It’s Vitamin D Awareness Week! And the importance of Vitamin D is vital for all of us to be aware off. Dizzy and I never paid much attention to this until we were diagnosed with MS, and discovered the benefits it can have, not only to MS, but also our overall health and well-being. 🙂

Vitamin D is essential for our health:

  • It maintains healthy bones, as we cannot absorb calcium without it.
  • Helps protect us from diseases, such as MS, heart disease and the flu. 
  • Needed for a healthy immune system.
  • Helps to regulate mood and can help fight of depression. 

Dizzy agrees, we all need our vitamin D! 🙂 But one of the problems with living in the UK is that the sunshine can be a little unpredictable at times. Making it hard to ensure that our levels are where they should be! 🙂 Especially in the winter, where it has been proven that we are unable to obtain enough vitamin D. It is estimated that 1 in 5 adults, and 1 in 6 children are deficient in vitamin D, and this can lead to many symptoms including coughs and colds, headaches, fatigue, aching muscles and joints and SAD. 

For Dizzy and I, it is even more important as there is now lots of evidence that it can help people with MS. One study finding that people with higher levels of vitamin D were less likely to have relapses and new lesions. 

This all means it is super important for everyone to know their levels and to keep them nicely topped up! Levels are measured in (nmol/L) and this then indicates whether you are deficient or at a happy vitamin D level:

Less than 15 = Severe deficiency

15-30 = Definientcy

30.1-50 = Insuffiency 

Great than 50 = Adequate

Above 220 =High/risk of toxicity

Although I have always been told that with MS, it should be in the higher range, so nearer the 200 mark. 🙂 

You can ask your doctor if they will check your level or you can also purchase a home testing kit! We were lucky to have BetterYou send us one for this week (and lots of free sprays – one for each of the donkeys 🙂 ). I got a bit of shock, when I did mine, to find out my levels had dropped by nearly half over the Summer (it had lulled me into a false sense of security with all it’s sun! 🙂 ) with my levels dropping from 200 to 108.   

As most of us know our main source of vitamin D is from the sun, and some foods also contain it, such as cheese, some fish and egg yolks, but only in small amounts. Luckily we can also take supplements to maintain healthy levels, which Dizzy and I do (except during this Summer…). These can come in lots of amounts and forms. We have always used BetterYou as the sprays are more effective and also taste delicious! 🙂

Are you aware of the importance of vitamin D and how do you maintain a happy level? 🙂 xxx

 

If you would like to buy any vitamin D spray from BetterYou, please just click on the little monsters (it means Dizzy gets a contribution towards her ginger nut biscuits, without affecting the price you pay). There’s also 20% off this week! 🙂

 

 

Categories: MS, Product ReviewTags: , , , ,

71 Replies to “Dizzy on Vitamin D”

    1. I think it’s definitely had a part in it. I never knew till last year that sun cream stops it getting through to your skin, so you should go out (for a short amount of time) with none on for a little vitamin d top up. 🙂 xxx

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    1. I think alot of people are shocked to find out how low their levels are. Mine were really low when I was diagnosed with MS, and I had no idea. x What do you take the biotin for, and how are you getting on with it? A few people have mentioned it to me before. xxx

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    1. I often forget, but I’m really trying to be good at the moment. I’ve put the spray next to my glasses, so I can’t miss it when I get up in the morning. 🙂 xxx

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      1. that is a great idea. i take so many things i tend to forget what i have taken and what i haven’t. so i greatly appreciate the reminder! sending blessings your way!

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  7. Hi Heather – I have a friend who lives in NY (near Rochester) and it is supposed to be one of the least sunny places in the U.S. so residents are advised to up their Vitamin D once Fall arrives. When I was young, my mom would make me have a spoonful of cod liver oil malt every morning after breakfast … the “malt” was supposed to make it taste better, but that was debatable. It had the consistency of honey, maybe a little thicker, and she’d swirl and twirl the spoon to get every drip. But it was good for maintaining good health even back then. I still take code liver oil, but the capsules now.

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    1. My mum did exactly the same! Sometimes she would buy the capsules, but if it was on offer she would get the liquid form. I can’t say I loved the taste either! 🙂 But we never had the malt one. What sort of taste did it give it? 🙂 xxx

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      1. Oh my the liquid must have tasted icky … was it fishy tasting Heather? The malt had a sweet taste but it was even thicker than honey because if you stuck a spoon in it, it would stand up, but she’d twirl it around to keep it from dripping down my chin – I can picture being young and she’d put the spoon in my mouth – later, she’d hand me the spoon and I’d put it in myself. I still use cod-liver capsules … our moms were right!

