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Vitamin D & B's and Sleep Quality
#11
RE: Vitamin D & B's and Sleep Quality
(03-30-2016, 07:07 AM)green wings Wrote: Thanks for posting this, tmoody. I watched Dr. Gominak's YouTube videos last night. My biggest take-away from them was that she thinks adequate vitamin D3 blood levels are necessary for us to have normal sleep (if I understood correctly).

Yes, and her idea of "normal" is the 60-80 ng/ml range, not the 30-100 that most US medical labs have as the "reference range."

Michael Holick, the scientist mentioned above who discovered the method for synthesizing D3, thinks "normal" is around 50 ng/dl. John Whitcomb, another medical doctor with an interest in D, thinks 60 is about right. Most of these opinions are based on what we find if we measure the levels of people living near the equator, with dark skin, and not a lot of clothing.

Quote:I see a rheumatologist for autoimmune arthritis. She checks my vitamin D3 level about yearly now, since I've given up on supplementing it. In 8 years of tests, it has ranged from 16-25 ng/ml.

The 16 ng/ml occurred at a time when I'd been spending hours each day outside and rarely wore sunscreen, so I've always felt like there are other factors involved (for me, at least.)

There certainly are other factors, but I recently read another book on the subject, Power of Vitamin D, by Sarfraz Zaidi, MD, who practices in southern California. He checked the levels on many patients who were outdoors in that sunny environment quite a lot, and most of them were deficient too. It goes to show that unless you're a lifeguard or making a deliberate effort to sunbathe, you probably won't get enough D from sunshine.

Quote:Anyway, I am feeling motivated to try supplementation again now that I'm using CPAP therapy. I will make sure I'm also taking K2 as well.

I corresponded with Dr. Gominak a bit, and learned that she isn't much of a believer in K2. As she admits in her videos, she has the typical allopathic doctor's aversion to vitamins, and only reluctantly came to accept the power of vitamins D and B5 in relation to sleep. She wrote to me that if the gut bacteria are in working order, we all should have plenty of K2.

From the reading I've done, I think this is as optimistic as saying if we all "get enough sun" we have plenty of D. In any case, from what I've read, the main reason to take K2 is to make the higher doses of D as safe as possible, since D increases calcium retention and K2 directs the calcium away from soft tissues such as arteries and into bones and teeth where it belongs.

Some research is starting to be done on K2 and the brain/nervous system, so I guess there's some possible connection between K2 and sleep, but I think it's way too early to say with any confidence.

One comment by Dr. Gominak really stuck in my mind. She said, in relation to apnea, "We have to stop thinking about the back of the throat and start thinking about the brain." (my paraphrase) Her idea is that even obstructive apnea involves improper muscle paralysis during sleep, not just "fat necks."
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#12
RE: Vitamin D & B's and Sleep Quality
My research has never been as deep or detailed as referenced here, but I have come to believe that 70-80 ng/ml is ideal at least for me.
When I was first tested I was in the low 40s. I have been testing and increasing my dosage for several years. In Nov I finally got to 74 ng/ml while taking almost 18,000 IU vitamin D daily. Success!
I have now backed off to under 13,000 daily and plan to retest in a month or 2.
I am now over 70 and take an active role in monitoring my health. Wish I had known then what I know now and started doing something about it 40 years ago. I guess the next 40 will determine how well my efforts succeed.
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#13
Cool 
RE: Vitamin D & B's and Sleep Quality
Fantastic thread.

I find Dr Gomniak's hypothesis' fascinating. She also has observed that most of her migraine headache patients, who go on CPAP, lose the pain.

She has now retired, per her website, darn it, but still lectures and is available for consults.

Her 5 part Youtube series and her latest followup lecture are well worth your time.

Cheers,

Scotty

PS: She also believes that Statins are blocking the natural production of D3 in the skin by lowering the blood concentration of cholesterol which is the precurser chemical!

Sleep-well
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#14
RE: Vitamin D & B's and Sleep Quality
I love this thread! I started going to a functional practitioner when my PCP had no answers for any of my problems, except here take this pill. I don't want to treat the symptoms with pharmaceuticals whose side effects cause other problems. I want to know the case of the problem. My new Dr said Vit D levels should be 80-100. Vit D is actually a hormone, not a vitamin. And is involved in most processes of the body. I've been taking 10,000 IU daily. I listen to YouTube vids when I can't sleep at night. So I'm looking forward to Dr Gomniak's. Her ideas make a lot of sense.
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