This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

If there are any other MS-parents please get your Little Ones's Vitamin D (D3) checked regularly and supplement with Vitamin D3 drops if insufficient levels are detected. It is something we CAN do to help our children avoid this awful disease. See this story: http://www.irishhealth.com/article.html?id=15021
Also this week a new study done in Ireland found the majority of pregnant women in Ireland are vitamin D deficient so that's another thing to check if you're trying to have a baby - both for your baby's health, and yours.

I'd posted on this before but got my (now 20 month old) son tested in the spring and his vitamin D level was just inside 70 nmol/L. It looked good as the summer was coming and he was likely to get more sunshine. We went on a holiday in June and it was very sunny. If there were warm days I'd let him run around the garden for 5-10 minutes without sunscreen to top up on his levels.
I took him back to re-test at the end of August and the results came back again as insufficient levels he was down to 67 nmol/L. So he's back every day on the drops again and I'll keep this up through the winter.

I dont know how many of you all are coast to coast fans, but.... There was a good program on the other night and lasted about two hours. There is a doctor who did a lot of research on vit D. He was fascintating. I learned alot. He sells a book I am going to order. If you want, you can google his name is Dr. Hollick

hollick is def one of the eminent d researchers. another goodie: reinhold vieth out of the university of toronto.

ww, good for u for staying on top of this. important! go for at least 100 nmol/L for immune health... 150 is where i like to be

Here is some bebsites and books on Vit...
Websites:
alpineurology.com
rawfor30days.com
fredbisci4health.com
uvadvantage.org
vitamindhealth.org
areturntohealing.com
drlenhorowitz.com
Book(s):
Your Healthy Journey
The Big Scare: The Business of Prostate Cancer
The UV Advantage
A Return to Healing

I havent personally went to all of theem yet, but I got them (if I remember right) off Dr. Hollick's website

I've started giving my 19 month old a polyvitamin drop once a day with 400 IU vit D, but do you think it matters if I give it to her everyday without knowing what her levels are, if she's low or not? I would hope it wouldn't hurt since it's a vitamin, what do you think?

hlm, too much d3 can be bad, but you have to have levels up over 250 nmol/L to start seeing hypercalcemia develop.
400IU per day for little ones, compared to the 4000IU that has been suggested in research as the required daily intake for d3 maintenance in adults, seems pretty safe IMHO.
if it's feasible, it is probably wise to have 2 tests done per year, one spring one fall, just to see what the daily supplement level is achieving.

ww, if i may ask, when you were giving your boy drops prior to that 70 nmol/L result, what was the daily amount? for how long? do you have a baseline level taken before supplementing?

HTH,
JL

Jimmylegs,

I'm still learning a lot so I don't know - I've heard a lot on this forum about testing yourself for food allergies and also having all your vitamin levels checked. How/Where do you do this and do doctors normally do this just because you ask?

Thanks for all your help!

HLM I agree with JL - I'd get 2 tests a year done to monitor your daughter's levels.

JL I honestly can't remember if I got a test for him at first - I think I did and he was deficient, then I think he was retested in Spring and was at 70nmol, then I eased off a bit on the drops (200iu per day) over the summer when he got some sun exposure but bearing his new lower result in mind I think I'll just keep supplementing at 200iu per day and test him again after Christmas.

h, since you're in ontario, i can tell you all about it
here is a link to a pdf which lists all the kinds of tests that are covered by the ontario health insurance plan (see page 7 - 24).
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/pro ... 990401.pdf
all you do is figure out what you want tested, make an appointment with the family doc, and ask for the requisition.
3 years ago, i had to back up a d3 request with literature - but it's hit the mainstream now so you shouldn't have a problem.
in my whole ms experience i have only asked for 3 tests that i had to pay for: homocysteine, selenium, and alpha-tocopherol (vitamin e). the labs can charge you whatever they want but in my experience it would be in the $30-$35 ballpark.
all the b vitamins (except it's hard to find a lab to test one of them.. i can't remember it's either b1 or b2), vit d3, vit a, calcium, magnesium, zinc, uric acid, iron (ferritin) and a whole bunch of other stuff is all covered.
HTH,
JL

Jimmylegs,

well once you get the tests done, how are you supposed to know what's normal and what's not? Especially since having MS we might want to take more than whats "normal"?

that's easy - you ask me

what i have done, and what anyone can do, is go through the literature for various nutrients and read what is the usual average value in "healthy controls".
for instance, in the case of ms and uric acid, ms-ers average 194 µmol/L.
ms patients headed for relapse have numbers down towards the 160s.
ms patients in remission average more in the 230 ballpark.
people whose levels get up over 360 are asking for gout.
healthy controls have uric acid levels around 290-300.
but, the 'normal range' for uric acid is 140-360!?!

some doctors just want to tell you "everything's normal" and leave it at that.
if doctors were assessing IQ with lab work, they'd be telling forrest gump and einstein that they were normal. it's just a bell curve, not normal-healthy.
when you're sick, you need to get the numbers and units and decide for yourself if you're "optimal".

i have a bunch of other targets nailed down too, or nearly so, so ask away if you're interested

JL