Vitamin D and why you need it!

I got the results of my blood work back, but first wanted to mention something else: vitamin D. I live in a Great Lakes climate, which means we get few piddling days of sunshine compared to some, and thus, not as much of the "sunshine vitamin," as it's called. My gastroenterologist ordered additional blood work for me and we discovered that, like many people in this area, my Vitamin D levels were in the crapper.

At first I thought, okay, so what does this mean? Then I studied up on the symptoms and was shocked: among them are many symptoms that mimic hypothyroidism and other conditions, namely joint pain, which I already suffer from as a result of having Crohn's. Other symptoms apparently include chronic fatigue, depression, stroke and osteoporosis, diabetes and heart disease. Other sources I checked said brain fog and even mental illness was associated with it. Holy crap!

Other symptoms seemed to affect only women, like more moodiness during menstruation.

My doctor prescribed a honking dose of 50,000U per week for three months, and then I would taper off to a regular vitamin-sized dose of 400U per day after that. Keeping my fingers crossed!