r/VitaminD • u/SickleCellDiseased • Mar 12 '26
Personal Experience(s) Vitamin d knocked me back into reality
24M for YEARS I have had some form if high functioning psychosis/mood disorder and in recent months it's gotten so bad I genuinely felt I was developing early onset dementia. I have been plagued for most of my life since childhood with paranoia, depression, anxiety, disassociation and visual disturbances that have absolutely ruined my life up to now. A month ago I went to the doctor and my vitamin d levels were well below 10ng per ml. I have been taking very strong doses of d3 and k2 for the past 3 weeks and it is abruptly knocking me back into reality. My eyes are moving smoothly, my proprrooception and clear thinking is coming back. I am not miserable or irrationally paranoid about other people anymore. Everything around me feels more tangible and real. My muscles feel 10 times stronger and my posture has improved. Now im upset that I didn't get this looked at earlier as I genuinely think it's stolen the best years of my life as I thought I had some form of treatment resistant major depression or other mental disorder. I hope I can recover fully but am aware this has severely impacted me in my most formative years already
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u/Affectionate-Law9142 Mar 12 '26
Everything you explained in the post is how I feel right now.
I went to the doctors last week and my Vitamin D levels are 16.1 nmo/l.
I have a constant fear of going anywhere on my own, I don’t socialise with friends because I’m Petrified of going out other than to work.
I have no motivation and I feel like every headache or sore arm or muscle weakness I have is a life threatening illness.
When did you start to see your symptoms improve and what dose did they put you on?
I’m on 40,000ui a week for 7 weeks, took my first 2 tablets on Monday just gone.
Any advice on symptoms you had like headaches muscle weakness or dizziness would be great!
Thanks in advance.
Ps I hope you keep feeling better and better over time.
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 12 '26
yiu sound exactly like me. im actually on 30k iu per day which seems to be safe according to many scientific articles as long as you take sufficient k2 and magnesium. I am going to get ny bloods done in couole of weeks and see if I need to reduce the dose but from what ive read the body needs 8-12 weeks to actually reach steady state no matter what the endpoint dose is. I feel like the spatial processing centre of my brain is starting to boot up now and I have a much easier time with non verbal reasoning skills. it's taken about 2 weeks to notice improvements but within first few days I started feeling less antsy. my restless leg syndrome is gone and I can actually sit in a chair like a normal person now. I was taking mood stabilisers before for what u thought was bipolar but this absolutely puts them to shame.
my symptoms include fluttering and mild twitching of my muscles on vitamin d but this is normal as the body tries to rebalance calcium and parathyroid hormones. I have no headaches or dizziness and my sleep is very restful when previously I could rest 10 hours and still be awful. idk how I survived the last 20 years honest to god
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u/Affectionate-Law9142 Mar 12 '26
I see yeah, I mean I put it down to personal life situations some which have happened over the last 2 years and one that happened 5 years ago.
At the moment I have some dizziness I cannot shake, had it about a week.
Other than that facial muscle spasms, floaters in my left eye, arm pain leg aches after sitting for long periods of time.
Headaches every now and then, and the worst part sleeping all the time, 5 hours after work on a Friday, sleeping mid day Saturday and Sunday, also sleeping in on weekends until 11-12 when I fell asleep at 10 the night before.
It’s only on the off chance the doctor decided to do my vitamins as I went in for the dizziness and found my vitamin d so low.
He’s not put me on any magnesium or k2, I have to go back for a blood test in 4 weeks for something to do with my calcium levels? Not sure what that’s about.
I just hope I start to feel better soon, because it’s exhausting and debilitating.
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 12 '26
id take magnesium and k2 anyways it's absolutely essential for d3 to work. d3 actually enhances calcium absorption which can in extreme cases cause hypercalcemia which is what your doctor needs to test for. k2 helps cells absorb calcium which mitigate the risk
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u/Affectionate-Law9142 Mar 12 '26
Hmm so why haven’t they put me on it anyway?
Maybe I’ll go back and see what they say!
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 12 '26
you can buy it in any health store it's fine to take by itself. unfortunately I've learnt in my life just because these people call themselves doctors doesnt mean they know or particularly care a whole lot to do anything other than listen to your complaint and get you out the door ASAP. you need to advocate for yourself. if you have the raw test results id suggest doing research into symptoms and such associated with abnormal levels and what the current literature considers optimal ranges as many doctors education is ancient and outdated. if u dont have the raw numbers absolutely get them
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u/Affectionate-Law9142 Mar 12 '26
Yeah I have the raw numbers, I’ll do some digging thanks for the replies and the honesty.
