Forum

Vitamin D waste of money, or false economy!!

Everyday living
#1

Hi everyone, hope you are as well…

I was reading my dad’s Tuesday’s addidtion of the Daily Mail today… I know but he likes it!

Anyway, there was an article which said that the tax payers alliance were complaining about the amount of vitamin D that doctors have prescribed recently. Also that they have prescribed a more expensive liquid instead of pills. It said that lots of people have discovered that after being tested they are low in vitamin D and what a waste of tax payers money.

If what we have been told is true about vitamin D and diseases such as MS, R/arthritis and many more, I think that this is false economy. If relatives of mine discovered they were low in vitamin D, I would certainly like to see them receive it from the NHS.

I do buy vitamin D3 from Holland and Barrett and only seem to be able to get vitamin D3 in liquid form, which I don’t mind as it tastes of orange.

Wendy

c

#2

l saw an advert for childrens breakfast cereal Coco Pops - the first thing they said was that it had added Vit d.

l know the food l feed my dogs has a high vitd3 content. Shall have to start eating it!!

The high dose vitd3 is not available on prescription - yet - l expect they will soon. l gave some to a dear friend who has been diagnosed with a rare stomach cancer. She asked her oncologist whether it was OK to take - and he said it was the best thing she could do. She asked why she had not been ‘prescribed’ it - and the answer was - as l said - that the NHS could not get it. We should be buying shares in it.

l use the softgels - so it is in liquid form inside the gels - so for infants you can pierce the gel and squeeze the contents into a drink. Also the gel can be used ‘topically’ on psoriasis/eczema.

F.

#3

Haven’t the government been telling us about the increase of cases of rickets? Or was it doctors reporting it in the hope that ‘we’ the general public would know about it, and ‘they’ the government might so something to eleviate the risk.

The theory goes that as people keep their kids out of the sun and 5-a-day diet advice isn’t working kids aren’t getting enough Vit D.

I suspect all my opinions about the Daily Mail are being confirmed…

#4

A well known journalist coined an apt term for that paper ‘The Daily Hate’

which I’ve felt has been true about all their backward ill-informed reactionary political opinions/ journalism

#5

I’ll have to look into that dog food!

Wendy

x

#6

Yes I know what you mean, I would like to reply to the daily mail but I know it would probably fall on deaf ears. I noticed their total lack of coverage of the ‘hardest hit’ campaign.

Wendy

x

#7

Couldn’t agree more, I have had to endure it’s racist raunts from my father in law who I used to visit regularly as my husband worked away a lot he has now sadly died and now my dad saves it for me! Don’t want to fall out with him, so I flick through them ignoring all depressing stories and right wing rants. Not much left to read but the puzzles are good.

Wendy

x

#8

Hi,

I have been taking a high dose of Vitamin D3 for a year now and have felt like a different person :slight_smile: It has really helped my fatigue levels between relapses and although the fatigue returns with a relapse, the rest of the time I nearly forget about the MS. The vitamin D council recommend that we should take 5000-1000iu per day, so I have a 10,000iu gel capsule every day. I buy it from ebay, because you can’t get that strength from the high street.

I get ‘Healthy Origins’ Vitamin D3 10,000iu, which is about £14 for 6 months’ worth.

Suzi xx

#9

Hi All Healthy Origins vit d3 are available on Amazon for a very reasonable price and no p and p! Teresa xx

#10

irronically at christmas i had the usual comment that i may have contracted this due to lack of vitamin D.

Again was total annoyed

Now my late aunt was well ahead of herself and used to throw cod liver oil down my throat from an early age she was also very much into good diet , they used to use her at the dental hopital as at the age of 75 she still had great teeth.I spoke of this to my doctor just after I received the cooment , she knows my diet is good , her answer you might be one of the few people who has issues with vitamin d absorbion. Which might make sense as I come from a very large extended family and guess what i am the only one that has this condition

So again we are stabbing in the dark

There i go again having a moan

#11

I dont want to rock the boat but I do get vit.d3 prescribed via gp because I was found to be low - in fact on the verge of severe, and then got diagnosed with osteoporosis as well as ms! Now my osteo nurse wants my levels up to 75+ preferably 100+.

I believe some doctors are coming around to the fact that we are indeed deficient in vit.d3 and I believe more scripts are being issued in Scotland?

If you dont ask you dont get as they say.

bren

x

#12

My friend with MS from Australia, said “surely this can’t be correct”, we get lots of sun here. A few months later she was tested for vitamin D and found to be lacking in it. She now has to take it regularly. It’s to do with the fact that genetically we don’t absorb enough; probably in the winter months.

