Vitamin D: Recently I found myself in a difficult situation, always tired, exhausted in fact, hard to wake up in the mornings, not wanting to engage with the family, irritable with the children at any moment, muscle pain and just felt very low. I soldiered on thinking it was just a phase, continued doing the housework, walking the dog, working etc … Finally, I decided to take myself to the Doctor, bloods taken just in case it was a Thyroid problem as the doctor said from my symptoms it could be peri-menopause or a thyroid issue.
Blood results came back all normal except my Vitamin D was very deficient. At this point I decided to do more research and investigated the effects of low Vitamin D. I know it can cause Rickets in children, Osteoporosis and fractures in adults but knew very little else about the vitamin. I was surprised to see the warning signs of deficient Vitamin D: Muscle Pain, Bone pain, muscle weakness, fatigue, feelings of sadness, hair loss, not sleeping, getting sick more easily.
I was shocked at my results as I eat a very good diet including fish, seafood, mushrooms, and eggs, have 2 Lattes a day (naughty I know!), and undertake plenty of walking outside in the fresh air with my Labrador. Anyhow 2 months on after taking the supplement I feel a new woman.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that your body uses for normal bone development and maintenance. It plays an important role in your nervous system, musculoskeletal system and immune system. Your body needs it to stay healthy. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the balance of calcium in your blood and bones in building and maintaining your bone structure. It is interesting how common Vitamin D deficiency is as a global issue. Approx 1 billion people worldwide have a Vitamin D deficiency and 50% of the population has Vitamin D insufficiency.
Without the blood tests I would never have put my symptoms down to a lack of Vitamin D as they are not obvious signs that are talked about. Now in clinic I always talk to my patients about not only lifestyle and diet but vitamins as well.
