[Toni]

Low vitamin D, high uric acid

by Toni on Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:01 pm

I just looked over some new labs and found that my vitamin D is still quite low despite taking prescription vitamin D starting a few months ago.

Also, unbeknownst to me, the oncologist ordered a test for uric acid and my level is high. Everything I've read thus far on the internet regarding causes seems inconsistent with my lifestyle: I do not drink alcohol, nor drink sodas (I drink water) or most other offending foods that would cause higher uric acid.

I am just curious if perhaps uric acid is tested in the case of people like me who have frequent, persistent, all over achiness? Or is there a reason why a MGUS patient would be checked for this?

I am quite perplexed as to why my vitamin D is low because not only have I been supplementing, but I've spent a great deal of time in the sun this summer.

Any thoughts as to how this might relate (or perhaps these are purely incidental)?

[Multibilly]

Re: Low vitamin D, high uric acid

by Multibilly on Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:49 pm

Many folks with and without multiple myeloma have low vitamin D levels. I also get outside a LOT and I drink and eat a fair amount of foods with vitamin D, yet my vitamin D level was low when I first got measured about 3 years ago. There are some that think that you may need to take more than normal amounts of D3 to get to a normal vitamin D serum level if you have multiple myeloma.

It also depends on what kind of vitamin D supplements you take. You want to be taking vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), not D2. There are also some folks that believe that D3 does not get absorbed well unless you take it with K2, so I take a combined D3/K2 supplement. But I will admit that this info about K2 comes from doctors or naturopaths that seem to be hooked up with vitamin companies in one way or another ... so take the K2 recommendation with a bit of skepticism or do your own research.

Now, having said that, you can also go overboard with vitamin D. In my case, taking too much vitamin D cranked up my calcium levels. I freaked out about a year ago when I had upped my vitamin D intake and my calcium levels shot up, making me and my doc think I was going hypercalcemic (yikes, symptomatic multiple myeloma!). I dialed back my D3 dose right after that test and my calcium level dropped back to normal by the next time I did my next set of labs.

Uric acid, BUN and creatinine levels are used to measure kidney function, which is obviously something you want to watch with any stage of multiple myeloma. Uric acid levels are also used to look for signs of infection and chronic disease.

Last edited by Multibilly on Thu Jul 31, 2014 9:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Toni]

Re: Low vitamin D, high uric acid

by Toni on Thu Jul 31, 2014 8:59 pm

Thanks Multibilly! Yikes, that must have been quite a fright! So glad there was an easy solution to rectify the higher calcium. Perhaps I'll need to take a higher dose. I'm pretty sure I'm taking D3. Not so sure about the K, but I can give it a look.