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          1. Oh yes, the capsules are a nice improvement and especially if you shop around to get the ones that don’t have a fishy taste. Since they don’t sell the cod liver pills at the grocery store anymore (my grocery store is large and has garden supplies, clothing, and everything you can imagine), I go to the health food store. They recommended this brand for the most benefit and the least fishy taste, Carlson’s 1000 mg cod liver oil pills. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LF39PG?pf_rd_p=8e0819a9-0ef1-44cd-9544-a7f28374af8b&pf_rd_r=YTWWW1784C60AJ6103GM&th=1

          3. You’re welcome – no fishy taste and was recommended by a health food store since they don’t sell it in the regular store anymore. Cheaper on Amazon though.

          5. Dizzy and I will both nag you Heather. 🙂 Do you take Vitamin C too? I used to take more when I worked on site as my mom was on a lot of medication and if she got a cold, she would not take cold medications as they made her dizzy and she worried about taking it with her other meds. (Except she took Delsym cough medicine as it worked well and had no ingredients in it that would interact with her meds.) Then I took 1,000 mg of Vitamin C per day to stay healthy and not get any colds to bring home to her. Now I just take 500 mg three times a week and a multiple vitamin. I know too much Vitamin C is bad for you. It’s hard to keep track of what is good, what is bad, what is too much!

          6. I don’t take vitamin c. Vitamin d and b12 are my main ones. Do you think taking the vitamin c helps fight of the colds? Makes me think I should start taking that too! 🤔😊xxx

          7. I think it does Heather and I’ve taken it for years. The best kind is the time-released Vitamin C. I read that or heard that a long time ago so I always make sure I get that type. Sometimes if I want to find out more about medical or food information, a good place to go is Lance Armstrong’s site. He is really into nutrition and I’ve learned things there. So I went there and found some info on Vitamin C. Be sure you don’t take too much of and also he mentions the time-released vitamin here and how it is more beneficial: https://www.livestrong.com/article/548170-why-is-time-released-vitamin-c-better/

          8. I didn’t even know you could get time release! And thank you for the links. I shall check them out. It sounds like it’s the right time of year to start aswell as all the colds and bugs are out and about now. X what are your plans for this weekend? 😊xxx

          9. I am so late getting here Heather and missed you “live” due to the time difference. We have a crummy weather … an all-day rain today and most of the day tomorrow. If it is nice in the morning, I’ll try to take the car for a spin and go walk in the Park which will be very soggy I think, but I can walk on the trail. I hope you weather is more cooperative than ours. So today I put away the rest of the groceries I got two weeks ago … that sounds terrible, but I had to make room for them and carry stuff up and down the stairs and I did some housework … when it rains, the house is happy anyway. And I had bought some new Vitamin C for Winter as it was buy one, get one free. So, after telling you to get the time-release variety, I was putting my two new bottles away, as I have one already started, and I didn’t buy time release! I guess I totally forgot. I won’t take it back, but here I am counselling you on the best type to take and I didn’t get it. I am on the computer so much during the week with work, and I shut down at work and just come here, or e-mail, or Facebook (and sometimes during the day if I get a chance) that it seems really strange to me to have been away for such a long time. Even if I walk on the weekend, I am usually uploading pictures and check in at WordPress, e-mail, etc. – nothing today. I usually check in at work as well and haven’t been there either. My boss was away closing up the cottage and came back late last night and I know he went in this morning, probably left a lot of stuff for me to do (he scans in work to my inbox) … I’ll check there eventually before I leave. 🙂

          10. It’s getting super chilly here now. For the first time I’m having to venture out with my coat. And buy one get one free is a good deal. Your comment did make me laugh though, about not getting the time release one after telling me about it, because that’s exactly the sort of thing I would do! 🙂 xxx

          11. I think we have a lot in common Heather. And it was not bad enough the ones I already had were not time-release and the new ones as well. I wonder about myself sometimes. But soon we have those delightful little clementine mandarin oranges – do you have them there? Right now they are still coming from South Africa and cost an arm and a leg, but by mid-November they’ll be a bit cheaper. I get them all Winter and just keep them in the fridge and have 3 per day to ward off the colds naturally. The only problem with getting them too long in advance is that you should eat them within a couple of weeks of being picked. I am really late tonight – I wrote a very long post about it being 40 years ago today that I left my waitressing job – I had been so shy and this job brought me out of my shell and was the best job I could have had.