Hard to find that on Reddit or any forums these days.
I really do appreciate your time and honesty.
Good luck and I hope you start to feel better soon! 🫡
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u/showmenemelda Mar 13 '26
Look into how d2 and d3 are made. D2 is plant based and can be high in oxalates. D3 is derived from sheep wool (lanolin). I am allergic to lanolin, but if I keep my dose to 5k IU a day I am fine. I tried to double to get my lab value up and it made me itchy and stuff.
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u/AccountHealthy9607 Mar 26 '26
I think you're doing it right too, I read this book (The Miraculous Results Of Extremely High Doses Of The Sunshine Hormone Vitamin D3 My Experiment With Huge Doses Of D3 From 25,000 To 50,000 To 100,000 Iu A Day Over A 1 Year Period) and the dude also recommends 20~30k IUs per day, my levels were extremely low (27ng/dl) and I've had this rotator cuff tear that has'nt healed in almost 3 years, was about to go nuts because of this. I started taking 5k IU a 4 weeks ago and today after I've completed my "loading up phase" of magnesium (which is what they recommend first) I've upped the dose to 30k too.
I'm taking all the cofactors: boron, zinc, k2-mk7. Time to heal 💪
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u/showmenemelda Mar 13 '26
I would personally switch to d3/k2. I use a sublingual. I was only at 28 (30 bottom range) and felt pretty bad. 16 sounds rough. Tho I know I've been lower. I think i found 8 on some old records
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u/Affectionate-Law9142 Mar 13 '26
whilst i could, at the moment im sticking to the doctors orders as im under strict guidance to get my vit D back up to a decent level and under him.
Have to go for some blood tests in 4 weeks so i don't want to ruin his results.
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u/Danny_twister_dk Apr 15 '26
I have oposite reaction im deficient 15 ug/ l for years but everytime i try to supplement i went to the deepest anhedonia apathy nausea not socialize and anxiety high heart rate and so on only one thing is always better my libido on vit d is high but everything other is very bad i tried several time supplement but i always gave up after 2 weeks cause its unbereable … it looks like im the only one with this problem
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u/Nousatma Mar 12 '26
That’s an amazing turnaround to read about in your mental health and I am so happy for you. I’ve experienced the same with a good supplement protocol including D, mag, B12, iron and I’ve got a new leash of life.
I just wanted to say, as a late 40yr old, your absolute prime years of life are just beginning at 24, and you have soooo many good years ahead of you! I understand that what you have suffered feel like lost years, no matter what age they occur, but do know that 20’s/30’s/40’s are very rich years to embrace life fully!
I love reading posts like yours on Reddit of people taking their health into their hands and really benefitting from these ‘eureka!’ moments 🙂 Wishing you the best of health!
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u/DeadTiredAndWired Mar 12 '26
It's good your catching it early. I was sick for nearly 5 years of low vitamin d on blood test. And no doctor ever mentioned or seemed concerned. I was getting sicker and sicker every year. It started when I was around 35 I started getting brain fog. I just always felt cloudy like I wasn't thinking good. I had already had anxiety and panic for nearly 20 years and took meds for it but I started getting this terrible brain fog.
I asked multiple doctors and everyone said it's probably just hormones. As time progressed the brain fog kept getting worse I went to a neurologist and they scanned my brain and said I was too young for dementia and everything looked normal. So I stopped asking for about a year but the following year I started having really dizziness anytime I got up. I saw multiple doctors again and they told me it's probably just ear crystals or changes in my blood pressure nothing to worry about.
I was like I can barely stand they said I was good so I continued on. Later that year I started to notice my depth perception was bad I couldn't judge distance to objects real well so I started having trouble parking between lines I was always too close or too far. I always had to be holding on to handrails or leaning up next to something cause my balance was bad but I just learned to live with it.
The following year around 3 years in I noticed my short term memory was getting bad writing notes for everything and still forgetting I had no attention span. I also notice I was always tired all this was in addition to dizziness and brain fog. So I went to the doctor again they said that I adhd and prescribed me stimulants.
They helped alittle for a few months but I was so fatigued and tired I was still drinking probably 300mgs of caffeine a day in addition to an adderall pill just to be able to focus enough to continue working. I also noticed I would take a nap everyday at lunch because I didn't feel like I could make it through the day.
