The Sleep Nomad

A Sleep, Sleep Apnea & Insomia blog

Vitamin D and Sleep - Month 1

2018-08-1 The Sleep NomadVitamin D

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What is your current vitamin D level?

The first thing to stress here is that I was very concious about being careful about doing this correctly and safely. It is a point she emphasized. You can’t just start popping vitamins and hope for the best. Getting the correct level is really important. So with that in the back of my mind, I started figuring out a plan. The first question I had to figure out was my current vitamin D level?

Ultimately, I am shooting for a vitamin D level between 60 and 80ng/mL. Four years prior, I had had a vitamin D test done. This was after taking 3,000 units/day for 6 months and getting lots of sun. It was August. My level was 39. My doctor at the time told me that my level was good and to cut back, so I did. I really didn’t have any level I was shooting for so I followed his advice. I took 1,000 a day that was in a multivitamin. I would not have started taking vitamin D without getting tested if I didn’t have baseline information like that.

How much vitamin D to take?

So there are two pieces to this puzzle. The first is to find out your current level. The second is how much vitamin D to take to get to the desired range of 60 and 80ng/mL? Fortunately, I bought Dr. Gominak’s workbook. She gives suggestions on how much to take. I had already been taking 2,000ui/day on random days in the winter as I was feeling off. So I knew my base level was already going to be altered. Based on that, I decided to go with an average of 5,000 a day and doing it no more than 4 weeks before getting my level tested.

Don’t forget about your B vitamins!

It is not all about vitamin D. A critical part of this program is taking B vitamins. She explains this in depth in her youtube videos. If you haven’t watched them, please scroll down to the bottom of the Vitamin D and Sleep post and watch. It is worth your time and they are very interesting to watch. I also was taking B vitamins along with the vitamin D. So while I won’t mention it every time, please note that I am taking B vitamins along with the vitamin D. I think its a big piece that people miss when reading the vitamin D and sleep idea. The vitamin D is in conjunction with B vitamins. They play a big role in how you sleep.

So…What happened?? Anything?

Why yes. Yes something did happen. I started recording how much vitamin D I took each day and any changes I noticed on a calander on my phone. If you get her workbook, she also includes a week to week program to follow. Side note. She has some great tips and things to look out for in her workbook along with a schedule. If you decide to try her program, it is worth the $20 in my opinion.

The first change in my sleep came on day 11 after starting vitamin D. I noted a night of deep sleep. Then again two days later, another night of deep sleep. Then I noted something that really suprised me. I didn’t feel intestinal bloat anymore. I would have never said that I was bloated until that day. I strangely felt thinner. Like I had been doing Rocky style, hanging from the rafter, sit ups (minus the six pack abs). I also came down with what I think was a cold for a few days. That affected my sleep so I had a few bad nights of sleep as well.

All told, the first four weeks, I counted 9 days of good to great sleep. Sleep that was better than before I started the program. It was now time to go to the doctor so that I could get my vitamin D level checked. In my next post, I will tell you my vitamin D level was.

unsplash-logoArturo Castaneyra