VITAMIN D & CONFUSION

[norcalmom]

There is a lot of research on Vit D3 and another autoimmune disease - that is also beleived to have a very key component related to the Blood Brain Barrier. Multiple Sclerosis. Google it. Below is an excerpt from Permutter blog in 2011. And here more info a friend of mine with MS forwarded to me.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/news/news-detail/index.aspx?nid=6706

 

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In trying to unravel this relationship, scientists concluded that perhaps living farther away from the equator might relate to MS risk because of a lack of sunshine. It is known that sunshine has a role to play in immune function, so scientists thought that perhaps a lack of sun exposure during winter made people more susceptible to the disease. But one other connection to sun exposure began to emerge. It is known that one of the key physiological events triggered by sun exposure is the body's production of vitamin D. Interestingly, research clearly demonstrated that MS patients have remarkably lower levels of vitamin D compared to non-afflicted individuals.

 

NOTE: Vitamin D can be toxic in large doses. People with MS should be aware of these findings, but should also discuss them with their neurologist.

 

These findings dovetailed nicely with the newly emerging reports expanding the understanding of the role of vitamin D in human physiology, not just for bone health, but as a key player in immune function as well. To put the idea of vitamin D's relationship to MS to the test, researchers in Toronto -- led by Jodie Burton, M.D. -- studied 49 MS patients for one year. Twenty-five of the patients received vitamin D in a dosage increasing up to 40,000 units daily, which was then reduced over the one-year period. The control group was given no vitamin D supplementation.

 

The results of their study, published in a recent issue of the journal Neurology, were astounding. The group receiving the vitamin D demonstrated a remarkable 41 percent reduction in new MS events, a figure that markedly exceeds what is claimed by the standard drug treatment discussed above. What's more, the treatment group actually demonstrated improvement in physical function, a finding not seen in the control group.There were no meaningful side effects in the group receiving the vitamin D treatment and researchers demonstrated that blood calcium levels remained perfectly normal throughout the test, even at the very highest dosages of vitamin D. This was an important part of the study since concern has been raised that high vitamin D levels might increase blood calcium levels. The authors reported:

 

We have demonstrated that vitamin D intake well above current recommendations and (vitamin D) levels well beyond the physiologic range, do not expose patients with MS to adverse biochemical or clinical events. Compared to a control group whose intake of vitamin D generally exceeded North American recommendations, only those on the treatment regimen had evidence of immunologic effects.

As a practicing neurologist actively treating patients with this sometimes-devastating disease, this new report has clearly offered a potentially new and powerful tool for my toolbox. Vitamin D is incredibly inexpensive, and, according to this report, safe and powerfully effective as well. Clearly we will need to see more research to confirm these findings, but what a breath of fresh air it is that such a wonderful gift might be available at the health food store, or even from the good old sun itself.

[JAG10]

mommybee...how old is your son. Also, what month did you have his levels checked. I think my daughters were checked in the summer and they were REALLY low. How can that be if she is outside ALL the time in the sun????

 

If you are really good with the sunscreen, then it doesn't matter if they are out in the sun. We need a good 15 minutes in the sun daily, without sunscreen, during peak hours to get adequate Vitamin D.

[momcap]

My son is on a multivitamin supplement with 400IU of Vitamin D3 and I recently added a separate Vit D3 supplement of 400IU for a total daily dose of 800IU. His level has not yet been measured. Do you think it's an adequate dose? He's 9 years old and 55 pounds. He has PANDAS/PANS & Aspergers. Thanks for any input.

 

My 9 year old has PANDAS/Lyme and would likely still qualify as PDD (he had many Asperger-type symptoms that have slowly faded away with lyme treatment). He takes 5000 iu of vit D3 daily to maintain blood levels in mid-range. But be careful! Vitamin D is fat soluble, so you need to check blood levels periodically. I would check with the doc before taking any dose that is higher than the regular recommendation.

 

As for time in the sun to get adequate vit D, that doesn't work for my family. We practically live outside during the summer months. We rarely ever use sunscreen - tanning nicely in the spring, and not being prone to sunburns. I never thought vit D would be an issue for us. The first time we tested was in august and despite their glowing sun tans from 5-6 hours a day in full sunshine all summer long, my kids all tested drastically low. What a shocker! Lesson learned - don't assume anything. Get the test if you can!

[SurfMom]

Just a quick observation that DD15 is in the sun year round as we live directly on the gulf. Confusion is one of her hallmark symptoms. She has always tested in the high end of the D range.

Edited December 11, 2012 by SurfMom

[Fixit]

i don't know how accurate this statement is but,

per one of our lyme dr's...you only produce/absorb D for a short period during the day.

So it has to be there ready to absorbed.

The thought is the that function stops or shuts down after a couple hours. i guess along the theory that alot of your digestion, aborbtion happens while you are sleeping.

I also guess you could correlate it to the sleep cycle...where the sun wakes you up if you leave your curtains cracked just a little. Then other brain chemicals kick in at night to help you sleep.

So if you are dosing bid,,,you might be wasting it, or it is floating around causing other problems.

Ds has a hard time taking it...i am trying to dose just 500iu 2x week and best dosed in the a.m. for us. I too only take it in the a.m.

It is stimulatory for him.

Edited December 11, 2012 by Fixit

[Fixit]

Just found out my child is a number "11" on blood test. Doctor said the the range is between 30-100.

Could Vitamin D being so low cause confusion in our children?

 

Lily, went back to your post on lyme site about not sleeping.

Are you giving D bid...that might cause for not sleeping. Every kid is different..but just thinking out loud.

[mommybee]

mommybee...how old is your son. Also, what month did you have his levels checked. I think my daughters were checked in the summer and they were REALLY low. How can that be if she is outside ALL the time in the sun????

 

My son is 16 (165lbs) and was tested in early September shortly after vacationing in Nantucket. His level then was 22. I'm assuming that this will be checked again at our appointment with Dr. Jones next month.

 

I have read that low vitamin levels are common in Lyme patients. My understanding is that vitamin D supplementation can boost the immune system and, thus, reduce susceptibility to infection. Some studies have shown that raising vitamin D levels can also enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics. However, Vitamin D can interact badly with Rifamipin and Biaxin so if your daughter is taking either of these medicines, you should probably have a conversation about this with the prescribing doctor.