statins and vit d/vit b/12

[catspajamas]

Has anyone had their levels of vit d and b 12 tested?....I just went through a lot of blood tests for the same, mucle aches, pains ets that comes with the statins....I have been off statins 8 years and still have pn and weak muscles..Dr was concerned I had scleroderma (same symptoms as I have..Anyway to make a long story short I got the report back today and I am Vit D deficient.would wonder if stations"did it" or ?I have to take a supplement and get as much sun as possible..would wonder if a vit d supple ment would help the statin muscle damage....(as you see catspajamas is back....for awhile I couldn't get in as a "cat"...was pn is the pits...so will see who I am the next time I try to get in here........lol

[valgators]

I had blood work in December that showed I was seriously deficient in Vitamin D. Really was strange to me because I get plenty of sunshine. Would have never guessed I was deficient. I was put on a loading dose of 50,000 units weekly for 12 weeks; now I take 1000 units daily of D3. At that time I was still taking Pravastatin. I was told I would feel so much better with adequate D levels and that the muscle pain would disappear or greatly improve. I think maybe there is a little improvement but the pain is definitely still with me and I have been off statins for almost 3 months.

Many articles I've read cite epidemic problems of Vitamin D deficieny because we have been told to "cover up" when in the sun. Actually the body has to have sun to function. And when you are deficient AND take statins, the damage is much greater.

Valgators

[epfleger]

What a timely post. Just today I was told that I am very vit. D deficient. I have a script for 50,000 IU of Vitamin D that I am supposed to take for 8 weeks. I will post if I notice any difference.

[cjbrooksjc]

One thing about Vitamin D: The body STORES it; unlike other vitamins that, unused, pass right out with our urine. Most people become deficient in Vit D during the winter but pick up again in the summer months. The human body is miraculous - it knows it needs vitamin D when the winter months come and the sun (in extreme northern and southern climes) doesn't provide enough; so, it stores it away. So take all you can manage, and if you skip a day or two it's not a problem.

Brooks

[Allen1]

I read somewhere that your body needs cholesterol to convert sunlight through skin exposure into vit D. As you we all know taking the wonder drug that we have that this has interfered with our ability to convert sunlight to vit D. I don't know if this is permanent or not but a good quality Cod liver oil at around 2 teaspoons once a day will help. Look up cod liver oil and vit D and watch out for too much vit A in fortified CL oil.

I realise that the above is a bit vague, but it is one of those days where I am not functioning too clever and Firefox's spell checker is going into overtime

All the best,

Allen

[baumgrenze]

On 4/28/08 I posted on the Lipitor forum a longish post describing my B12/neuropathy experience. If interested, you can read the then current details there.

At the time of the post I was taking a 500 mcg B12 (cyanocobalamin) tablet once a day. After reading about B12 I decided to try methylcobalamin. I found 1000 mcg sub-lingual tablets and cut them into quarters with a pill splitter. When I noticed symptoms starting I would pop a quarter-tablet under my tongue. It seemed to relieve the symptoms for 3-4 hours. After a few days it seemed to be less effective. I also noticed stomach upset (people say take it with food if this is the case.) I was taking it ad lib based on symptoms. I've backed off and hope to find time to reassess the situation soon.

I am about ready to check in with the neurologist again to get his take on just how quickly he expects I should experience relief.

I am perhaps complicating things by taking ubiquinone (Q10) in an attempt to control my blood pressure. See the 5/6/08 post I made in this forum. Once again, there are 2 forms, dry capsules and oil filled gel capsules, each with their adherents. I have 50 mg dry and 30 mg oil. I've worked my way up to two of the dry and one oil spaced during the day. I'm getting close to good control with this for the last few days.

Has anyone else any comments on B12?

I get the sense that its use as a cofactor in the processing of excess homocysteine and methyl malonate is important. The former has links to heart disease. It was high homocysteine and methyl malonate values that suggested to my neurologist that I was not taking up B12 properly.

baumgrenze

[Ray Holder]

I believe that the inability to absorb B12 is fairly common in older folk, I have a relative who has regular injected B12, and funnily enough, today I asked a friend how she was getting over an accident, and she volunteered the fact that she had a B12 injection yesterday.

I think I remember reading that B12 is necessary to prevent problems which might otherwise arise when taking folic acid to control homocysteine.

I take much more Q10 than you do, 900 mg a day, I doubt if your small doses will have a great effect on your BP, and dry Q10, if that is ubiquinone, rather than ubiquinol, is not at all well absorbed, some oil or fat being needed in conjunction. I also take a Homocysteine protection factors tablet (Jarrow), which contains B12, etc, and find no problem with the combination.

I have been regulating my Q10 dose over the last 5 years, by watching my BP continuously. For me, it is the most sure guide to what is needed, but only on a several days trend basis. I don't act on single readings. I also find that carnitine need has an effect on my BP, and I have to try to work out which is the one needing attention.

Ray