Mayo Clinic Study Suggests Those Who Have Chronic Pain May Need to Assess Vitamin D Status

Mayo Clinic research shows a correlation between inadequate vitamin D levels and the amount of narcotic medication taken by patients who have chronic pain. This correlation is an important finding as researchers discover new ways to treat chronic pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chronic pain is the leading cause of disability in the United States. These patients often end up taking narcotic-type pain medication such as morphine, fentanyl or oxycodone.
This study found that patients who required narcotic pain medication, and who also had inadequate levels of vitamin D, were taking much higher doses of pain medication — nearly twice as much — as those who had adequate levels. Similarly, these patients self-reported worse physical functioning and worse overall health perception. In addition, a correlation was noted between increasing body mass index (a measure of obesity) and decreasing levels of vitamin D. Study results were published in a recent edition of Pain Medicine.
This is an important finding as we continue to investigate the causes of chronic pain, says Michael Turner, M.D., a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician at Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study. Vitamin D is known to promote both bone and muscle strength. Conversely, deficiency is an under-recognized source of diffuse pain and impaired neuromuscular functioning. By recognizing it, physicians can significantly improve their patients pain, function and quality of life.

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Science & Technology

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• Mayo Clinic
• Vitamin D
• Chronic Pain
• Turner

[Hulmeskin]

@Jburdo4680 I have fibro, and have normal vit D levels, confirmed by blood tests, so your statement isn't necessarily true. Some people have been labelled as having fibromyalgia when they have actually got vitamin d deficiency, mainly because the symptoms of muscle pain are very similar.

[201greeneyes]

I have chronic pain due to a kidney disease,I was so bad,my pain meds didn't help!!tilll final found my vitamin d was low!! what a different's vitamin d made to my life !!it has help so much,I will always have pain , Vitamin d helps me deall with the pain and helps my pain meds work better also!! thank the lord for helping me !!

[Jburdo4680]

My Vitamin D was always low well before I was put on any narcotic medication. Everyone who has Fibro (that I have met) has low Vitamin D, regardless of their treatment program.

[2healthnuts]

@2healthnuts  whoops ... Meant to say full body saturation of iodine.

[2healthnuts]

For those in pain you may want to consider researching the benefits of full body saturation (known as Orthoiodosupplementation) I can't tell you how much it has helped me. For info go to iodine4health website and read everything you can, also listen to the audio available there. Then go to curezone's Iodine supplementation forum for additional help and info on how to supplement! You won't be disappointed.

[cdavydude]

Do you actually know about nerve root compression causing pain, has nothing to do with what you eat and how much you exercise. I hope your not a doctor

[oxyman10]

@sidWeed85 You sound like me, I'm tired of takin pills also.

[whitebluebug]

Please look up Dr. John E. Sarno or Monte Hueftle and get their books. Thousands of people got rid of their pain just by reading these two guys's work.

Good luck to all of you!

[ennui1812]

Sorry, I don't feel like messing up my top drawer looking for my test results. I don't know what the measurement terms mean so I'm sure "ng/ml" is wrong but I know that my blood vit D number was 20, which, apparently, is very low and requires heroic amounts of vitamin D to bring to normal. It was so easy to have tested though! And, my doctor just mailed me the prescription along with my test results. It makes sense that vit. D would be very important. We get it from interacting w/the elements.

[ennui1812]

sidWeed, hopefully you have already addressed this. But for those with similar questions at this video site, I asked my dr. to run a vitamin D test along with testing for my thyroid levels. It was no big deal at all...all part of the same blood sample. I found out that I have very low levels of vitamin D..20 ng/ml (anyway 20 was the number.) So, my doctor gave me a script for huge amounts of vit D..50,000 I.U. once a week for 6 weeks. I have bone pain and have avoided sun for vanity reasons.