Wendy

x

#13
#14

Hi Wendy,

It would seem the DM’s article from the Taxpayers Alliance doesnt fully understand the implication of what theyre trying to say. If we need a supplement because it is found we are indeed unable to absorb vit.d3 then surely like any other disease if there is medication to help towards trying to relieve such symptoms, why not prescribe via gp? As you say, it will save in the long run. Are we meant to find never ending monies and try treat ourselves when we have an nhs? Im wondering if theyre saying those in need of vit.d3 tough luck - well Ive got news for them, lets hope they dont find themselves in similar positions and if indeed they want to make everyone pay for scripts - lets hope the poor in society dont again get ignored and suffer as a consequence.

I just hope this government and their nhs reforms dont include more ‘over the counter’ meds to save the taxpayer from helping the poor sick maintain some level of normality through necessary meds.

Best wishes

bren

x

#15

lt must work out cheaper to buy your own - online- approx £15 per annum. The NHS - scripts would only supply about 3months - l think - so if you are still paying for your scripts you would be out of pocket.

l do think we should all be buying shares in Healthy Origins Vit D3.

F.

#16

I think most of us who need a quantity of prescription drugs pay up front £100 and then have as many as we need. I certainly do.

I think the article that I read was not directly related to MS but a general lack of vitamin D in the population. There were examples of children who lacked vitamin D and the rising cases of rickets in some areas of the country. The tax payers reliance was complaining that more expensive types of vitamin D were being prescribed in the form of liquid instead of cheaper tablets. I have found that when I buy my vitamin D3 from Holland and Barrett I have to buy a bottle of liquid which is dispensed in droplet form. It is also quite expensive. I understand that there are many other diseases which can be related to a lack of vitamin D. In my opinion It would be better to treat people lacking in it than to wait until they develop a disease.

Wendy

x

#17
#18

My daughter was diagnosed with sevre vitamin D deficiency last year aged 10. For years she had been complaining of painful joints and had started to limp. She was referred to a rheumatologist and her levels were found to be 14. After a four month course of high strength liquid vitamin Dher joint pain has nearly gone. I also am on vit d but why our levels are low we dont no. Nearly every winter we go to the Canary Islands for a week to get some sunshine and we have been doing this since she was a baby apart from two years when I was unable to travel. The cost of this treatment was probably high but if left undiagnosed/treated at her age would have been far more costly at a future date not to mention the efffects on her body. We eat healthy so can only guess its an absorbtion problem. However now we are on the low dose vitd(400iu) and I do wonder if this is effective in maintaining levels as her levels havnt been monitored since and I buy just a multivitamin with d3 in it as she wont take cod liver oil which was recommended.

#19

[quote=“Anita2k”]

My daughter was diagnosed with sevre vitamin D deficiency last year aged 10. For years she had been complaining of painful joints and had started to limp. She was referred to a rheumatologist and her levels were found to be 14. After a four month course of high strength liquid vitamin Dher joint pain has nearly gone. I also am on vit d but why our levels are low we dont no. Nearly every winter we go to the Canary Islands for a week to get some sunshine and we have been doing this since she was a baby apart from two years when I was unable to travel. The cost of this treatment was probably high but if left undiagnosed/treated at her age would have been far more costly at a future date not to mention the efffects on her body. We eat healthy so can only guess its an absorbtion problem. However now we are on the low dose vitd(400iu) and I do wonder if this is effective in maintaining levels as her levels havnt been monitored since and I buy just a multivitamin with d3 in it as she wont take cod liver oil which was recommended.

[/quote] Anita,

You have only to google vitamin d3 deficiency - and lots of info is available. lts recommended for babies/toddlers to be on 1000ius daily. Older children/teenagers need 5000ius - and adults up to 10.000ius daily. lf you have been tested and found to be deficient you will need more. Vitamind3world.com also do test kits to calculate your levels. ldeally, your levels should be 150/224nmols. l have been taking 20.000ius daily to try to get a better level - this winter. l have books on vitamin d3 -[ that l got from amazon]. The Vitamin D Cure /Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis.

l can remember, as a child,having painful legs - and being told it was ‘growing pains’. Well we all know now it was not.

l - like many others on this site get our vitamin d3 softgels 360 Healthy Origins from amazon - seems to be the cheapest. At about £15 for a years supply. The gel capsules can be pierced and the oil squeezed onto food or juice for small children.

To be able to EAT enough vitamin d3 - you would need to eat about 6 portions of oily fish a day. Only eskimos can do that. 15mins of full sun on your exposed body is the equivalent of 20.000ius.

The test for vitd3 is easily done with a ‘spot’ test. lts just a very small prick into the finger.

F.

#20

Why would anyone pay more attention to what is written in a newspaper rather than an informed and well researched organisation like the MS Society?

Apart from that discussing options and thoughts with the GP who knows your personal health history should be the priority. Over the years there have been many half baked and sensationalized reports in the newspapers most of which could not be relied upon to be factually correct or complete.

Take a step back and do your own research it is informative and enriching to take control.

Cheers

Moira