Solarium and Vitamin D

Dare I say that I am excited that i now HAVE to go to the solarium as part of my medication ;-)?! It is so nice and relaxing, AND it helps me get my vitamin D for the day! Went today, my feet felt like elephant feet, and I must have looked funny walking, but it was so nice to be out and up that I didn't care! Yay for the ability to walk at all :-)!!! 

According to Dr George Jelinek and the studies that he has done, Vitamin D has a HUGE factor to play when it comes to MS patients and the frequency in which they have their relapses or episodes. Even the Neurologist I spoke to at the hospital (who claimed that what I eat has nothing to do with how many relapses I have) agreed. He told me that the further away from the equator you get there are more cases of MS. Also people who work the nigthshift have a tendency to have more relapses. He said that he didn't know of any studies (I could tell him of a few) but that that is a strong indicator that Vitamin D has a big role to play. When reading the studies that Dr Jelinek has done it all made so much sense.

According to most doctors a good level of vitamin D in your blood should be around 75nmol/L, but in an MS body this is way to low. Our Vitamin D level should be around 150nmol/L but can be up to 250nmol/L. To achieve these kind of readings you have to consume quite a lot of supplements, I will be taking around 10 000 IU/IE a day during the winter months, unless I go to the solarium in which case I will reduce it to 5 000 IU/IE. During the summer I will most likely continue with 5-10 000 IU/IE unless I feel like I have gotten sufficient sunlight exposure. For all the studies on Vitamin D and it's affect on MS patients go to the OMS website on it here. That page also has more about recommended supplement intake etc, so have a read!! 

Cheers!
Josefine