“I Thought I Was Just Tired - Then I Found Out I Had This Life-threatening Deficiency”

Getting

eight hours of sleep, eating right, exercising five days a week, and managing stress – I did it all. But day after day, I just yawned my way through work or social gatherings. By the afternoon, I would sit in my office chair, sinking deeper and deeper into it until I was nearly horizontal. No amount of sleep, exercise, or caffeine was a match for the endless fatigue I fought day in and day out. Nothing worked as such, I thought, “Maybe this is how life is,” powering through my days feeling exhausted. But it wasn’t until I met my doctor who suspected “a deficiency”.

Getting diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency

The doctor conducted some tests, and soon I was diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency – learning sustained fatigue is a hallmark symptom of this condition. It is not just exhaustion that happens as your day ends, but a feeling of fatigue that lingers on from the time you wake up in the morning. No matter how much you rest, it doesn’t just go away. The normal range for vitamin D is 30-100 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood. If your levels are between 12 and 19 ng/mL, doctors consider it insufficient, and anything below 12 ng/mL is deficient. My blood vitamin D levels were 14 ng/mL. Even though it was horrifying to see the number so low, I felt relieved that there was a reason for my constant fatigue, and it was not something that was in my hands.

Why is vitamin D important for your health?

Vitamin D plays a vital role in maintaining strong bones and muscles, supporting nerve function, and keeping the immune system working effectively. Your body produces most of its vitamin D through sunlight exposure on the skin, but getting enough can be difficult for people living in cold climates or higher latitudes, especially during fall and winter when daylight is limited. Seasonal changes noticeably affect energy levels, and many people experience increased fatigue as sunlight exposure drops in colder months. While some foods, like white fish, which includes salmon, tuna, fortified dairy products, and Greek yogurt, do contain vitamin D, they are often not consumed frequently enough to meet daily requirements. As a result, many people struggle to maintain adequate vitamin D levels through diet and sunlight alone.

Is vitamin D deficiency life-threatening?

Doctors say that while severe vitamin D deficiency is not typically immediately fatal, it can become life-threatening by increasing the risk of severe infections, cardiovascular diseases, which include high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and, in rare cases, extreme and untreated bone-weakening diseases like rickets. Chronic, extreme deficiency is associated with a higher mortality risk.Also read: No Pain, No Lump, No Warning: Deadly Cancers That Grow Silently Inside the Body

How to overcome the deficiency through supplements?

Based on my blood results, the doctor immediately recommended I start with 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D as soon as possible, and scheduled a follow-up three months out to check if the status has changed positively. And within a week of starting the supplement, I noticed changes in my body, which included:

• My energy remained steady throughout the day
• My mood is better, and I can focus and concentrate better
• I could eat properly and stopped unnecessary snacking

Why is getting tested important for women, especially?

In India, vitamin D deficiency is a major public health issue, which affects over 90 per cent of women of all ages - driven by low sunlight exposure, inadequate dietary intake, and cultural practices. It causes severe health issues like osteoporosis, brittle bones, chronic muscle pain, and lower immunity. Getting tested helped me confirm that I do have a deficiency, and based on the doctor’s recommendations, I know that I'm taking the correct dosage—and it is working.