Quote:
Originally Posted by better12
Question: Can anyone attest to or reference any experiences with increasing 'low' vitamin D3 results and reduced nerve pain?
|
The question of vitamin D's relationship to chronic pain is not exactly new, nor is it limited to neurological pain.
Some time ago, in my neverending quest for pain management, I was tracking down the same kind of information about vitamin D and chronic pain in general. I found and assembled an armful of (what I thought was credible) documentation, including testing and recommendations from my rheumatologist, and marched off to my PCP. He's a reasonable guy, said he'd review it, look into it himself, and get back to me. He did, he did, and he did, and essentially said the same thing as this from Mayo (Some of my best evidence/"arguments" also came from Mayo):
Quote:
“Looking at all the available evidence, the link is not convincing,” Straube says. “As far as treatment studies are concerned, we found a striking contrast in study outcome between randomized double blind trials that by virtue of their study design minimize bias, and other (non-double blind) studies that are more prone to bias. The latter largely do suggest a beneficial effect of vitamin D treatment; the former largely don’t.”
Plotnikoff says there is no evidence from randomized, controlled trials that replenishing vitamin D levels will cure chronic pain. “But it doesn’t hurt to do it,” he notes.
http://www.webmd.com/pain-management...onic-pain-link
|
(Emphasis mine. Unfortunately, the article doesn't say who Plotnikoff
is. This may be a typo; they may be referring to Straube.)
There's a lot more in the article on both sides of the argument/discussion, and I would encourage anyone to read it in its entirety.
So after boosting my levels with megadosing in accordance with the rheumatist's recommendation, and in keeping with my own philosophy of, "
If it can't hurt to try it, then it can't hurt to try it." (q.v. numerous previous posts) my wife & I both continued with taking D3, and recently upped our daily again (because of many other good reasons for taking it)
from 1000 to 5000 I.U.
So far, I can't say either of us have noticed any significant reduction in any kind of chronic pain - neuropathic or musculoskeletal (or PN symptoms) - attributable to vitamin D. But that doesn't mean I would dissuade anyone from pursuing it either.
Doc