How To Tell If You Don't Have Enough Vitamin D In Your Body

Vitamin D is an integral nutrient the body uses for everything from regulating blood calcium and phosphorous to managing your immune system. This vitamin comes from exposure to sunlight's ultraviolet radiation and from dietary sources like fortified milk, fish and eggs. Vitamin D deficiency can stem from lack of food consumption or exposure to sunlight, or due to kidney and digestive problems affecting your ability to absorb the vitamin. When deficiency occurs, you can look for several signs indicating a mild or serious condition.

Step 1

Write down any feeling of muscle pain not associated with physical activity, exercise or injury. Chronic instances of muscle pain, or chronic myalgia, may be associated with a lack of vitamin D.

Step 2

Take bone pain seriously. Bone pain can be a serious side effect of health problems including osteoporosis, which can be related to vitamin D deficiency. Other possible causes of bone pain include bone cancer, sickle-cell anemia and osteomyelitis, or chronic bone infection. Seek your doctor's advice immediately if you experience bone pain.

Step 3

Notice how often you catch a cold or have the flu. Dr. Adit Ginde, of the University of Colorado Denver's School of Medicine, suggests that low levels of vitamin D can affect your immune system, resulting in higher levels of respiratory diseases.

Step 4

Ask your doctor to administer a 25(OH)D serum concentration test to get an accurate view of how low your vitamin D levels are. A serum concentration result of 50 nanomoles per liter or greater means you have adequate vitamin D for bone health and body function, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements.

Step 5

Have your doctor examine you for signs of serious complications from vitamin D deficiency. For example, your doctor can test you for two common, serious side effects of vitamin D deficiency, rickets and osteomalacia, both of which include softening of the bones.