[23470]

I went in to my GP for a checkup, and while I was there, she suggested I get a blood work-up since it had been a year (I'm on a med for my asthma that can jack with my liver and what not). So I got the results back yesterday, and all was normal (yay!) except for my vitamin D, which was pretty low. Now, mind you, I had suspicions of that over the past month, as I've explored a number of possible reasons for my IBS. I recently read something about lack of vitamin D contributing to it, so for a week or so prior to my blood test, I had been taking D. No telling what it would have been if I hadn't been taking it. Normal range is 30-100 u/L and mine came in at 20. I never had IBS before I moved up North where it's dark and gray for 6 months of the year....and a job that keeps me indoors 99% of the day. I'm not saying that caused it...but perhaps led to some of the lack of the vitamin.Has anyone else discovered this, and if so, did getting your vitamin D levels back to normal help you out?

 

[crstar]

many yrs ago i started taking large doses of vit D.............i think i did hear it was good for ibs-d, but it does so many other things, too........not too long ago, my dr decided to check a bunch of levels & he said my vit D levels were really good & whatever i was doing, keep doing it...........i never told him that i was taking about 5,000I.U. a day, cause in the past when the drs i've been seeing hear what i do take, i get a lot of grief from them, so i just pay attention to how i feel & my skin, those tell me what i need to know.........i've been taking this amount for at least 5yrs...........now, i don't know if u know this, but u have to have enough vit A, calcium, magnesium, zinc, manganese & copper, to b able to use the vit D u r taking............& it's an individual thing..........as we age, it's also harder for us to make the cholesterol into vitamin D, as our skin loses some of it abilities to convert it...........i know that we r told how bad cholesterol is for us, but it does so many things & gets converted too..........it's considered a bad thing..........without enough of it, we don't make our hormones well or at least they get reduced..........one of those hormones is serotonin..........& about 70% of our serotonin is made in the intestines........this helps to relax our intestines, which will help with D..........there r so many things that help other things, not just what it is best known for...........

 

[Guest]

When my IBS started flaring again about a year ago, I had my vitamin D level checked as part of a regular physical, and it came back as a 4! I was put on a prescription vitamin D supplement for a couple of months to bring the level up more quickly, and then I was told to continue taking an over-the-counter supplement daily. With a dosage of 1000-2000IU (depending on season and time spent outdoors), I have been able to maintain a normal vitamin D level for several months now. In my case, my IBS symptoms have not improved, but at least I feel a lot better getting my lab results back.

 

[gina24r]

im going through the same thing, my doc told me to take 4,ooo units of vitamin d-3, i still dont think that it is related to IBS i think its related to another kind of auto immune disorder

 

[IamDucky]

15 minutes of sun a day will raise your vitamin D level, I also take D for energy and it helps with other things too. Best brand so far for me is jamieson can be found at walmart and other places too. Well in canada it can not sure about the USA

 

[overitnow]

In Canada, the sun is only high enough above the horizon to make Vitamin D for a few summer months each year, depending on latitude, so it is real important for we frostbacks to either supplement or drink a lot of milk. I take 1000 mg a day and I think it is safe to take 2000, at least until your levels improve. The main study on preventing colon cancer was very specific about D3, as well. Vitamins pretty well metabolize at the same rate, no matter the brand, as long as the binder is soluble. (Most of the absorption should take place in the small intestine, which has a ph like water, so drop a pill in a glass of warm water for about a half hour and that should give you an answer.) As far as others being helped, here is a very interesting thread: http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=111439Try it. It's dirt cheap and it seems there are a number of conditions for which it may be useful. (Like taking Caltrate, it is a real easy thing to try and requires no prescription.)Good luck.Mark

 

[IBD/IBS Author]

I agree with all that's been said. I've been seeing an Integrative medicine doc for a year now and he's actually writing a book about disease, health, and vit. D3. Vit. D3 is the most important of the D vitamins it's the one that is made by getting exposure to sunshine onto your skin. According to my doctor, the optimal level of Vit. D3 for health, especially among thoseo of us with chronic illnesses is 80-100 u/L. In the summer, when I spend a minimum of 30 mins. outside every day without sunscreen my levels are in that 80-90 region. But in the winter when it's too cold to be outside in shirt sleeves my levels fall to 50-60. So, under the doctor's care and every other month blood tests I take 6,000-8,000 IU/day. If you read the new studies on this, these are the levels that are now being more recognized as correct levels to take in the winter months. BUT, you have to do it under a doctor's care because if your body does build up too much D3 it could cause other problems like kidney stones.My doctor has had such success with vti. D3 therapy that he actually has lost patients because they don't have the health problems they once used to have - IBS and IBD included.

 

[23470]

Well, I've been on vitamin D3 for close to a month now, and only 3 bad visits to the bathroom! One was within a week of starting, and the other two have been when I did some big food No-No's. Other than that, I have to say that my gut doesn't feel gurgly the way it used to, but I am more gassy and have more gas pains that pass relatively quickly (if you get my drift).The NEW big problem is that because my visits are more "normal", it's aggravating my chronic fissure!!

I've been working tons of hours (12+ a day) so the sitting isn't helping, either. I just feel like I can't win

It's so depressing to know that you're stuck between a rock and a hard place for your entire foreseeable life. I could have fissure surgery, but there are risks with it, it might not work, incontinence, recurrence, etc. Not having it means pain and possible infection/fistulas. Going back to having loose movements may help with the fissure, but then my life is ruled by where bathrooms are located.......in general, my life is always in some state of ruin, and it affects my marriage. I would give almost anything to just be someone else who is "normal", with "normal" problems. It's extremely true, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything.

 

[BQ]

How about using a plain stool softener? (Now make sure it is plain with NO laxative agent in it) When I have had to use them in the past, I found they are very gentle.. cause no urgency whatsoever and just make it easier to pass period. Give them a try on a day off perhaps or the night before a day off take one. See how it goes.Thanks for the update btw.