I just got back a bunch of recent lab results. As a bit of background, last May when I had my yearly physical, my PCP ordered a bunch of lab tests which showed the following abnormalities:
very high bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase levels
very high transaminase levels indicating inflamation/liver/gallbladder problems
high cholesterol 242 mg/dL
high LDL (bad cholesterol) 161 mg/dL
low normal Vit. D3 27.1
The other lab tests were all good/normal
At this time I had started having serious D as well, but wasn't diagnosed LC at that point. Because of the elevated liver enzymes, I had an abdominal ultrasound that was normal.
The colonoscopy with biopsy in June showed that I had LC. Shortly therafter I had a remission based on elimintating all supplements, but after finding this Forum, also went gluten free around July 1 (I already was dairy free).
My PCP wanted to retest to see how my liver enzymes, etc were doing, so I had more blood work done on Aug. 28. It took until today with several calls to the doctor's office for someone to call back with the results! However, that was because things were looking so much better. So after about 2 months gluten free, my liver enzymes were all back to normal. In addition, my cholesterol was down by 17%, my LDL (bad cholesterol) was down by 13% and my triglycerides were down by 37%. I think that's pretty amazing!
On the other hand, my Vit D3 levels have barely budged, rising from 27.1 to 29.5 ng/mL. However, this is before I've upped my Vit D3 dose from about 1000 U to about 4000 U. I'll get tested again in several months and see how much more it goes up.
So getting a handle on the LC inflamation has had a number of good results for my health! I got more Enterolab results last week indicating that I'm also soy and yeast sensitive, so I've elimated them from my diet too. I'm curious whether I'll have further reductions in cholesterol and LDL as a result.
Rosie
Further Healing
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Further Healing
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time………Thomas Edison
Rosie,
Those are really some encouraging results. And kudos to your doctor for suggesting doing the retests. I hope that she or he also benefited, (knowledge-wise), from the implications in those results.
None of us should be surprised that the liver enzymes all returned to normal, but that much improvement in cholesterol levels is pretty impressive. Not many people, (including doctors), realize that there is a normal annual cycle that causes cholesterol levels to decrease during the summer months, for most people. (I can't help but wonder if the cycle could be linked with vitamin D levels). The decrease, however, is normally only a few percentage points, at most, so your results clearly indicate some other effect, and the improvement is almost certainly due to the removal of certain foods from your diet. After all, those parameters are all highly diet-dependent.
Your vitamin D3 data is especially enlightening, (the timing of the tests is serendipitous, to say the least). If your 25(OH)D level increased by only 2.4 ng/mL, over the best period of the year, (for obtaining vitamin D from the sun), and you were taking 1,000 IU of supplementation vitamin D3 at the time, then clearly, at your latitude, (I'm guessing - around 45 degrees), a significant level of supplementation is going to be necessary, even during the summer months, in order to keep serum levels of vitamin D within the optimum range. You might possibly need 3,000 to 4,000 IU in the summer, and much more than that, during the rest of the year.
Remember, I was still taking 4,000 IU per day, when I had my level checked, at the end of July, and while my level was high, it was still within the recommended range. At my latitude, (in sunny Texas), I was getting a lot of sun exposure from about March through July, because we were in a drought, and we were experiencing record-setting temperatures, almost every day, (day after day of 100 degree + days). If all that sun exposure, together with 4,000 IU of daily supplementation, wasn't enough to cause my test level to exceed the recommended range, then most of us can safely take quite a bit of vitamin D, without worrying about taking too much, because very few members live south of me, and/or get more effective sun exposure than I normally do.
Thank you for posting those test results. They contain a lot of valuable information, IMO.
Tex
Those are really some encouraging results. And kudos to your doctor for suggesting doing the retests. I hope that she or he also benefited, (knowledge-wise), from the implications in those results.
None of us should be surprised that the liver enzymes all returned to normal, but that much improvement in cholesterol levels is pretty impressive. Not many people, (including doctors), realize that there is a normal annual cycle that causes cholesterol levels to decrease during the summer months, for most people. (I can't help but wonder if the cycle could be linked with vitamin D levels). The decrease, however, is normally only a few percentage points, at most, so your results clearly indicate some other effect, and the improvement is almost certainly due to the removal of certain foods from your diet. After all, those parameters are all highly diet-dependent.
Your vitamin D3 data is especially enlightening, (the timing of the tests is serendipitous, to say the least). If your 25(OH)D level increased by only 2.4 ng/mL, over the best period of the year, (for obtaining vitamin D from the sun), and you were taking 1,000 IU of supplementation vitamin D3 at the time, then clearly, at your latitude, (I'm guessing - around 45 degrees), a significant level of supplementation is going to be necessary, even during the summer months, in order to keep serum levels of vitamin D within the optimum range. You might possibly need 3,000 to 4,000 IU in the summer, and much more than that, during the rest of the year.
Remember, I was still taking 4,000 IU per day, when I had my level checked, at the end of July, and while my level was high, it was still within the recommended range. At my latitude, (in sunny Texas), I was getting a lot of sun exposure from about March through July, because we were in a drought, and we were experiencing record-setting temperatures, almost every day, (day after day of 100 degree + days). If all that sun exposure, together with 4,000 IU of daily supplementation, wasn't enough to cause my test level to exceed the recommended range, then most of us can safely take quite a bit of vitamin D, without worrying about taking too much, because very few members live south of me, and/or get more effective sun exposure than I normally do.
Thank you for posting those test results. They contain a lot of valuable information, IMO.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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barbaranoela
- Emperor Penguin
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- Joined: Wed May 25, 2005 6:11 pm
- Location: New York
Rosie ---and a HUGH thanks from me also----a very valuable post to read---so glad U kept us posted--
Its never too late to keep re-enforcing knowledge that might have skipped our minds~~~
Take care and keep up the good work
Barbara
Its never too late to keep re-enforcing knowledge that might have skipped our minds~~~
Take care and keep up the good work
Barbara
the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control
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shewhowalksonland
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- Joined: Tue May 19, 2009 11:28 pm
