Lupus Support Group

Hi there harley. Mine is low too. I think it happens more with people who have chronic illnesses involving pain. Did the dr prescribe supplements. I take 4000 a day and it is still always a bit low. Enjoy that book. lol hugs marilyn

Hi,
I dont believe that low vitamin d can trigger lupus. I have never heard of auto immune diseases being caused by any lack of vitamins or minerals. Do realize though that if you are not getting enough of one mineral (calcium???not sure which it is) the vitamin D is not synthasized/produced in your body no matter how much sunlight you get. So, you may not be getting enough of a different vitamin which is causing you to not absorb the vitamin D. You may want to google that. Im not positive about how it works.
Melissa

Hello HarleyRyder--
When I had my recent Rheumy visit-he checked my Vit D levels and they were extremely low--He gave me a 50,000 units dose to take once a week for a month.
I had no idea I could have low Vit D levels---I experienced a lot of pain for a while and was very tired--I guess the low D can cause these symptoms---I hear it can also trigger other illnesses.
I also had low B12--this can also cause the same symptoms---when I read about it---it sounded just like my Fibro. symptoms.--I have been getting b-12 shots once a month by my rheumy---I feel so much better since then---I think the Plaquenil is a big part of that too. I thank God--that I can function once again....
Hope you feel better--and dont be afraid to ask for vitamin supplements--I truly believe in them---

Thanks for your input, everyone. Want2be, I also was diagnosed with low B-12 about 6 months ago. I am taking supplements for both deficiencies. I had an appt. with my PCP today, and she's ordered blood tests to check both those levels, an estrodial (hormone) test, and thyroid test, to see if I'm taking the right dosage of synthroid. I was trying to figure out if there's a pattern because I've never had problems before with vitamin deficiencies. Between all the different doctor orders, I'm wondering if I'll have any blood left when they're all done ... :) ... thanks, again!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releas...

Low Levels Of Vitamin D In Patients With Autoimmune Disease May Be Result, Not Cause, Of The Disease

ScienceDaily (Apr. 16, 2009) — Deficiency in vitamin D has been widely regarded as contributing to autoimmune disease, but a review appearing in Autoimmunity Reviews explains that low levels of vitamin D in patients with autoimmune disease may be a result rather than a cause of disease and that supplementing with vitamin D may actually exacerbate autoimmune disease.

Authored by a team of researchers at the California-based non-profit Autoimmunity Research Foundation, the paper goes on to point out that molecular biologists have long known that the form of vitamin D derived from food and supplements, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-D), is a secosteroid rather than a vitamin. Like corticosteroid medications, vitamin D may provide short-term relief by lowering inflammation but may exacerbate disease symptoms over the long-term.

The insights are based on molecular research showing that 25-D inactivates rather than activates its native receptor - the Vitamin D nuclear receptor or VDR. Once associated solely with calcium metabolism, the VDR is now known to transcribe at least 913 genes and largely control the innate immune response by expressing the bulk of the body's antimicrobial peptides, natural antimicrobials that target bacteria.

Written under the guidance of professor Trevor Marshall of Murdoch University, Western Australia, the paper contends that 25-D's actions must be considered in light of recent research on the Human Microbiome. Such research shows that bacteria are far more pervasive than previously thought – 90% of cells in the body are estimated to be non-human – increasing the likelihood that autoimmune diseases are caused by persistent pathogens, many of which have yet to be named or have their DNA characterized.

Marshall and team explain that by deactivating the VDR and subsequently the immune response, 25-D lowers the inflammation caused by many of these bacteria but allows them to spread more easily in the long-run. They outline how long-term harm caused by high levels of 25-D has been missed because the bacteria implicated in autoimmune disease grow very slowly. For example, a higher incidence in brain lesions, allergies, and atopy in response to vitamin D supplementation have been noted only after decades of supplementation with the secosteroid.

Furthermore, low levels of 25-D are frequently noted in patients with autoimmune disease, leading to a current consensus that a deficiency of the secosteroid may contribute to the autoimmune disease process. However, Marshall and team explain that these low levels of 25-D are a result, rather than a cause, of the disease process. Indeed, Marshall's research shows that in autoimmune disease, 25-D levels are naturally down-regulated in response to VDR dysregulation by chronic pathogens. Under such circumstances, supplementation with extra vitamin D is not only counterproductive but harmful, as it slows the ability of the immune system to deal with such bacteria.

The team points out the importance of examining alternate models of vitamin D metabolism. "Vitamin D is currently being recommended at historically unprecedented doses," states Amy Proal, one of the paper's co-authors. "Yet at the same time, the rate of nearly every autoimmune disease continues to escalate."

Wow, RedDutchGirl ... I think I'm going to send this article link to my PCP. 25-hydroxyvitamin D is actually one of the things she is checking on my next blood work. I told my rheum. that she had started me on Vitamin D supplements because I was low but he didn't say anything about it being harmful. Maybe I'll print the article off and take it to him, too. I see both of them again in the next 3 weeks.

I took the article to my hemo who gives me the weekly dose of vitamin D and he just told me to stop taking it and brushed it off. So, I just quit and to be honest there hasn't been a change in anything since dropping it.