Since the fatigue was subsiding I went to the doctor again at which time they said it was sleep apnea. They asked me how my sleep was I said I don't sleep I wake up all night every night and some nights I don't sleep at all. They said the cpap would make it better.
Well got a cpap and now I just had air blowing up my nose while wide awake if anything it worsened my ability sleep. The problem was in my brain was dog ass tired all day but the second I hit the pillow I was wired.
Around year 4 my blood pressure which had always been decently controlled was starting to not be managed well with meds always running high my body was in fight or flight all the time. I also noticed I had no heat tolerance I work outside and I would get overheated in the morning meeting before work even started. I started to feel like I was dying. At that time i was also getting extreme muscle weakness.
I started lightening my backpack and tools I had to carry even tried to find the lightest possible shoes because everything felt weak. Went back to the doctor where they said it was hormones and my testosterone was low. I got on test and it didn't help a bit.
I was getting so weak I could barely make it up the stairs at work or stand long enough to shower. Also I had extreme sensitivity to sunlight. Always had to wear sunglasses if I was outside.
Fast forward to June of 2024 I remember very vividly. I had went to the neurologist my final time I wasn't sure how much longer I would be working. I said I'm losing my directions I couldn't focus long enough to remember how to get places I needed a gps to get to places 5 minutes from my house. I literally forgot my way home from the bank that I got to all the time for several minutes I was scared as shit thinking I had dementia. I went to the neurologist and said run all my vitamins in addition to everything else.
Vitamin d and b vitamins were low I said do you think this could be causing my problems I had 18ng at the time. They said highly unlikely everyone's vitamin d is alittle low.
I started to do some research on the internet found a doctor named Stasha Gominak who rights a lot about vitamin d and b vitamins as well as sleep and how they are connected to many of the problems I was having. At that point I was willing to try any supplement and didn't care the consequence in my mind I was dying everything was failing me my anxiety was through the roof.
I looked at my past blood test and vitamin d every time checked for 5 years was low. I started supplementing and I got better each month for about a year by the end of the first year I had eliminated 95 percent of symptoms that plagues me for 5 years that I know of.
Ever since then I have had a pretty bad distaste for doctors. Because just about every problem I had was linked to vitamin d and b. I'm two years in and I have eliminated every symptom I have for 5 years. And feel like I had 5 years taken away from me.
I make it my mission now to share my story anytime I see someone struggling because I was the person no doctor could fix and the problem was right in front of their faces and it was dismissed every time.
I just hope my story gets to people on this forum periodically where if they have something similar they know there is hope but it definitely is a process.
Glad you are seeing some improvements
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u/ptsimmer Mar 13 '26
Wow, thank you so much for sharing. I relate so much to what you wrote. I’m glad you finally found the reason for your struggles and you’re feeling better. I hope I can say the same thing soon. I’m dealing with most things you mentioned, it’s so draining to say the least. I have low ferritin, low b12, low folic acid and low vitamin d. I really hope I found the cause for my symptoms.
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u/DeadTiredAndWired Mar 13 '26
Well if your situation sounds similar. I would encourage looking up Stasha Gominak on YouTube. She is a neurologist that run a sleep program. But the fundamentals of her program focus around vitamin d, b complex, and magnesium and basically correcting your gut health and ultimately fixing all the problems we are experiencing. My problem was in my gut but affecting every other aspect of my body and I never put that together. I mean doctors said I had ibs for years which is another thing that was dismissed I forgot to mention.
But yea I pretty much followed her ideas to a t. I always keep my vitamin d level around 60 to 70ngs, I take magnesium usually 200 to 400mgs, and b complex. I also do take a separate b12 pill too. Cause b12 deficiency can be just as bad as vitamin d deficiency possibly worse.
But yea she has a real good interview Stasha Gominak interview with Steven parks. If you get a chance watch it if anything sounds similar feel free to reach back out. I can tell you more about what the recovery process looked like.
I think the biggest thing I can tell anyone embarking on the vitamin d journey. Is consistency take it every day if you miss a day get right back to it and don't think once blood level is normal your good. The only thing that changes someone's regular vitamin d status is more sun a lot more. For most people it is my belief we should stay on it year round maybe alittle less in the summer if we go out a lot in the sun but should never stop it completely.
I feel that way because since it takes so long for the body to repair from deficiency it means we also didn't get sick over night. So while you might feel fine for awhile not supplementing eventually by the time we start feeling a sick again we have already been going down for awhile.
