Hi, I am wondering if anybody has any advice on severe Vitamin D deficiencies.  My level is 9ng/mL.  I am vegan since before thanksgiving, but I am so tired all the time....sleeping 11 hours a day and eating non-stop but still losing weight and still starving after every meal.  Two weeks ago when I had all the blood testing, the doctor found that everything was perfect except for the vitamin D.  As a consequence, he has me on 5,000 IUs of vitamin D per day for three weeks.  I go back next week to have it tested again and make sure the vitamins are working, but I still feel horribly tired.  Any advice?

My typical diet is as follows:
Breakfast: Flax seed waffles and organic maple syrup

Lunch: brown rice with lentils, apple

Dinner: either amy's roasted vegetable pizza, or falafel with salad, or nature burgers with beet salad. 

Late night snack: fortified rice dream enriched or soynuts. 

mushrooms have a lot of vitamin D...you may want to include them into your diet. 
As for getting some added energy while you wait...maybe take spurilina in the morning and scattered throughout the day, and up your water intake?

Good luck.

get some sunlight - at least 15 min every day.
i am no expert and not judging at all, but your diet looks lacking in a lot of nutrients...leafy greens, fruits, etc.

Thanks Andrea, I will try that.   Amy, I think you are right, my diet is probably lacking a lot of greens too.

I live in Washington state, near Seattle, we are known for our vitamin D deficiency.  I've actually been prescribed by my doctor to go to a tanning salon ten min at a time every other day.

Yeah, I just don't know what to do.  I live in Virginia and I am afraid of tanning beds bc they make me feel like i'm in a coffin.  With the snow storm this weekend, I don't know how I'll ever get sun.   To make matters worse, these Vitamin D pills are not at all vegan.  

You can find vitamin D drops that are vegan...you just have to ask at the shops..

RE: Energy - Try adding some more leafy greens to your diet for energy - my favorite way to get greens quickly is to blend in a blender 1-2 cups water, 3 big handfuls of spinach with a cup or so of chopped mangoes [fresh or frozen] - it's yummy and provides lots of great energy (and nutrients). You can add a banana too if you want it to be thicker. Drink and enjoy!

hey, im training to be a nutritionist, and thought id give this a crack!

id recommend the same as people have mentioned above. you need alot more vegetables in your diet, cause at the moment you dont seem to be having too many. good with the salads but id recommend even more veggies. try have the darker green and colured lettuces (as their pretty much made of water, not many calories. but they are good for fibre i spose)
  if you dont have much time to prepare meals, just try having a side of steamed dark green veggies with your meals. this will help you feel better i promise you. as leafy greens have so many of the vitamins and minerals you need. it would take me all day to list their benefits. not even just vegans would benefit from this. 

wholegrains are the other biggie. wheat,  brown rice, quinoa,-----> complex carbohydrates. these give you energy, but dont have a bad effect on your glycaemic index. plus, watch the sugar..... 1-2 pieces of fruit is ok, but it can give you headaches and stuff if you eat the "normal"stuff (its high in products like soy icecream) im not saying you have to give this stuff up, just maybe not everyday, that kinda thing.

some soy milks are fortified(as in its added into it) with vitamin D, but the only food source of vitamin D is animal products, cause what happens is when our skin is exposed to sunlight, it converts cholesterol (which our body makes and you dont need from you diet!!) into vitamin D. its not a 'vitamin' per say like the others. thats why its found in meat. 15-20 minutes of sunlight a day is good for fair skinned people, dark skinned people maybe 40 minutes a day.

you really shouldnt be sleeping that much a day. 8-10 hours max should be fine. you day your losing weight too. i think you probably just don't have enough calories in your diet, this contributing to your tiredness and weight loss.  sometimes also, if you sleep too much, it can make you more tired.

so, what id do (specifically)
eat as many grains as you want. carbs are energy dense, and this whole 'low carb' thing is absolute nonsense. its meant to be our primary energy source. pile on the carbs. have a handful of nuts a day as they are very energy dense, and we DO need a source of fats a day (at least the healthy ones) or have avocado. leafy greens! 1-3 servings of fruit as a yummy snack! and remember your [protein too! i love falafel. hummus is also good. yum. beans(make nachos with vegan corn chips!), lentils(dhal) have 2 serves of protein foods a day at least. have at least 6 servings of carbs,  probably have 6-8 as a good estimate, and eat as many veggies as you want! instead of the whole 5 a day thing, id say seven a say if you really wanna be a superhero. any qs, feel free to ask xo melody

oh and remember your b12!  very important

Melody,

You definitely have some great recommendations! Where do you recommended getting the b12??

Thanks!

i take a sublingual supplement, i got it a the pharmacy i think! im pretty sure its veggie sourced

Thanks Melody -- that is all great information.  I will try to add more vegetables.   Already taking the B-12...my value showed up as 543 pg/mL on the blood test.    I don't know if I mentioned this previously, but last year I had all the same blood tests done and several of my numbers were in the abnormally low range, particularly white blood cells, red blood cells, RDW, neutrophils, and absolute neutrophils.  All of those levels went into the healthy range this time after becoming a vegan, except vitamin D which was not tested last time.  So clearly the vegan diet is doing something very positive, even though I feel exhausted.  I will take your advice to try and eat more good calories too.

hey b, hows it going? feeling much better yet?