"Could it be low-D? " (Vitamin D3 that is. . .)

Long time readers will remember how I have often wondered if my weakness, tremors and all other weirdness that did not quite all jive with my understanding of HNA were really a part of that illness or some other odd thing a bunch of doctors may have missed. . .  Well, it may well be something the doctors missed that was caught by my Physicians’ Assistant.

In a routine (yeah, like a $2,000.00 test can be routine) MRI of my neck looking for source of arm pain, in an aside, the pathologist said it looked like I might have a small lesion on my parathyroid.  Hmm. On my parathyroid?  Yes.  Well, my thyroid recently came up with a nodule that is benign and thyroid function was normal.  So, my PA ordered a test of parathyroid which was off the charts high for PTH, but showed normal for calcium.  Before the lab had a chance to get rid of the rest of my sample, he ordered a vitamin D test, which showed extremely low vitamin D.  What does this mean?

Well, the parathyroid regulates calcium and phosphates and is linked to vitamin D levels.  I am lucky that my case of hyperparathyroidism seems (so far anyway) to have been caused by low vitamin D. If this is true, I should be able to reverse it with additional supplements of vitamin D.  How does this relate to my weirdness of tremor, weakness and muscle fatigue?  Evidently, low vitamin D not only can cause  secondary hyperparathyroidism, but it also contributes to muscle weakness, tremor, fatigue and even in adults some risk of malformed bones- maybe like what is happening to my pinky of right hand.  The cause of D deficiency varies, but leading culprit is long term vegetarian diets and lack of sun exposure.   If you are worried about sun, use blockers. If you do not eat much red meat or eat other things that have no D3, use a supplement.

I will let you know if the supplement works.

Updated- Yes, the vitamin D supplement has done its thing.  My PTH is now in the normal range, and this is also true for vitamin D levels.  Overall I feel a bit better, but no where near anything approaching normal.  It is one less thing to worry about though. . .