Leg Cramps and Vitamin D Deficiency by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!
Hi Brenda,
You say that you have been Vitamin D Deficient since your gastric bypass, but my question is, "Did you ever have a Vitamin D Blood Level drawn BEFORE you had a gastric bypass to KNOW whether you were or were not Vitamin D Deficient?"
My guess is that it is likely that you WERE ALREADY Vitamin D deficient, but you just didn't know it.
Either way, you say that you are taking a Vitamin D supplement and it is not correcting your deficiency. My next question is, "How much are you taking and how much do you weigh?"
A recommended MAINTENANCE dose is 30 IU's per pound, so if you weigh 200 pounds, then you would need to take 6000 IU's JUST TO MAINTAIN a Normal Vitamin D Blood Level- that is NOT for Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment which you would need even MORE vitamin d to do!!
As far as your leg cramps, it's not Vitamin D DIRECTLY that is responsible for your leg cramps, but your Calcium balance. Since Vitamin D is responsible for the absorption of calcium in the intestine, then it's likely that improving your Vitamin D Level will improve the leg cramps.
Magnesium and/or Vitamin E deficiency have also been shown to be Causes of Muscle Cramps as well, and it's certainly possible that you are also magnesium and vitamin e deficient as well.
But going back to your Vitamin D Deficiency, it's very important that you get your level up to the optimal level of 50 to 80 ng/ml in order to prevent osteoporosis, cancer and heart disease down the line- and because of the gastric bypass, you MAY NOT be able to absorb the Vitamin D very well.
Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen Functional Medicine Practitioner Easy Immune Health.com
Vitamin D defiency by: Anonymous
I had Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2003. I have a vitamin D defiency (My blood test results show mine is #2) I take Prescription Vitamin D 50,000 a week.
I will have tests to see if level is coming up in August-I know this is due to the surgery.
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