r/Vitamin_D

I’ve wondered about this because vitamin D isn’t really something where you can take a dose and immediately feel an effect. If you’ve been taking it consistently for a long time, it would be hard to know whether you’d actually notice anything from stopping.

Has anyone here taken a proper break from vitamin D after using it for a while? If so, did you notice anything different, or did everything feel pretty much the same?

I feel like remembering to take something every day sounds easy until you actually have to do it for months.

Did you find a particular habit or routine that made taking vitamin D easier to remember?

For people who were low and started supplementing, was it days, weeks or months before you noticed anything with energy, strength, mood or recovery?

I keep seeing different timelines, so I'm wondering what's realistic.

Third-party testing can give you more confidence that a supplement contains what the label says and meets certain quality standards.

But it doesn't tell you whether the dose is right for you or whether you actually need it.

For me, quality and suitability are two different questions.

Do you check what a certification actually covers before buying?

Low vitamin D levels seem to be pretty common in people with type 2 diabetes.

But that doesn't necessarily mean low vitamin D is causing diabetes. Activity, body composition, diet and time outdoors can all affect vitamin D levels too.

So how much of the link is actually about vitamin D and how much comes from the bigger picture?

For me, it seems like every simple question about vitamin D leads to another five questions. Levels, testing, sunlight, supplements, timing... it can get surprisingly complicated.

What topic did you end up researching way more than you expected?

The more I see people discussing vitamin D, the more I notice how much attention gets put on specific numbers.

At what point do you think people start overthinking their results?

I'm writing this because I'd really like to hear from people who have had similar vitamin D levels and symptoms. I'm not looking for a diagnosis, and I'm not assuming vitamin D is responsible for everything I'm experiencing.

I recently found out that my 25-OH vitamin D is 35.1 nmol/L (about 14 ng/mL), with my laboratory's reference range being 75-200 nmol/L.

My story actually started years before discovering this.

I used to have significant digestive problems, particularly after overeating or eating certain types of bread. I would get strong abdominal cramps, nausea, sometimes my vision would start going dark, followed by diarrhea. I noticed that eating something sweet often made me feel better, although I never measured my blood sugar during those episodes, so I don't know why.

Because this happened repeatedly, I gradually became afraid of feeling unwell when I wasn't at home. I would think about where the nearest bathroom or exit was and what I would do if I suddenly became sick.

About 8-9 years ago, I also fainted once in a large nightclub while visiting family in another country. I never found out why - it could have been exhaustion, not eating enough, or something else - but it remained a very unpleasant memory.

Around November 2024, I started noticing occasional skipped heartbeats, particularly during periods of stress. I also noticed that I seemed to tolerate stress much less than I used to.

Then, around January 2025, something new happened while I was sitting in a restaurant.

I experienced a very brief and extremely difficult-to-describe "jolt" or "burst" sensation somewhere in my head/vision. I don't actually hear anything. It's a sudden strange sensation that makes me instinctively want to squeeze my eyes shut and jerk or shake my head, almost like I'm trying to "reset" myself.

This was immediately followed by intense fear and an overwhelming need to get outside.

The fear can become so strong that I start wondering whether my legs will carry me to the exit, even though physically I can walk normally.

A few months later, essentially the same thing happened in another restaurant.

The fears gradually expanded

Over time, I started becoming afraid of things that had never bothered me before.

Large shopping malls are particularly difficult, especially being on an upper floor. I'm afraid of escalators, heights and water, even though I wasn't afraid of these things previously.

Bright lights also bother me much more than before, and loud environments/noise can feel extremely irritating and overwhelming.

One of the strongest feelings during these episodes is:

"I'm going to lose control of myself."

I've never actually lost control, but the sensation is incredibly convincing while it's happening.

I feel an overwhelming need to find an exit, get outside, reach my car, or get somewhere that feels "safe."

It becomes a cycle:

strange physical sensation - fear - fear of losing control - monitoring my body even more - even stronger fear.

I've also realized that situations where I feel I can't easily leave are particularly difficult.

For example, about two months ago I had a four-hour hair appointment. Just knowing I would have to stay there for four hours made me seriously consider cancelling.

