes sense. My son just did IVIG last week for PANDAS and will continue monthly for Selective Antibody Deficiency (to strep pneumoniae). The DAN doc also pointed out that his IgM levels are on the very low end of the reference range - something the immunologists have never mentioned.

 

Just thought this was interesting for those dealing with immune deficiency on top of PANDAS (many of you!).

 

I had a "holistic doctor" give me the same information several months ago, and I've had my son on D3 supplements ever since. She (the doctor) had said that it specifically needed to be D3, as opposed to any of the other D vitamins. Does that mesh with the advice you were given?

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This is so interesting. Another PANDAS mom told me to increase D supplements. Did they suggest a dose?

 

I just met with our DAN doc today and my son has very low vitamin D levels. He explained that vitamin D is crucial to immune system function, so it makes sense. My son just did IVIG last week for PANDAS and will continue monthly for Selective Antibody Deficiency (to strep pneumoniae). The DAN doc also pointed out that his IgM levels are on the very low end of the reference range - something the immunologists have never mentioned.

 

Just thought this was interesting for those dealing with immune deficiency on top of PANDAS (many of you!).

 

I had a "holistic doctor" give me the same information several months ago, and I've had my son on D3 supplements ever since. She (the doctor) had said that it specifically needed to be D3, as opposed to any of the other D vitamins. Does that mesh with the advice you were given?

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Yes, he gave us D3, 1,000 IU's once a day for 6 - 8 weeks, then we'll retest. My son is 9 years old, 63 lbs, and tested at 29 ng/ml - normal range is 33 - 100 ng/ml.

 

I think it makes sense to test it whether you're thinking about starting supplements, or have been on them a while, because at too high a level I think it can become toxic.

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Not really on topic but I just had a routine blood workup and my dr. put me on prescription vitamin d twice a week for 8 weeks then told me to take 1,000mg a day over the counter... he said I needed the high amounts at first with the prescription or it would not catch up.

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I believe the holistic doctor advocated at least 1,000 mg/day, not just for our son (he's about 123 lbs.), but for my DH and me, as well. She said that both D3 and the B-complex vitamins are fairly depleted in food sources these days, so we really need to supplement, especially those of us living in more northern climes without a lot of sunlight during the winter months!

 

I looked up the whole D3 thing on-line. Nearly all sources seem to indicate that toxicity levels would be difficult to achieve without scarfing down a great deal of supplements in a single sitting! I suppose dosing would be trickier for younger, smaller bodies, though, so hopefully either your doctor or someone else here can give you information for the younger set!

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Mama2alex,

 

Immunologists usually test vit D levels. My dd's immune doc tested hers. I know my dad the immunologist likes to test his patience with asthma. I heard 2,000 mg per day. Apparantly its hard to get toxic amounts (must be D3, best type is from fish) body discards what it doesn't need (toxicity of D is old and outdated, I also heard the FDA may be changing daily req level to above 1,000 for regular healthy people. Mama2alex talk with your immune doc about it. Also be glad your immune doc didn't think too much about the IGM levels your son has, one protocol to treat that is MULTIPLE pnemoccocal vaccines. My nephew after several pneumonia's was diagnosed with an IGM def. They do monthly vaccines to strenghthen his immune system. I will never understand since he didn't produce a response to the first three or so. They kept vaccinating until he finally did. IGM never went up though. I think he got many booster vaccines. My dd has low IGM, has for 7 years, around 50. I think it goes hand in hand with her CVID diagnosis. If the IGG's are low usually so are the M's and A's. I don't know the difference between an IGM deficiency and low level IGM's. I am assuming a defiency is very low levels????

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I had a phone consult with Kelly Dorfman and she also recommended 2000 I.U.s a day of D3 for ds (8) and adults as well.

 

DS can swallow pills but I bought this for my 3 year old daughter (giving her about 1200 IUs/day) http://www.iherb.com/Carlson-Labs-Baby-Ddr...1-ml/13932?at=0 400 ius in a single drop. No artificial flavors/colors, etc.

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I had a phone consult with Kelly Dorfman and she also recommended 2000 I.U.s a day of D3 for ds (8) and adults as well.

