For the past couple of months I have been feeling poorly and have been in pain. I do have arthritis and initially thought the pain in my bones was from that and just tried to deal with it as best I could. Then the pain got worse and other symptoms popped up and I was more fatigued than I’ve ever felt. For example, I usually wake up before 5 with both feet running at top speed and continue that way till bedtime. That’s just how I am.
Then I found myself having to lay down around 8 in the morning and I’d sleep till 4 or 5 and then be ready for bed by 8….so out of character for me! Or I’d spend a day doing things I needed to do, and then be exhausted and in pain for the next several days. I finally made it to the doctor’s office, after much “encouragement/threats” from family and friends and one thing we found out was that I was deficient in vitamin D and magnesium….really low levels. Who knew?
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Of course I know vitamins are important but I didn’t know just how important they are for your overall mood and physical well-being. A lot of my symptoms mimicked different types of cancer and that was frightening. Overall, I always assumed that I got the sufficient amount of vitamins I needed with the foods I ate and the occasional multi-vitamin I took. Not so (at least for me). After learning I needed a lot more vitamin D and magnesium, I found out a really good friend and another really good friend’s husband had experienced some of the same symptoms I had, and after testing, found out they were low in vitamin D too.
So of course I had to research vitamins, symptoms of vitamin deficiencies, and the diseases that can occur due to low levels of vitamins in your system. And even if you have a healthy diet, there are things you put in your body like soda or coffee that actually deplete your vitamin levels.
Symptoms like bone pain, nausea, tiredness, mood swings, headaches, a racing heart, hair loss, insomnia, neurological problems….and the list goes on and on of symptoms you can get when you’re lacking in vitamins. If you go to the doctor yearly and get blood work done, make sure you ask your doctor if they are checking your vitamin levels. And if you’re not getting a yearly check-up, you should (I skipped a couple of years because I was “busy”). Now I’m on a vitamin regimen and am trying to load up on foods that naturally contain the vitamins I need. This article from Prevention Magazine pinpoints some of the vitamins women need, the doses, and the foods high in those vitamins.
You should never take more than the recommended daily doses though unless your doctor tells you to. If you haven’t been feeling your normal healthy self or you’ve just been feeling run-down, it wouldn’t hurt to think about what vitamins you might be lacking. And don’t wait like I did to check out unusual symptoms….the faster you find out what’s going on, the quicker you’ll be able to “fix it”.
Tammy, So happy that you got to the root of the problem! It is amazing how important vitamins are to our health. There are so many ailments and diseases that can be prevented or even treated with natural supplements….vitamins, minerals, herbs. Several years ago I was in much the same condition as you describe but with supplements I have completely turned things around. It is scary how vitamin deficiencies can mimic really serious problems or even be a serious problem of its own. It is important to be proactive when it comes to our own health. There is so much info on the internet and by doing a search a person can see what will benefit their own situation such as age, health conditions or lifestyle. And it is important to ask your doctor to check for deficiencies. A doctors first line of defense is usually to prescribe a pharmaceutical but most will work with you if you ask for alternatives to try. My husband lowered his cholesterol from 280 to 200 without medication by using supplements and healthy diet.
Best wishes!