          13. Thanks Heather – I’m glad you liked it. I wrote the Halloween post this morning before I started work because we had rain again. I knew I would not be walking so I figured I’d do the post this morning and post early for a change. I am behind because my boss is going on vacation for a few days and it was month end so I had to get out all the bills so he can send them tomorrow morning before he leaves at 11:00 a.m. I was working til 7:00 tonight. And I’m behind in Reader due to Sunday and Monday’s long posts. I need to get more sleep – no more posts til the weekend and we have nice weather they say (of course they said that last weekend and it was an all-day rain on Saturday and Sunday was dull and gloomy). I am looking forward to those clementine mandarins too … my boss used to keep a crate of them in the car at all times all Winter for snacking. Never put them in the fridge as it was so cold in the car. He probably still does this – I’ll have to ask him next time he calls. 🙂

  8. Seems like there’s an awareness week for everything these days. It’s Dysautonomia Awareness month, Lupus Awareness Month, also Occupational Therapy Awareness Week this week and last week was Invisible Disability Awareness week, then there was Stoma Day the list goes on. Never knew you could get Vitamin D in a spray though.

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  10. Great post because it is important for us with MS. I take a vitamin everyday and I could still do more. Loved this

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    1. Just looked at the wellness pack! The vitamin d and b12 ones taste delicious! When I first got them I kept having way more than the recommended dose, just because of the taste. 🙃xxx

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  12. Used to get all my vitamin D from the sun as a kid. When I went away for college, lost that advantage. So started taking supplements.

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  15. Great post, vitamin D is so important.

    I’m curious how many IUs people take daily. My naturopath recommends 5000 in the summer and 10000 in the winter. The MS clinic, though, recommends 4000 daily with no allowance for seasons. I compromise and take 4000 through the spring and summer and up that to 7000 in the fall and winter, more if I’m straining.

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    1. I have always taken 5000iu everyday, whatever the time of year, but then my levels started getting too high, so I cut down a little and stopped over the summer. But I had no idea they would then drop so much! So now back on 5000iu. 🙂 xxx

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      1. Interesting, thanks. I might stick with with 5000 this fall and see how I do, feeling pretty decent and I already swallow enough pills! I don’t like the liquid that I’ve tried. I should get my levels checked at any rate. 💕

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          1. Haha – you haven’t met my doctor. After a lifetime of low ferritin, he forgets to put it on the requisition form every time. It’s almost impossible to find a family doctor here so I’m sort of stuck with him. Time to push for it, though. I now examine the form very carefully before leaving his office.. 🙂

  17. Such an important topic to cover because Vit D is, I think, underestimated. It wasn’t until last year that I was checked for my Vit D levels and they found they were almost non-existent; I had to go on high dose supplements for a few weeks, then continue it thereafter with a liquid dropper every day. I love the idea of this spray, I’ll have to check it out as I’m not keen on the dropper I have. Fab post, Dizzy and co! 🙂
    Caz xx

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    1. That’s part of the problem. You never know if you are super low unless you get tested, and it’s not something that seem to do that often. I’ve never heard of it in a liquid dropper! I’ve only had tablets and now the spray. The green one has a yummy minty taste to it. 😊xxx

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      1. It’s ‘Nature’s Aid Vitamin D3’ in a dropper bottle. It’s a bit oily and not the best, but certainly not the worst either. Would be interested in trying out the spray, especially with the minty taste, so thanks for the heads up! 🙂

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        1. I’ve never come across that one. How much vitamin D do you get in a drop? And the minty taste is good. Their vitamin B12 one comes in a peach flavour. My bf liked it so much that the doctor had to tell him to stop taking it! 🙂 xxx

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          1. Hahah, liking the taste of a supplement so much is certainly quite rare!

            It’s Vit D designed for kids (I don’t seem to absorb anything well, so this is better) – In case you want a look-see, I found it here :
            https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/natures-aid-vitamin-d3-drops-for-children-60013407?skuid=013407&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&&gclid=CjwKCAjw39reBRBJEiwAO1m0ORTJdXWJ6xyVDHAd6dZGSjLB4L1m6cW1IxMZ_lhc9ejdlbQFhYoH8RoC81AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

            I’m hoping it’s enough to keep levels balanced out now after the initial months of super strength dosage the other year!

          2. The tablets aren’t apparently great for absorption anyway. The liquid ones are much better for that. 🙂 Lol, I love kids vitamins, usually they taste of strawberry. 🙂 And the packaging is always so much cuter. 🙂 xxx

  19. Absolutely brilliant post Heather & Dizzy! My Vitamin D levels were low previously, probably because of the Gilenya, but now I take the supplements and I have actually felt so much better. I never knew before that having a low vitamin D count could actually cause relapses. I am so thankful (knock on wood), I haven’t had a relapse since last October and I hope it stays this way! I always appreciate everything you share because y’all are so incredible!! I am going to check out BetterYou! Thank you for this great post!!!

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