Vitamin D and PMR | Arthritis Information

Hello all,

Sometime ago I wrote about some research that had been done re: Vitamin D and autoimmune disorders (such as PMR). I have been off Prednisone for over a year at this point (couldn't stand the side effects any longer!) and about 8 months ago my primary Dr. told me I had a vitamin D deficiency and suggested I begin a supplement. I did that about 6 months ago. Recent labs indicate my sed rate has dropped fom the mid to upper 70"s to around 20. I am also essentially free of PMR symptoms.Don't know if I am in remission or if Vitamin D actuallly helped. I don't want to give the idea that this is a cure all and it may just be coincidence but I thought it may be helpful.

Jeff

Jeff

Your medic should have tested you for Vit D deficiency before diagnosing you with PMR, its one of the exclusion tests, as Vit D deficiency causes aches and pains.

If you want to read more - go to www.pmr-gca-northeast.org.uk and under Newsletters, read the last one and you will find an article on Vit D.

The rule of thumb is, that if you suffer from aches and pains and you are dismissed with the 'comes with old age blah blah', ask for a Vit D test.

Mind the USA is better than the UK as they add Vit D to common food products, the UK dropped this in the sixties.
Hi

The vitamin D deficiency is new - always been around normal limits until this past year.

Jeff

Also: http://www.aarda.org/research_display.php?ID=66 - a site re: research done in 2008. As I indicated I ended pred a while back but I was on a low dose (1 mgm) folloeing my sed rate shot up.

Jeff

I think that Vit D supplements may help. I recently increased my Vit D to 5,000 IU per day and all of a sudden it seemed like 9 mg of pred was just too much.

I did the alternate days of 9/8.5 mg for a few weeks, then went down to 8 mg every day for a week or so. The past 2 days I have taken 7.5 mg but it may be too low and I may have to start alternating with 8 mg, but I am really happy that I don't seem to feel much different on the lower amount. I still have aches and pains but I can live with them.

I'm not sure what has caused this change, but wonder if the Vitamin D is making a difference.

freesia2
Forgot to mention, I've also been taking a small dose of Levothyroxine for almost one month now because my primary care doc noticed my thyroid level was not right--hypothyroid. So maybe that is making a difference rather than the Vit. D ? the thyroid problem is new. I suspect that being on pred for almost a year now, or trying out mtx for 2 months, might have brought the trouble on. However, my doc says "no", pred doesn't cause thyroid problems. But thyroid problems are also often autoimmune related - and if you have one autoimmune problem, you may develop another. I know people who have CFS whose doctor treats them as if they have thyroid problems and they do much better. All interconnected, I'm sure.Jeff, thank you for sharing the information. All tips help and are so welcome. When I first came down with PMR, a friend forwarded a research article on vitamin D and I upped my dosage from what was required for the calcium to accompany the prednisone. I am now on 2 mg of prednisone and am keeping up with the vitamin D . Since my situation is different from yours, likely each of us is somewhat different, paying attention to what seems helpful is good common sense as is exploring change when there is no improvement. Mrs E, I didn't realize that thyroid trouble is also autoimmune related! Sometimes it seems as if doctors (much as I love them) don't recognize that everything is interconnected, after all, "it's all one body". Thank you for the information.

freesia
Freesia - not only are many thyroid diseases autoimmune-related, the thyroid is also controlled by the hypothalamus/pituitary/adrenal axis. This is a scientific fancy name for a group of organs which secrete hormones which have an effect on other organs - including each other. It is all controlled by feedback mechanisms - that means that if there is a lot of something present it acts on a sort of "switch" to stop the production so the level falls (this is positive feedback) or if there is not enough of something, another switch turns production on (negative feedback). The whole set-up, though, is far more complex than that as lots of different substances are involved, some acting on one place and some on others. If one part is not working correctly, then other areas may also suffer - but not necessarily. Endocrinology - which is what the study of this is called - is terribly complicated, and has its own group of specialists. In fairness, you can't expect GPs and rheumatologists to be fully up on all of it. But I do wish they'd remember a bit of their medical school lectures occasionally as well as being a little less arrogant about how much they know - there are some things they don't know!

Glad you've got the dose down a bit - if you try reducing again do it very sneakily! Just take the lower dose on one day of the week for a couple of weeks, then try it on 2 days spaced out over the week for a few weeks, then 3 days and so on. And don't reduce by more than 1mg, half if possible as you did. It does seem that if you can make each reduction over several days very small it makes it possible to kid your body.

MrsE