When I arrived, the familiar feeling started again. I quickly went outside to my car, which somehow feels like a safe place to me. After about 30 seconds, I managed to go back inside and complete the entire appointment.

The same thing affected a recent vacation. Instead of being excited, I kept thinking:

"What if I feel unwell there?"

So I chose my parents' vacation house, about two hours from home, because it was familiar and felt safe.

One evening I became frightened enough to go to the emergency department. My blood glucose was around 6.4-6.8 mmol/L approximately two hours after eating, so it wasn't low.

I've had my heart and eyes checked

Because of the skipped heartbeats, I've been examined by two cardiologists. - july 2025

I've had echocardiograms and a 48-hour Holter monitor. I recorded the exact times when I felt skipped beats, and when the cardiologist checked those specific moments, she could see a few isolated skipped beats. There were very few and she didn't consider them concerning. - july 2025

My eyesight and prescription have also been checked and were normal. - july 2025

I also sleep very well - deeply and peacefully - and don't have insomnia.

I changed my diet and lost almost 18 kg

I'm 180.1 cm tall and was 104.7 kg when I decided to significantly change my diet.

I had an InBody assessment and a so-called food intolerance test using a MORA Super device. It suggested problems with wheat/wheat gluten, barley gluten, yeast and several other foods.

I understand that this isn't the same as a medically confirmed diagnosis of celiac disease or an allergy.

However, after changing my diet and avoiding wheat, gluten, yeast, white sugar and certain other foods, something interesting happened:

My long-standing digestive problems practically disappeared.

I also went from 104.7 kg to about 87 kg.

My blood pressure, which was previously around 125/90, is now often around 100/70 or 110/75.

My total cholesterol also changed considerably:

July 2025 - 7.4 mmol/L

March 2026 - 7.3 mmol/L

August 2026 - 5.7 mmol/L

My recent blood results

Most of my blood count is normal:

Hemoglobin: 134 g/L (119-155)

MCV: 93 fL (80-100)

Glucose: 4.0 mmol/L (4.1-5.9)

Iron: 14.2 µmol/L (5.8-31.7)

Ferritin: 21.1 ng/mL (15-150)

Vitamin B12: 215 pmol/L (145-569)

Folate/B9: 6.8 nmol/L (7.0-45.1) - slightly low

Magnesium: 0.84 mmol/L (0.66-1.07)

Potassium: 3.9 mmol/L (3.5-5.0)

Sodium: 143 mmol/L (135-150)

Previous TSH: 1.2 µIU/mL (0.3-4.0)

And the result that brought me here:

25-OH Vitamin D: 35.1 nmol/L (about 14 ng/mL) Lab reference range: 75-200 nmol/L

I'm also very fair-skinned, as are both of my parents and my maternal grandmother. I don't know whether that's relevant.

What I find strange

The original physical problem that caused so much of my fear - my digestive problems - has basically disappeared.

I've lost almost 18 kg. My blood pressure improved. My cholesterol dropped. Two cardiologists found nothing concerning. My eye examination was normal. My blood sugar wasn't low when I went to the emergency department.

But the fear remained and seems to have spread to completely unrelated situations.

Restaurants, shopping malls, upper floors, escalators, heights, water, traveling and situations where I know I can't immediately leave can trigger it.

I'm aware that what I'm describing can resemble anxiety/panic reactions, and it's entirely possible that I've developed a fear of the symptoms themselves.

However, discovering that my vitamin D is only 14 ng/mL, together with slightly low folate and relatively low B12/ferritin within their laboratory ranges, made me curious about other people's experiences.

So my main questions are:

Has anyone here had vitamin D around 14 ng/mL and experienced significant anxiety, strange sensations, weakness, or sensitivity to bright light/noise?

Has anyone experienced that strange brief "jolt" sensation in the head/vision that makes you instinctively squeeze your eyes shut or shake your head?

Did you develop a fear of situations you couldn't immediately leave or a feeling that you were going to lose control, even though you never actually did?

And most importantly:

If you had similar symptoms with low vitamin D, did anything change after your vitamin D level improved? How long did it take before you noticed a difference?

I'm not expecting vitamin D to explain everything, and I'm not asking Reddit to diagnose me. I'm mainly interested in hearing from people who recognize any part of this experience.