 

DS can swallow pills but I bought this for my 3 year old daughter (giving her about 1200 IUs/day) http://www.iherb.com/Carlson-Labs-Baby-Ddr...1-ml/13932?at=0 400 ius in a single drop. No artificial flavors/colors, etc.

 

 

We get our D3 from Trader Joe's and they are very small, almost round liqui-caps/soft gels in 1,000 mg per. As they're barely larger than a children's aspirin and very smooth, I would think many children who are troubled by standard pills might still be able to get these down.

 

2,000 mg, eh? I guess we'll double our dosage!

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  • 2 months later...

one tested level here of 37

 

excerpt

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20214992?dopt=Abstract

 

J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2010 Mar 6. [Epub ahead of print]

 

Low serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OHD) among psychiatric out-patients in Sweden: Relations with season, age, ethnic origin and psychiatric diagnosis.

 

During 19 months, 117 patients were included. Their median 25-OHD was 45 nmol/l;

considerably lower than published reports on Swedish healthy

populations. Only 14.5% had recommended levels (over 75). In 56.4%,

25-OHD was under 50 nmol/l, which is related to several unfavourable

health outcomes. Seasonal variation of 25-OHD was blunted. Patients with

ADHD had unexpectedly low iPTH levels.

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when i went to pharmacicst with cooler full of everything...

he said body stores D,E, A, K in fat and can become toxic

 

This is from Wikipedia, for what it's worth:

 

The exact long-term safe dose of vitamin D is not known. In 1997 the U.S. Dietary Reference Intake Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of vitamin D for children and adults was set at 50 micrograms/day (2,000 IU)[93], but this is viewed by some researchers as outdated and overly restrictive.[94] A 2007 risk assessment was made by two employees of the dietary supplement trade association Council for Responsible Nutrition,[94] that represents companies including Amway, Bayer AG and GlaxoSmithKline,[95] and their two colleagues, who declared that they had no personal or financial conflicts of interest. They suggested that 250 micrograms/day (10,000 IU) in healthy adults should be adopted as the tolerable upper limit.[94] In adults, sustained intake of 1250 micrograms/day (50,000 IU) can produce toxicity within a few months.[3] For infants (birth to 12 months) the tolerable UL is set at 25 micrograms/day (1000 IU), and vitamin D concentrations of 1000 micrograms/day (40,000 IU) in infants has been shown to produce toxicity within 1 to 4 months. Other sources indicate that the threshold for vitamin D toxicity in humans is 500 to 600 micrograms per kilogram body weight per day."[96]

 

My chiropractor said 1,000 IU (in a supplement) per 25 lbs of body weight per day is a good rule of thumb.

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It takes on average 1000 I.U. of Vitamin D3 a day, over the course of a year, to raise your blood serum levels by 10 points. In the summertime, it takes about 15 minutes with no sunscreen to generate 10,000 I.U.s of Vitamin D3 from the sun. Vitamin D3 is a fat soluble vitamin that stores in your body year round. It is disipated by fat cells, so those overweight/obese need more. Also, the darker your skin, the less you generate naturally from the sun. So total intake depends on your tested blood levels, and also your geography. Darker skinned people living in northern climates tend to have the lowest levels, due to natural generation only 3-4 months of the year, and less absorption. The amount of time spent outdoors is also a factor. There are tastless, odorless D3 drops you can give your kids (or yourself) if swallowing pills is an issue.

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I agree that you need to get Vitamin D levels checked. There can be an incredible variance in individual levels. My daughter needs about 3500 IU's to keep in the normal range and she weighs 69 lbs. Her level also went up and down quickly as we tried to find the right dose for her, much to the surprise of her endocrinologist. They didn't think a change in dose could show such a quick response -- but it did for her!! I read quite a bit on toxicity, and you need to be aware as it is one of the fat soluble vits, but I couldn't find any stories on people dealing with side effects from toxicity. In fact, I've known many docs prescribing 50,000 IU's short term to get very low levels up in adults.

 

Dr. Mercola talks alot about the value of D on his site. He also listed it as one of the top things to take to avoid the seasonal flu and suggests that our country's chronically low vitamin D levels could be the reason so many people get the flu in the winter.

 

Just my two cents,

Sharon

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