Me too Melody! I'm an Aussie....the land of sunshine and beaches. Never in my life have I ever lived further than 15 minutes drive from the ocean, and even then, I was usually closer to a river.

From early childhood to my early thirties I lived at the beach. Swam all year 'round (well almost), and was never without a tan. Now I'm suffering from those days.


Why wait that long? I just had most of my nose removed, and a new one built, because of skin cancer! Don't wait until you're disfigured. I'm so very grateful that I had such a wonderful plastic surgeon to rebuild my face, but it could have been worse!

We need exposure to sunshine for our bodies to get the necessary amounts of Vit D, but stay out of it during the hottest part of the day, and follow the rest of the rules to prevent skin cancers. Remember, we need less than 30 minutes of sunshine a day to get our quota of Vit D.

The point of my post is to let you know that I have low Vit D levels too! Even though my history defies the fact, my levels were rock bottom. I now have osteoporosis, and have broken 6 bones in 5 years! Whether that's because of my low Vit D or because of long term steroid therapy, who knows? All I know is the level was so low my doctor was stunned, and I now take a daily supplement.

I'm sorry to have gotten off topic a bit there Mark, but Mrsd has some excellent suggestions and info for you. Please take heed of what she has to say.

I wish you well, and hope things right themselves for you soon.