Suddenly lower Vitamin D question

Hirri

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Oct 14, 2020
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I have been doing some regular blood tests every spring and sometimes fall for a while now (thanks to health package given by the company I work for :D) and I was surprised to see that my vitamin D suddenly is lower.
In 2018 fall it was 94 nmol/l
In 2019 spring it was 133 nmol/l
in 2020 spring 58 nmol/l
in 2020 fall 59 nmol/l
in 2021 spring - will do next week

I never took any supplements of vitamin D in my life so those normal and even high levels were not caused by that. I live in Eastern Europe with long dark winters so I don't think that getting it from sun is possible (although I do spend lots of time outside in summer and that did not change). My diet did not change too except that I eat way more. A few things that come to mind though are:
-in 2018-2019 I still was underweight with low body fat % (12-16%) due to lots of running and undereating
-in 2020 I reduced my running by 60% for the whole year and almost all running sessions because of a low intensity, just for fun, thus I gained weight and now my BMI and body fat % is normal for a woman my age.
-My ferritin levels became a bit lower (dropped from 35 to 27).

I just dont understand why vitamin D levels would fall because of those reasons. Maybe it's something that I don't think of. I am 37 year old female btw.
 

youngsinatra

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DId you get less sunlight that year? Did you wear more clothes when you were in the sun? Did you use any sun protection (it blocks vitamin D synthesis almost completely.)
From my understanding it could be possible that 25(OH)D could convert into active 1,25(OH)2D, if you are calcium deficient. It would be nice to see PTH and 1,25(OH)2D as additional blood work.

Maybe supplementation with a few thousands IU could help if it stays low. I like to get mine to 100-150 nmol/l and I need supplementation because I don't get that much sun in germany.
 
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Hirri

Hirri

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Yes, in fact I did start using sunscreen in 2020 but only on my face. Will not do it again, not sure why I even started (peer preasure about wrinkles I guess). But could it be the reason alone? I mean other body parts were never covered,
 

Perry Staltic

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I know it's unlikely, but is it possible that they changed nmol/L to ng/ml in 2020. 58 ng/ml is the nearly the same as 133 nmol/L (53 ng/ml). 58 nmol/L is almost deficient status.
 
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Hirri

Hirri

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I know it's unlikely, but is it possible that they changed nmol/L to ng/ml in 2020. 58 ng/ml is the nearly the same as 133 nmol/L (53 ng/ml)
well they give the same next to each but I dont know, maybe they mixed up :/
 

lampofred

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RP mentioned vitamin D is absorbed by and stored in fat tissue, so a fatter person will have lower blood levels than a leaner person even with the same absolute amount of vitamin D in the body.
 
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Hirri

Hirri

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RP mentioned vitamin D is absorbed by and stored in fat tissue, so a fatter person will have lower blood levels than a leaner person even with the same absolute amount of vitamin D in the body.
That's interesting. Logically thinking then it should not mean that I have less of it just because I have more fat, because it's stored in fat and not floating in the blood, right?
 
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Hirri

Hirri

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DId you get less sunlight that year? Did you wear more clothes when you were in the sun? Did you use any sun protection (it blocks vitamin D synthesis almost completely.)
From my understanding it could be possible that 25(OH)D could convert into active 1,25(OH)2D, if you are calcium deficient. It would be nice to see PTH and 1,25(OH)2D as additional blood work.

Maybe supplementation with a few thousands IU could help if it stays low. I like to get mine to 100-150 nmol/l and I need supplementation because I don't get that much sun in germany.
I would like to have 1,25(OH)2D done but it's 3 times more expensive. Although would be interesting to see. Maybe I will.
 

Quelsatron

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Like said it gets stored in fat, according to many studies obese people need way more. Its also possible, but I can't find any proof or even discussion, that weight gain will rapidly decrease your vitamin D levels as the new fat tissue will be completely lacking vitamin D and thus absorb whatever it can like a sponge. I'm not sure how the mechanism or kinetics of vitamin d release from fat works, but imagine if it just passively diffuses into the bloodstream. Doubling your fat reserves should halve the concentration of D in that fat so the concentration gradient and diffusion would decrease by more than half.

I happen to have gained weight during 2020 and now my blood levels are at 40 nmol/L despite attempting to get sunshine and supplementing on average 1600 IU every day for the last 1½ years
 
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Hirri

Hirri

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Like said it gets stored in fat, according to many studies obese people need way more. Its also possible, but I can't find any proof or even discussion, that weight gain will rapidly decrease your vitamin D levels as the new fat tissue will be completely lacking vitamin D and thus absorb whatever it can like a sponge. I'm not sure how the mechanism or kinetics of vitamin d release from fat works, but imagine if it just passively diffuses into the bloodstream. Doubling your fat reserves should halve the concentration of D in that fat so the concentration gradient and diffusion would decrease by more than half.

I happen to have gained weight during 2020 and now my blood levels are at 40 nmol/L despite attempting to get sunshine and supplementing on average 1600 IU every day for the last 1½ years
That's very interesting. Thanks!
 

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