Pain not reduced by 60,000 IU monthly vitamin D (need 50,000 IU weekly) – RCT Aug 2023

The effect of vitamin D supplementation on pain: an analysis of data from the D-Health randomised controlled trial

Trial Br J Nutr. 2023 Aug 28;130(4):633-640. doi: 10.1017/S000711452200356
Aninda Rahman 1, Mary Waterhouse 2, Catherine Baxter 2, Briony Duarte Romero 2, Donald S A McLeod 2 3, Bruce K Armstrong 4, Peter R Ebeling 5, Dallas R English 6 7, Gunter Hartel 2, Michael G Kimlin 8, Rachel O'Connell 9, Jolieke C van der Pols 10, Alison J Venn 11, Penelope M Webb 2 12, David C Whiteman 2 12, Rachel E Neale 2 12

Observational studies suggest that 25-hydroxy vitamin D ( 25(OH)D) concentration is inversely associated with pain. However, findings from intervention trials are inconsistent. We assessed the effect of vitamin D supplementation on pain using data from a large, double-blind, population-based, placebo-controlled trial (the D-Health Trial). 21 315 participants (aged 60-84 years) were randomly assigned to a monthly dose of 60 000 IU vitamin D3 or matching placebo. Pain was measured using the six-item Pain Impact Questionnaire (PIQ-6), administered 1, 2 and 5 years after enrolment. We used regression models (linear for continuous PIQ-6 score and log-binomial for binary categorisations of the score, namely 'some or more pain impact' and 'presence of any bodily pain') to estimate the effect of vitamin D on pain. We included 20 423 participants who completed ≥1 PIQ-6. In blood samples collected from 3943 randomly selected participants (∼800 per year), the mean (sd) 25(OH)D concentrations were 77 (sd 25) and 115 (sd 30) nmol/l in the placebo and vitamin D groups, respectively. Most (76 %) participants were predicted to have 25(OH)D concentration >50 nmol/l at baseline. The mean PIQ-6 was similar in all surveys (∼50·4). The adjusted mean difference in PIQ-6 score (vitamin D cf placebo) was 0·02 (95 % CI (-0·20, 0·25)). The proportion of participants with some or more pain impact and with the presence of bodily pain was also similar between groups (both prevalence ratios 1·01, 95 % CI (0·99, 1·03)). In conclusion, supplementation with 60 000 IU of vitamin D3/month had negligible effect on bodily pain.
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11+ Vitamin D Life Pain pages with 50,000 in the title

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Vitamin D Life – Pain - chronic category contains

See also

• Overview Pain and Vitamin D
• Percentage of people with pain increased 25 percent in 18 years – Jan 2019
• Pain not reduced by 60,000 IU monthly vitamin D (need 50,000 IU weekly) – RCT Aug 2023
• Overview Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue and vitamin D
• Overview Rheumatoid Arthritis and vitamin D
• Shingles and vitamin D
• Shin splints decrease with vitamin D
• Migraine and Vitamin D
• Headache category 79 items
• "musculoskeletal pain" 490 items as of Aug 2023
• "chronic fatigue" 185 items as of Jan 2017
• Category Back Pain 42 items
• 7 pain studies in Vitamin D Life with KNEE in the title as of Aug 2023 (see below)
• Opioid OR Opiate OR Morphine in the title 10 pages as of June 2021