Bennett had her yearly bloodwork taken in September 2011. The final results for her vitamin levels were back in December 2011. When those initial results came back, her Vitamin D and Calcium levels were low. So, her dietitian put her on 1000UI of Vitamin D and 500mg of Calcium. A few weeks after starting these medications the dietitian had called back and upped her Calcium to 750mg a day.
They scheduled her for a re-check of her vitamin levels for our next clinic visit which was March 20, 2012. Dr. Rubenstein put in an order for her vitamin levels and also ran a blood test for anemia since she has been extremely fatigued lately. They told me that once the results came back that they would give me a call. A few days had passed and they never called so I e-mailed our CF Nurse Kerri and she had told me that once the final results are in she would have the dietitian give me a call. :0(
Another week had passed and my anxiety was through the roof. After 24 days of waiting for the results. I received a phone call around 10:45am on Friday the 13th of April and it was the dietitian. She had told me that the final results were in and that the reason she is having leg cramps, breathing difficulty (aside of typical CF breathing struggles), muscle pain, fatigue, low immunity (again aside from typical CF struggles) and slight hearing loss is because her Vitamin D levels are lower now than they were in December. Also, her Calcium is still low along with her Vitamin A and Vitamin K are low. She decided to up her Vitamin D dose from 1000UI to 2000UI and leave her Calcium at 750mg.
She explained to me that the reason her Vitamin K is low is because of the amount of antibiotics that she has been on. The antibiotics rid the body of both the good and bad bacteria in the body especially the intestine and that is where Vitamin K is mainly absorbed. Bennett was on 12 rounds of oral antibiotics from September 2011 and finishing the 12th one April 9th 2012. And she began to explain some symptoms of Vitamin K Deficiency. FINALLY, there is an explanation on why she is covered in bruises head to toe. The slightest little bump or fall and she bruises instantly. She wants to start Bennett out on 1/2 of a tablet of Vitamin K Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
For the Vitamin A Deficiency she said she needed to talk further to Dr. Rubenstein and she would be calling me first thing Monday morning.
Her iron levels were a little on the lower side so she will be starting an iron supplement once Dr. Rubenstein decides which one he wants her to take.
She will be getting her Vitamin levels checked monthly so they can monitor them and adjust her medications as needed.
Thanks to her Cystic Fibrosis she now has Vitamin A Deficiency, Vitamin D Deficiency, Vitamin K Deficiency and Calcium Deficiency. Gee Thanks A Ton CF! You Bastard!!
I am a little upset with her GI Specialist because she has limited her milk intake to ONE EIGHT ounce glass of 2% milk A DAY! I feel that if she would allow her to have more milk a day that it would help keep her Vitamin D and Calcium levels up a little bit.
Vitamin Deficiencies aren't anything easy to deal with because they can cause added problems that we definitely do NOT need right now!
Vitamin D Deficiency is causing Bennett the following problems: leg cramps, breathing difficulty (aside of typical CF breathing struggles), muscle pain, fatigue, low immunity (again aside from typical CF struggles) and slight hearing loss
Vitamin K Deficiency is causing her the following problems: Thankfully it is only the bruising and they said the reason she is having bloody stool at times is because of the deficiency. Between the deficiency and intestinal tears we now have answers on the bloody stools.
Vitamin A Deficiency isn't really causing any symptoms that I am noticing!! THANK GOD!!!!
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