posted
I know that the American population is somewhat deficient in Vitamin D generally, but is there a Lyme-specific reason for a severe deficiency?
LLMD says that normal level is 40 (whatever unit that is) and my husband is at 15. I'm at 35, which he waspleased with, but it made me wonder if there is a link between D deficiency and TBDs. Anyone know?
We don't drink Vitamin D fortified milk, so that's not helping us...
-------------------- Getting older is when we would rather not have a good time than have to get over it. - Oscar Wilde Posts: 386 | From Radnor, PA - where the ticks run free | Registered: May 2006
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
I was both vitamin A and vitamin D deficient at the time of my diagnosis, and I was getting at least 130% of the daily requirements from fortified soy milk at the time.
My problem was not the dietary intake of these vitamins, but rather an offshoot of food allergies and Celiac's Disease - both of which limited fat-soluble vitamin absorption.
Of course, my doc's answer to my problem absorbing fats was to give me some sort of prescription powder - pancreazyme? - which only served to soak up the fat from my stools that I wasn't able to absorb.
Meanwhile, I walked around lacking essential vitamins, my bones thinned, it threw me into menopause. I would highly suggest your husband remove certain foods from his diet, because my guess is he is not absorbing fat soluble vitamins either.
And my hunch is it isn't God's fault - he put vitamin D in certain foods so that we would ordinarily (without infection) be able to absorb these nutrients during winter months when there is less sunlight and outdoor activity.
IP: Logged |
kelmo
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8797
posted
Do a search on here, there have been many threads on that subject.
My LLMD is requiring vitamin D supplementation as part of his protocol.
I, however, do not need to supplement, I'm a crossing guard in the sunniest state in the union.
Posts: 2903 | From AZ | Registered: Feb 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
tailz-thanks for that fascinating info that food allergies and Celiac's can inhibit abossrption of fat soluable vitamins. My bone denisty is terrible, even though I take Forteo to increase it.
I found this blub from a patent application that states that l-carnitine helps increase absorption.
United States Patent 20010041695 Kind Code:A1 Link to this page:http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20010041695.html Abstract:Applicants have discovered that L-carnitine increases the intestinal (lymphatic) absorption of fat soluble vitamins, such as vitamins A, D, and E, in post-menopausal women. As a result, L-carnitine enhances the antioxidant defense mechanism and lowers the risk of certain degenerative diseases, such as coronary heart disease, age-related macular degeneration, osteoporosis, cancer, and Alzheimer's, in post-menopausal women. The present invention provides a method for increasing the intestinal absorption, cellular concentration, biliary secretion, hepatic storage, and/or liver concentration of a fat soluble vitamin in a post-menopausal woman. The method comprises orally administering to a post-menopausal woman in need thereof, a fat soluble vitamin and a fat soluble vitamin absorption increasing effective amount of L-carnitine. The invention also provides a method for increasing the intestinal absorption of a fat soluble vitamin in an animal. The method comprises orally administering to the animal in need thereof, a fat soluble vitamin and a fat soluble vitamin absorption increasing effective amount of L-carnitine.
-------------------- sunnymalibu Posts: 192 | From california | Registered: Jul 2006
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
No problem. I blamed myself initially - when she told me my A and D were low, I initially thought maybe I hadn't been eating enough fats to absorb them, and I drove home trying to figure out how that could be.
Turns out, I was getting plenty of fats - they all were sliding out through my colon though, along with the A and D.
And since they had diagnosed me as being menopausal, I was drinking gallons and gallons of soy milk, convinced that my sweats were from my lack of hormones.
Nope. But I think I managed to wig my body out on soy to the point where I can't handle soy now either. My docs are lucky I was never a food person because my entire diet is different today.
Just keep in mind, glutens are not always the only culprit. Spinal and head pain can be a sign of food allergies or intolerances, so be careful.
I probably would do well on an l-carnitine supplement, if I could find a vegan source. I eat zero meat, so I am at risk for a deficiency.
IP: Logged |
posted
Vitamin D comes in several forms... which did you have tested? The most common test is for 25D. Like yours, my 25D was low, despite supplementation.
At the same time you should have 1,25D tested. If that's high (mine was) it's an indication of infection. If you research it on the Web, you learn that very few conditions cause low 25D coupled with high 1,25D. Infection with the bacteria that cause lyme is one such cause.
This happens because as part of their life cycle these bacteria convert 25D to 1,25D at a high rate, thereby disrupting the balance of the two our body tries to maintain. Some say that for lymies supplementing with dietary vitamin D is unwise because it merely adds more fuel for the infection. I found that to be true for me, so now I avoid dietary intake of D, and doing so has reduced some of my symptoms.
Posts: 727 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2006
| IP: Logged |
Boomerang
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7979
posted
Hubby's LLMD is also recommending Vitamin D.
Posts: 1366 | From Southeast | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
dguy - Thanks! THAT explains why I feel lousy when I take cod liver oil. It's the vitamin D!
IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic