Health & Fitness May 2015

[Nancy]

I have done some weeding for my exercise today.
Back from a med. Long walk.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Hmmmm, questioning my doctor now.

Had my annual physical and knee x-ray results. Knees have extreme osteoarthritis.

He wants me to take 2000 IU of vitamin D. I told him I take a supplement of 1000, plus my multi, plus the amount in my diet, specifically milk. He said there was none in milk. I said it was fortified and I was concerned about taking too much vit D. He said it isn't a concern, excess is peed out.

Turns out I'm right.

1. Milk is fortified. About 100 IU per glass. I have at least 2 glasses a day.
2. 1000 in supplement plus my multi at 800, plus 2 glasses of milk = 2000.
3. Vitamin D is fat soluble, therefore not peed out.

As for calcium, he wants 1200 mg per day. Two glasses of milk = 600, my multi has 400 and I get 330 at bedtime in my calc/mag supplement (which also has Vitamin D, 200 IU, come to think of it.) So I'm good there, in fact slightly over so if I miss a glass of milk (common when I'm traveling) I'm still getting almost enough.

My problem, is if he wrong on this easy stuff that I can double check - what else he wrong about?

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Making slow progress on the knee pain. Keep forgetting to take the pain pills which I think is a good thing.

My sleep quality is extremely poor though. So I'm obviously restless in the night.

I had noted last fall when I dropped the amount of sugars in my diet, my sleep quality improved. I have not had the same results this time, so I'm guessing last fall's results were coincidence. I'm seldom below MyFitnessPal's recommendation for sugars but I'm getting closer to them as I work on my diet. Junk food is almost all out (not today, though, I'm upset about my diagnosis so had extra chocolate with my tea tonight, plus a 100 calorie bag of cheetos while waiting for supper.)

I'm very stressed right now and just realized I forgot to bake tonight. I may be too tired to do it now (its for dh's concert tomorrow night so I don't want to mess up.)

[Nancy]

Today's ex was weeding transplanting some bulbs.

[Harriet]

Kathryn, just have your blood level of D tested so you'll personally know if you would like to increase your daily D. Of course our levels are higher in May than in the winter, but the info is valuable no matter what time of year. My first test before supplementation was in the 20s, HRH and dd had lower ones. It took months to even get to 40. Our general practitioner, my parents' doctors (and my new hormone doctor) all set 50 ng/ml as the goals for their patients. HRH was given the prescription bolus dose of 40,000 IU at first, and then another one week later, to speed his increase because there was most concern about him. My ddad was specifically told they were trying to keep his level at at least 50 to help guard against broken bones.

I don't know if "peed out" is an accurate way to put it, since that usually refers to water-soluble supplements. I suppose everything is eventually peed out. But it does take a long time to increase blood levels of D, so it is constantly depleting somehow. I had some frustration with still getting test results barely at 40 (or not even) when I'd assumed I would be meeting that goal of 50. As far as toxicity, that's supposed to be at tens of thousands of IUs daily. Our gen prac says that he has only had one patient who had a test result come back at over 100, which is the level called "excess".

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Unless you have a specific health issue, they do not test for vitamins in the blood here. With socialized medicine, I don't pay for my blood tests, or X-rays but if I want something my doctor will not give me, I can't go somewhere else and pay for it myself. And I have to wait until things are available (i.e. MRI for my knees would be a 6 - 12 month wait, on the other hand, the MRI for my pancreatitis was done within 24 hours because I was in a hospital and they needed test results to get me out.)

I requested B12 level and he said only if I showed up anemic. Then he'd do a separate test. I didn't ask for Vitamin D. I don't think my level is a problem, since starting the extra 1000 IU, I've almost completely stopped requiring my SAD light. I think I used it twice last winter.

In general, my health is good except for my pain issues and they are all traceable to the arthritis in my knees and back (and probably hip but no-one has ever gone looking for it there.) On the plus side, it appears to be OA not RA although I have indications I might be at risk for that as well.

[Nancy]

Today's exercise included weeding, mowing, & walking.

[Twins' Mom]

I've been avoiding this thread like the plague.

Yesterday I weighed for the first time in a while and am no higher than I was around the first of the year. Weight dropped a little by this morning - I'm sure the product of getting in more water and eating slightly better yesterday than I did on Sunday, when I had pizza.

I also put my fitbit back on yesterday. I had fewer than 5,000 steps, but at least I was wearing it.

Baby steps.

[RunKitty]

[quote="Twins' Mom"]I've been avoiding this thread like the plague.

Looks like most of us have joined you in avoiding it, Twins'.

I have also tried to drink more water and have been helped by the new water bottle my daughter sent me for Mother's Day. It is insulated and metal so I can take it to work and not worry that it will get broken. It's nice to have the water still cold when I drink it on the way home. The bottle is made by a company called S'well. They give a portion of their profits to the UNICEF program which helps provide clean drinking water to the world's most vulnerable children.

[Nancy]

I have done 30 min. On the gazelle, and walked for ten. min and moved some rocks for today's exercise.