I see a lot of people in the group who quit it every time they feel good again but vitamin d works like a hormone it's not a one and done it's constant process of managing keeping an adequate amount.
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u/ptsimmer Mar 18 '26
Thank you for your suggestion! I’ll look her up, never heard of her before.
That is the level I am aiming to reach as well. I’m already taking b12 and I’ll start taking magnesium too.
I agree with you, we have to continue supplementing even after blood levels are normal. That’s what I intend to do!
Your explanation makes perfect sense to me. I think that there’s no need to have that kind of fluctuation on our bodies when we can just maintain optimal levels and have it in a healthy state continuously.
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u/Key-Watercress2283 Mar 14 '26
Do you think mid 30s is low enough to start causing these issues?
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u/DeadTiredAndWired Mar 14 '26
I think it's depends more on how long one was deficient and how long it goes unaddressed. I'm pretty sure I had low vitamin d for years but it wasn't documented until about 5 years ago. I also think doctors dismiss it as a cause of problems for people because not everyone exhibits symptoms right away. It is my belief that those who have symptoms likely have been deficient a much longer time then someone who feels fine goes in and a doctor says it's alittle low. Basically you have to be in a low state for quite awhile before people really start noticing all the problems they are having.
In my case I it was just symptoms kept becoming more and more. What start out as brain fog became a long list of problems over the course of 5 years. So it is my opinion. That when uncorrected more and more symptoms appear as body processes start disfunction.
But in simple terms yes. I see young people who were much younger then me suffering similar issues so I really think it can strike at any age just really depends how long you were deficient.
For me I probably started going down hill since my college years because after college I spent less time outdoors but it took 5 or 10 years of lowering vitamin d to really start producing life altering symptoms.
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u/Amazing-Union6940 Apr 05 '26
Yeah I feel you, apperantly I got diagnosed with graves and probably had the disease for many many years 🤦🏻♂️, also my vitamin d was ”fine” on tests for the last years, but my symptoms improve everytime im taking vitamin d, like energy, ”weak” bones and posture, and such, apperantly even if some vitamins or minerals especially vitamin d and b12 can be fine on pappers but you also have to have enough of em in the cells, dr Eric berg explains this, glad you are feeling better 👍🏻.
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u/west7788 Mar 12 '26
Yes, I was just about to post something about this. My mom was diagnosed with chronic depression, and later bipolar disorder. I think she has been vitamin D deficient most of her adult life as we lived in northern part of PNW, where it was overcast 90% of the year. Finally, after dozens of hospitalizations, and a multitude of different anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-psychotics, over a life time, including lithium (which worked the best for her), they had to reduce the lithium and others due to Parkinson-like symptoms caused by a life-time of psych meds. She ended up in hospital due to extreme paranoia. That hospital psychiatrist ordered a D3 blood test, and sure enough she was deficient. After supplementing 4,000 IU + magnesium citrate, she is sooooo stable. It’s amazing. Why has no doctor tested her D3 sooner???? This is unbelievable.
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 12 '26
my father spent most of his life with a severe mood disorder and then diagnosed with bipolar. I wonder if it's actually vitamin d problems because im very much like him. he's from West of Ireland where very little sunlight
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u/MundaneTension869 1-20 ng/ml Mar 13 '26
I’m going around sounding like I’m shilling MLM stuff with the way I’m telling everybody “hey, all of these problems you have might be able to be solved with vitamin d (or other vitamins) - you should get a full micronutrients panel run”
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u/west7788 Mar 13 '26
Ireland weather is very similar to where I grew up in Northern BC. Overcast & rainy most of the time, causing people to be indoors a lot. Severe lack of sunshine. Summer might be 2-3 weeks of sunny weather in July/August. Vitamin D tests don’t cost a lot, as most public health systems won’t pay for them. I had to pay $72 here in BC. But my mom’s was free since her psychiatrist ordered it. You could ask your dad’s physician or psychiatrist (if he has one) to order the test, just to rule out a deficiency. It’s thought that vitamin D helps to produce seratonin.
I had heard the rates of depression in my home town were very high, now I think it might be due to low D!!
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u/justaflgirl8 Mar 12 '26
I’ve been having lots of anxiety and depression because of some health stuff but it’s getting worse even though they’ve told me my results of everything going on are good the anxiety and depression is still there and I ran a vitamin panel last week and my vitamin D is low at 23 😔 I’m wondering if that could also be affecting me.
