Vitamin D deficiency and sexual dysfunction

Physlifter

Physlifter

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Little bit of history: I have low test, had teenage gyno (removed two years ago), been seeing an endo for going on 2.5 years now and I've been put on permament 200 mg of test E weekly.  Feeling great, but lately the last few months i've been having a harder time maintain erections or even getting strong ones.  I just got bloods done and my natty test levels typically between 200-600 was at 364 instead of the normal 480 region.  Also, which seemed alarming, was that my Vitamin D levels were tanked to low levels.  That seems weird, as I'm always out in the sun, have a great tan, eat lots of fruits and veggies.  Biggest thing is the sexual dysfunction...so poking around I found some interesting info.  See below.  I started taking 3000 IU of vit D today and will see what changes happen, if any, over the next week.

https://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20151113/vitamin-d-deficiency-might-be-tied-to-erectile-dysfunction

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30395842

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503426/

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/2018/3720813/

 
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FWIW, my doc ovesees my supplement regime and while my D levels are mid range, I'm increasing now to 6000, from 4000.  And same with me, extra sun made no difference. 

 
BobTheOldLifter said:
FWIW, my doc ovesees my supplement regime and while my D levels are mid range, I'm increasing now to 6000, from 4000.  And same with me, extra sun made no difference. 
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Did you find out if there's something up that's blocking the absorption? 

 
Physlifter said:
Little bit of history: I have low test, had teenage gyno (removed two years ago), been seeing an endo for going on 2.5 years now and I've been put on permament 200 mg of test E weekly.  Feeling great, but lately the last few months i've been having a harder time maintain erections or even getting strong ones.  I just got bloods done and my natty test levels typically between 200-600 was at 364 instead of the normal 480 region.  Also, which seemed alarming, was that my Vitamin D levels were tanked to low levels.  That seems weird, as I'm always out in the sun, have a great tan, eat lots of fruits and veggies.  Biggest thing is the sexual dysfunction...so poking around I found some interesting info.  See below.  I started taking 3000 IU of vit D today and will see what changes happen, if any, over the next week.

https://www.webmd.com/erectile-dysfunction/news/20151113/vitamin-d-deficiency-might-be-tied-to-erectile-dysfunction

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30395842

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5503426/

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ije/2018/3720813/
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Not sure what test was done to assess your D levels but the best way to find out what is happeneing is the full D test that will measure calcidiol, and calcitriol. The former is what your liver converts the D3 supplement you take into and the latter is what your kidneys turn out from the calcidiol. So depending on what one shows up off you can tell where the problem is generally. 3000iu isn't enough and at the start you want to it it hard and then have the test run again to assess where the issue is. I would start with a dose of 15k iu and then 6k daily for a month and then have the bloodwork done again. At that point you can adjust based on what's found. Theres also no danger going 8 weeks at that dose though as the 4k iu thats normally tossed around is really conservative and applies to healthy people not deficient ones. My only concern would be any other symptoms. The tanked D and the ED together are not enough to worry IMHO but one more symptom pointing in the same direction I would be sweating a little. How's your PSA?

 
Francis "Frank" Castle said:
Not sure what test was done to assess your D levels but the best way to find out what is happeneing is the full D test that will measure calcidiol, and calcitriol. The former is what your liver converts the D3 supplement you take into and the latter is what your kidneys turn out from the calcidiol. So depending on what one shows up off you can tell where the problem is generally. 3000iu isn't enough and at the start you want to it it hard and then have the test run again to assess where the issue is. I would start with a dose of 15k iu and then 6k daily for a month and then have the bloodwork done again. At that point you can adjust based on what's found. Theres also no danger going 8 weeks at that dose though as the 4k iu thats normally tossed around is really conservative and applies to healthy people not deficient ones. My only concern would be any other symptoms. The tanked D and the ED together are not enough to worry IMHO but one more symptom pointing in the same direction I would be sweating a little. How's your PSA?
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PSA is great and has been unchanged ever since i started my official TRT even with blasts. I'll up the dose.  I'm worried a bit about toxicity though but you seem to be knowledgable with that I won't?  It was done in my blood work.

