Vitamin D

Vitamin D stands for "DUH, that's what's wrong with me!"

I went to the Dr Tuesday after leaving work early because I felt horrible. I didn't feel sick exactly, no sneezing, couching, congestion sort of thing. I can't be that simple. Anyone who knows me well knows that I don't leave work if I am not in major pain or super sick. They also would know that I don't visit the Dr unless I feel I can't get better on my own. I don't go to the doctor when I get a cold, or anything like that, I just buy cough medicine. Anyway, I was at work feeling....ok (I have been feeling a little 'off' for a while now) then all of the sudden I get hit with nausea, mild pain in my neck and shoulder, exhaustion, and dizziness. I tried to bear through it, but as the time passed, I felt worse. My neck, while it didn't hurt exactly, felt like it was about to buck under the strain of holding my head up. The tension from my neck and shoulders was working it's way up and causing me one heck of a headache, and I felt like just collapsing! I knew this was bad, my head is not so large that my neck should have difficulty holding it up. So I called my employees to find someone to come work my shift. When I got someone who was able to come it, I called a made an appointment for that afternoon. After waiting for a VERY long time, and dozing off in the exam room, I finally was seen. I explained what was going on and she asked if I had been coughing or been sick, to which I replied "no". She briefly mentioned meningitis and said it was unlikely since I could actually move my neck without extreme pain. When she mentioned the test for meningitis was a spinal tap, I was quick to confirm that yes I could move my neck ok, it was more uncomfortable than painful.

After a short discussion, she decided to send me for some labwork, just to cover all the bases. I was to have a few broad tests, then she added a Vitamin B, and Vitamin D test to check my levels on those. Today, I finally got a call from her nurse and was told that all my labwork was normal except for my Vitamin D levels. They were rather low, so I would need to take a supplement once a week that I could pick up at the pharmacy.

When I got home, I did some research on Vitamin D deficiency and found some rather interesting information. Low levels of Vitamin D can cause all sorts of problems such as, weak bones or soft bones, weak muscles, fatigue and lack of energy, depression symptoms, and mood swings, to name a few. This makes sense to me, I have had no energy for a while now. I am always tired, even after a full night of sleep. I have had a couple doctors prescribe me depression meds which did not help me at all! (one of them actually just made me feel worse) I can be in a perfectly fine mood, then be grouchy or weepy all of a sudden. I don't know if my bones are weak or soft though...not sure how to find that out without breaking something and I'd rather not test that.

One of the sites I found information on stated that Vitamin D deficiency is more common than people think. A doctor decided to test his patients and found about 85% of them to have low levels of Vitamin D. If you have any (or all) of the symptoms I mentioned above, you might ask your doctor to test your Vitamin D levels. And here's the real kicker, while there's no real definitive evidence, there is a correlation to low Vitamin D levels and weight gain (or inability to lose or keep weight off). I cringed at the weight I was shown when I stepped on the scale at the doctor's office. I am the heaviest I have ever been and I do not like it one bit. I am hoping that what I read is true and that by reintroducing the needed Vitamin D into my system I will be able to start losing some weight again. I will be sure to keep everyone up to date.

Hope everyone has a great weekend, and remember to ask for that test! It's a simple blood test that can be done with very little pain or time!