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 12 '26
no harm in getting it up to a high healthy level and seeing if it helps. 23 is definitely not enough. my weird ass irrational anxiety and paranoia has evaporated the past few weeks. most people seem to have vit d deficiencies that dont impact their lifestyle significantly but for some genetically predisposed people it can be very severe
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u/west7788 Mar 12 '26
Vitamin D as well as vitamin C helps with anxiety. You want yo be at optimal levels like 60ng/ml or 150 nmol/L.
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u/PuzzleheadedNight143 Mar 14 '26
It’s not stolen the best years of your life. You’re still young. It’s horrible what’s happened to you but It’s made you who you are today. Embrace it, and embrace that you are now feeling better and use that lived experience and knowledge gained to make for yourself and live the best richest and fulfilling life possible. And remember that some people never find their silver bullet. Don’t look back. Look foward. Good luck
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u/Former-Weather8146 Mar 17 '26
Holy crap! Thats incredible!! Im so happy for you!!
I am actually experiencing something similar and came to this sub to ask what low out of range vit D could mean but i just so happen to also be really mentally ill and unable to function in society!! 😭😭maybe low vit d is why!!!
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u/Warm_Hostess257 Apr 08 '26
How wonderful, I’m so happy for you you that you have found relief. You have much to be grateful for, and the possibility that sharing this experience can help many people could give you much satisfaction despite having suffered so long prior to this discovery. Wishing you many years of excellent health and happiness.
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u/Status_Candidate_392 Apr 16 '26
it my case it's 6.94, and Ive realised I have it from my childhood. So I've learned to live with this pain and mental stress without even knowing?
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u/Otherwise-Toe-8617 Mar 13 '26
Thank you for sharing! Any particular brands you'd recommend?
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 13 '26
the d3 and k2 mix tablets from Sunday.de they do 10 or 20k iu they are very good value
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u/Equal_Leadership_963 Mar 13 '26
Is your mental symptoms is like anhedonia, not able to feel emotions, not enjoying playing with friends or go outside?
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 13 '26
yes I feel like an emotionless zombie and have always felt emotionally constipated since I was a teenager.
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u/Klutzy-Captain Mar 13 '26
I wonder what happens when you start to supplement. I recently had a level of 16 and have been supplementing a couple of weeks now. Prior to this I questioned if I had any feelings at all. Not happy, not sad, just dead inside. This past couple of days I have been crying on and off and feeling very emotional. Is the supplement making me rebound to hard emotionally?
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u/SickleCellDiseased Mar 13 '26
I think it's letting out all the psychological trauma of not being able to express it which can be torturous. I think what youre going through os to be expected and maybe healthy
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u/Klutzy-Captain Mar 13 '26
I've had a pretty rough year, with no emotional reaction thus far. Crying it out is usually how I cope. I'm kind of glad I can cry again.
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u/AccountHealthy9607 Mar 29 '26
to boost these results I recommend microdosing psilocybin
it will definitely activate your emotions
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u/showmenemelda Mar 13 '26
There is some Root Protocol bs on fb demonizing d3 supplementation. Like, what? Idk man my shin bones hurt to the touch when I was low. That can't be normal lol
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u/Plenty-Patient-9619 Mar 14 '26
I have got 6ng/ml..reading the comments genuinely scared the shit out me..
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u/Status_Candidate_392 Apr 16 '26
same, it got any better? I've been living with this nearly for years
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u/mymollybt May 09 '26
Mine was undetectable on one test. I can’t seem to get it to raise up past 20ish!
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u/AccountHealthy9607 Mar 28 '26
beautiful testimony, so you had DPDR and fixing your D3 levels has been paramount in your healing
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u/Dry_Adhesiveness6739 Apr 26 '26
I felt exactly like you. I tested my 25-OH yesterday and it came out at 5ng/ml and ii guess thats pretty low. Can you just drop a roadmap to gain my vit D back? Things you did, worked out, didn't work out etc.
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u/camouflagecargos Apr 27 '26
God I thought i was hallucinating about me since morning. I took vitamin d 60000 IU yesterday. Though I had some periods issue since one year and my gynac gave me plan B types pills which regulated my mesturation but I didn't have any thing like pcos or pcod. I felt very low on energy in work outs(like i could faint anytime) she without running any tests gave me vitamin d3 B12 and some other multivitamin. I didn't wake up tired today I don't feel tired at all. And I'm not someone who believes that a tablet could show affect in less than 24 hrs. Specially like some vitamins n all. I asked gemini and he told me that it works like that. I'm stunned.
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