 
Physlifter said:
PSA is great and has been unchanged ever since i started my official TRT even with blasts. I'll up the dose.  I'm worried a bit about toxicity though but you seem to be knowledgable with that I won't?  It was done in my blood work.
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For that short stint, either 4 or 8 weeks you'll be fine. I actually take 6k iu daily with periodic 2.5X doses every 12 weeks or so. I am perpetually deficient lol. That will change thankfully now that I have made big strides improving my health and am getting outside a boatload more often than I have the last 2 years so I'll be able to dial it back butI've been on that dose for almost 2 years without issue. The 4k iu dose again is for healthy folks. The other thing that you rarely see mentioned is that the higher the melanin content in your body/skin the longer it takes for your body to produce from the sun. So even if you are only "swarthy" vs actual brown/black skinned, if you don't make a concious effort to get more sun than someone who is pasty naturally, you'll end up short. Darker skinned people can also tolerate a higher daily intake of supplement as well.

The biggest thing though is that in order to identify why you are deficient you need to load your system so there is plenty to measure of both the metabolites/pre-cursors. Tiny amounts are much harder to assess. So if you go heavy for a short period and your test shows tons of calcidiol and no calcitriol then its a fair assumption that your kidneys are in play and vice versa would mean your liver.

If you haven't done one in a bit I would even suggest flushing your liver with Inositol/Choline before hitting the D in the big doses and get the blood done again to see if the flush made any impact. 30 days of the Insoitol/Choline at approx. 3g each/day will do it and the results of that may well positively impact your D. The kidneys are a little tougher or maybe not tougher just a little more time consuming as there really isn't anything that impacts them the same as what the I/C does your liver. But  Beetroot supplements, cranberry juice, and parsley juice are all good ones as well as making sure you are always well hydrated. Cleaning out your liver and kidneys depending on how you've been minding them is a really good 1st step while you are on a smaller dose of D, then bloodwork and assess the results.It might just be as simple as that given the role the liver and kidneys play. But you're going to benefit from the flushing anyhow and at least then you know that you are not being hindered by accumulated rubbsih in them. The only caveat for the liver flush is that the I/C won't do squat to clean out your liver if it is congested from too much booze, thats unfortunately the one thing they won't help. I wouldn't imagine thats an issue for you but just mentioned in the spirit of offering the big picture.

 
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I'm taking 4000 IU a day now for the next two weeks.  Saw my GP this morning and quizzed him.  He thinks the number isn't something to worry about, it could be my normal, but does say because of my skin and how easy I tan I'm likely not absorbing as much compared to pasty white gingers or lighter skin folks.  He told me to take 4000 IU for two weeks then drop down to the standard 1000 IU and that should level things out.  

As it stands, no change in any sexual performance either, thoughnot expecting anything yet if any.

 
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Physlifter said:
I'm taking 4000 IU a day now for the next two weeks.  Saw my GP this morning and quizzed him.  He thinks the number isn't something to worry about, it could be my normal, but does say because of my skin and how easy I tan I'm likely not absorbing as much compared to pasty white gingers or lighter skin folks.  He told me to take 4000 IU for two weeks then drop down to the standard 1000 IU and that should level things out.  

As it stands, no change in any sexual performance either, thoughnot expecting anything yet if any.
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Well he seems to be aware of the melanin issue so at least he's not completely clueless, thats a step up from most these days lol...See how it goes, you can always adjust based on results

 
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So I've been on a constant 2000 IU dose for the last week (after seeing my endo last wednesday and said just keep a constant 2000 IU)
I feel more improved wellness if I can use that term.  

Sexual dysfunction has improved, but I also started taking HCG with a 1000 IU shot 4 days ago.  Going through a 5000 IU bottle now at 500 IU every 3.5 days.  

 
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