Hi Annie,
You offer so much support and knowledge to all of us on this forum. I wish I had additional information to provide you regarding your Vit D deficiency, but I really don't. I do understand your frustration and "doctoring fatigue."

Was this the first Vit D level that you had drawn? Is there a possibility that your Vit D level is falsely low? One of the links you provided (from NIH) mentioned the difficulty and variability of laboratory assays in determining serum concentration of Vit D. Although it appears that there has been some standardization across labs since 2009, I wonder if this is a factor in your lab results, particularly with you taking a more than adequate Vit D supplement.


I'm going to ask my doc about getting my Vit D level checked. I'm a little surprised that this wasn't done before I started on steroids. The docs just told me to take Vit D, but no reference as to how much. I do spend a fair amount of time outdoors and am fortunate to live in an area that gets lots of sunshine. However, I slather on the sunscreen, especially now, b/c the prophylactic antibiotics I'm on with the high-dose pred causes me to burn easily with sun exposure. Although my outdoor time boosts my energy level, I do wonder how much Vit D I'm actually absorbing?

I hope you have a sunny weekend!
Cate