Son Suffering with Bone Pain, Fractures, Chronic Fatigue, Depression

by Susan
(Huntington Beach, Ca)

My 35 year old son has been ill for 5 yrs with rib, spine, leg fractures. He has been worked up at the Mayo clinic, multiple tests, MRI, bone marrow, etc.

To date there is no diagnosis. He suffers from chronic fatigue, bone pain and depression. He drank alcohol heavily until age 30, quit and has been sick ever since.

What can be going on that no MD can uncover? He traveled throughout Indonesia 10 yrs ago, could he have picked up something there? Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Susan


RESPONSE


Hi Susan,

As soon as I read your post, I immediately thought of one thing - vitamin D deficiency. Has your son been tested for that? It is a relatively inexpensive test, yet one most doctors do not do.

If they do order a vitamin D test, it generally is the wrong one. There are two tests to assess vitamin D levels - 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D and 25-hydroxyvitamin D. The former will not show deficiency, even if it is severe. So make sure you order the latter test, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test.

It is a very easy test that your son could even do at home (the Vitamin D Council offers testing through the mail). He'll just need to prick his finger and collect some blood drops on a special piece of paper. Drop it in the mail and the results come back generally within a couple of weeks.

The symptoms you describe - bone fractures, bone pain, chronic fatigue, and depression all are classic vitamin D deficiency symptoms. I wouldn't be surprised if your son comes back as severely deficient (less than 10mg/mL).

Alcoholics do have a tendency to be vitamin D deficient, as too much alcohol interferes with vitamin D absorption (as well as other critical vitamins).

So I would certainly check vitamin D first. There are other nutrients that your son would need to make sure to get enough of to get his levels up to above 50ng/mL. But let's start with the test first.

I would really appreciate it if you would let me know if he has had a vitamin D test, or what the results are if he gets one.

Wishing you (and your son) the best of health,

Melissa
Approach Wellness