Vitamin D and anxiety/depression

@yanks950
I had vitamin d deficiency and other vitamin/mineral deficiencies. It can definitely cause many symptoms and it is important to address the deficiency asap so it doesn’t cause other health problems.

Here are some links that mention vitamin d deficiency symptoms.

1. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15050-vitamin-d-vitamin-d-deficiency

2. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/vitamin-d-deficiency/faq-20058397

3. https://www.medicinenet.com/14_signs_of_vitamin_d_deficiency/article.htm

Vitamin D is also hormone like in that our body can produce it with sun
exposure . It functions on our immune system which has connection with
our brain. Consider it probable to have an effect on our emotional function.
Definitely worth supplementing and getting 10 minutes of sun twice a week.

Vitamin D3, I am told by my menopause consultant, helps produce melatonin, seratonin, and dopamine in the brain. All which produce a calming effect. I have been taking about 4,000 IUs per day, along with Vitamin K2 which helps with absorption. Also, taking those two with food that has fat in it helps with absorption. It has really helped me sleep better, after suffering from insomnia for many years.

I always have low vitamin D if I don't supplement. I have treatment resistant depression as well as anxiety and insomnia and getting my vitamin D level to a normal level has never helped any of those things. I know how important it is for our bodies so I continue to supplement; it might be worth a try for you? Please make sure that if you do supplement, you get regular bloodwork to make sure you're not over-supplementing. I had a PCP put me on a huge dose and I ended up with vitamin D toxicity, which was quite unpleasant.

Can you describe how your toxicity presented, in terms of symptoms?
I am also on a pretty high dose (4000 per day) which has brought my levels up to normal but I often get concerned that over time this may become an issue. I do get tested annually during my physical.
Thank you!

It caused hypercalcemia, which was miserable. My case was mild and I feel really bad for people who have a case that is worse than mild! I had lots of GI symptoms but the worst for me was feeling like I was going crazy. I mentioned that I have anxiety but it's more like a slow burning anxiety that's always simmering. When I had vitamin D toxicity and hypercalcemia, my anxiety made me feel really, really agitated (which isn't typically normal for me) and jittery. I also felt like I couldn't think straight or express myself effectively.

My thyroid was also off during that time period (hyper - not sure if it was related to the hypercalcelmia) and I didn't think my PCP had a good handle on it so I begged for a referral to an endocrinologist. He ran some of his own labs, looked at my medication list and figured out instantly that my vitamin D oversupplementation was responsible for everything! He adjusted my dose and it took awhile but I got my calcium and vitamin D back to normal. I'm so thankful I insisted on that referral.

It turns out my PCP wasn't looking at all my labs - this could have been easily prevented! I don't see that PCP anymore and I always get copies of my labs now. "All your labs are normal" sounds great in theory but if your PCP is incompetent, it doesn't mean much. I verify everything.

It sounds like you're doing the right thing by getting your labs done every year! Getting me at the right level of vitamin D has been difficult in the last few years so I get tested every 6 months. I'm on 3000 day now, which seems to be the right dose. Hope this helps!

Big help – thank you so much for the information. I’m currently on 4000 IU daily, but have recently stretched it out to every other day which should cut the dosage in half and keep me at a level that would be near impossible to cause the hypercalcemia. I will also probably test at the six month mark to make sure things are going in the right direction without getting really low again.
For many years, my D was under 20 but PCP shrugged it off as not a big deal. After about a year on the 4000 IU regimen I brought it up to 60 but want to make sure I don’t spike it beyond that. Another situation where it’s really important to take your health into your own hands and not assume that everything they say or do is correct. Appreciate your time…thx again!

I have also struggled with depression for a long time. I've been on just about every antidepressant they make starting in my 20s with Elavil if anybody remembers that one! So about five years ago my therapist, a psychiatric nurse practitioner, wondered about my vitamin D level. When she checked it was low, in the 20s. She told me to start supplements right away. After a few months of supplement it came up to the normal range. However I've done a lot of reading on vitamin D and the immune system. There are a lot of infectious disease physicians and researchers who feel like the normal range as it stands now is too low. As an aside, there is a lot of research on how vitamin D can be very helpful for your immune system and it was used extensively during the Covid pandemic. A lot of people who did not want the shot increased their vitamin D intake among other things and they did not get Covid although who knows if it's related. But interesting. They suggest taking vitamin D and to try and get your level as far above the 50s as you can. I don't want to suggest that you do this because that's not my place. I can say that what I'm doing is taking 10,000 units per day and my vitamin D level is definitely in the 50s. I can say that it helped a lot and I continue to take that every day. Recently I learned that you should be taking a supplement called K2 along with the D it helps absorption apparently. They do make that in a combination pill. I hope this helps a little? At least you know that it's not uncommon for mental health providers to focus on that as one of their diagnostic tools. I wish you the best. Talk to your provider about taking high doses of vitamin D. They do make a 10,000 unit version so it's not like you have to take multiple doses. Merry Christmas!

That's so interesting about the calcium. I've been on high doses of vitamin D as well and recently saw an article from an endocrinologist that was talking about the issue of calcium and vitamin D. It said that you need to take a supplement called K2 along with the vitamin D or it can cause an increase in your calcium levels. Exactly what you experienced! So I now take a high dose of vitamin D with an added K2 supplement. A lot of formulations have that as a combination. It's interesting that you had that experience! My dose is way higher than yours but I live in Oregon and we typically have Very little sun throughout the year so it's not unusual that most Oregonians have a deficiency. This has been an interesting discussion but I hope people will see this comment about vitamin D and calcium. I'm so glad you posted this. Take care!

Some very valuable information from all of you! Thank you! It is so important for people to take and active role in their healthcare, reading and interpretation of diagnostics and labs. For five years my PCP missed about 5 hallmark signs and symptoms off hyper parathyroid disease...the results, kidneys stones, hypertension, elevated serum calcium, bone loss so dental implants just fell out and an osteoporosis at a -3t level (goes from 1-4) 4 being the work, oh and chronic kidney damage! Another physician picked it up within 10 minutes of reviewing my labs.Coming from the health care field I wonder how errors such as these are reported. Certainly there must be a Quality Assurance team that reviews and addresses the physicians short comings. As Nurses we were mandated to report errors in medication, treatment etc. and report to the Board at times. So what happens to physicians......??????? There were serious and meaningful consequences to my health and well being. The tumor was an inch big on a small parathyroid gland (usually rice size).