Vitamin D
 

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum so I apologize for any mistakes I make. Have a question about vitamins. But first, some background info:

I suffered my first real, yet mild, concussion on January 19th, 2016 during a hockey game. I never hit my head on the ice but I fell on my tailbone and shook my head up a little. Had nonstop tension headaches the first week and went away after that point. Also had some light and noise sensitivity for the next couple weeks after the headaches went away. Slight daytime fatigue, insomnia, tinnitus, and brain fog are still a problem but nothing bad and preventing me from working. Insomnia was a preexisting condition for years prior and tinnitus was off and on prior as well. I am about to work with a sleep doctor regarding my insomnia. Neurologist was quick to dismiss this as PCS and send me off. I'm eating healthy, take breaks at work, and take vitamins, but.....

For the last two weeks, I noticed my daytime fatigue was getting worse after I switched vitamins. My eyes and skin were getting unusually really dry. Fatigue got so bad it was making me really weak. Started happening 4-5 hours after vitamins were taken. From what I read this was actually vitamin A toxicity. Needless to say, I stopped all vitamins except the 1000mcg of B12 in the morning. All week I have felt much better. The only deficiency I have is vitamin D.

Vitamin B12 is 844 pg/ml
Folate is 18 ng/ml
Vitamin D is 37 ng/ml

Bloodwork was done 24 hours after stopping all vitamins and fasting was done. Prior to that I was taking 2000 unit D a day with a decent multi. Two years ago my D level was 20. I'm not sure if I should keep taking 2000 units of D a day with K or drop it down a bit. The past week I only been taking B12 and i'm feeling fine. I tried the B50 complex and its too much for me to handle. Mineral panel came back fine on all of them and that's without any mineral supplement or multi. I do eat heathy and watch what I eat. I'm a lineman so i'm outside all day but covered in safety gear. So the sun doesn't do me much good except the heart of summer. Sorry if this was too long or a little incoherent.

Nick [/SIZE]

Most multivitamins do not have much Vitamin A in them (retinol)
and instead have betacarotene, which is not active. This is then converted to Vit A retinol in the tissues and liver.

Please read your label on your suspected multivit and see what it really has in it.

Here is a good resource to read about any Vitamin or mineral.

Vit A (retinol form) :

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-A

There is a sample nutrient label illustrating Vit A and how it is reported on multivitamins.

The upper safety limit for Vit A retinol in adults is 10,000 IUs daily. Rarely are OTC supplements anywhere near that amount.

Thank you for the article! According to that article, it's better to take 50/50 mix of Vitamin A. The multi I was taking had 100% natural beta-carotene in it and not mixed with anything else. I do eat sweet potatoes along with their respective chips(which are very good) multiple times a week. I just contributed the symptoms to that and thought, along with the diet, my intake of vitamin A might be excessive. I still have those symptoms in the afternoon but way less in amplitude. This PCS business is hard stuff to figure out!

I think I might go back to the GNC mega men TR multi. Just not sure how much D to take with that, with respect to blood levels.