Can Low Vitamin D Cause Shivering? Examining the Link Between Nutrition and Neuromuscular Health

October 14, 2025 •

3 min read

Over one billion people worldwide are estimated to have a vitamin D deficiency, a common issue that affects various bodily functions. While muscle and bone issues are widely known, a less-recognized symptom is shivering, prompting many to ask, can low vitamin D cause shivering? This involuntary muscle response is linked to the vitamin's crucial role in neuromuscular health.

Quick Summary

Severe vitamin D deficiency can cause shivering by leading to hypocalcemia, or low blood calcium. The body's inability to properly absorb calcium disrupts normal muscle and nerve function, triggering involuntary muscle tremors and spasms. This is a primary neuromuscular pathway connecting low vitamin D to shivering sensations.

Key Points

Hypocalcemia is the Key: Severe vitamin D deficiency causes low blood calcium (hypocalcemia), which directly affects nerve and muscle function and can cause shivering.
Involuntary Muscle Tremors: Hypocalcemia increases neuromuscular excitability, leading to involuntary muscle tremors, spasms, and twitching, which can be perceived as shivering.
Part of a Larger Symptom Picture: Shivering from vitamin D deficiency is often accompanied by other signs, such as fatigue, bone pain, and general muscle weakness.
Affects Infants and Adults: Tremors and jitteriness can be an early sign of vitamin D deficiency in newborns, while adults may experience muscle weakness and involuntary twitching.
Supplementation Can Help: Correcting the underlying deficiency with supplements, increased sun exposure, and dietary changes is the most effective way to resolve this symptom.
Proper Diagnosis is Crucial: Unexplained shivering, especially with other symptoms, warrants medical evaluation to rule out nutritional deficiencies like low vitamin D.

The Surprising Link Between Vitamin D and Muscle Function

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that plays a vital role in the body, most famously for regulating calcium and phosphorus absorption to support bone health. However, its functions extend far beyond the skeletal system. When levels are critically low, a cascade of events can affect muscle and nerve signaling, leading to various symptoms, including tremors, twitches, and shivering.

The Hypocalcemia Connection

The primary mechanism explaining how low vitamin D can lead to shivering involves calcium levels. Here's a step-by-step breakdown of the process:

Impaired Calcium Absorption: Vitamin D's main job is to help your intestines absorb calcium from the food you eat. In its absence, the body cannot absorb enough calcium, causing blood calcium levels to drop. This condition is known as hypocalcemia.
Parathyroid Hormone Response: When blood calcium levels fall, the parathyroid glands release parathyroid hormone (PTH). PTH attempts to raise calcium by pulling it from your bones, but this mechanism alone is not enough to correct a severe vitamin D deficiency.
Neuromuscular Irritability: Critically low calcium levels increase the excitability of nerves and muscles. Without sufficient calcium to regulate nerve signals, the muscles can become overstimulated.
Involuntary Muscle Contractions: This heightened neuromuscular irritability results in involuntary muscle contractions, tremors, spasms, and twitching—which can feel and appear like shivering. In severe cases, this can manifest as tetany, a condition of sustained, painful muscle spasms.

Vitamin D's Role in Thermoregulation

Beyond its direct effect on calcium, vitamin D also influences the body's overall ability to regulate temperature. A deficiency can slow down metabolism, making it harder for the body to maintain warmth. While this can contribute to a general feeling of coldness and chills, the shivering caused by hypocalcemia is a more direct and medically distinct symptom.

Other Signs of Vitamin D Deficiency

While shivering is a possible symptom, it is often accompanied by other, more common signs. These can include:

Fatigue and a general sense of low energy
Bone pain and aches
Muscle weakness, cramps, and aches
Changes in mood, including depression
Increased susceptibility to infections due to an impacted immune system
Osteomalacia (soft bones) in adults or rickets in children, resulting from poor bone mineralization

Differentiating Shivering from Low Vitamin D and Other Causes

To properly address the symptom, it is important to distinguish it from other potential causes.


Feature	Shivering from Low Vitamin D / Hypocalcemia	Shivering from Cold Exposure	Shivering from Anemia (e.g., Low B12/Iron)
Primary Cause	Impaired calcium absorption leading to neuromuscular irritability	Hypothalamus-regulated response to cold environmental temperatures	Insufficient red blood cells causing poor oxygen circulation
Underlying Mechanism	Disruption of nerve signals controlling muscle function	Rapid muscle contractions to generate heat	Reduced oxygen delivery to tissues, prioritizing core organs
Associated Symptoms	Muscle cramps, bone pain, fatigue, mood changes	Goosebumps, cold extremities, numbness	Fatigue, weakness, pale skin, cold hands/feet
Onset	Often gradual, as deficiency worsens	Immediate and reactive to temperature drop	Gradual, developing over time as deficiency progresses

Addressing the Issue with Nutrition and Lifestyle

If a vitamin D deficiency is confirmed, several steps can be taken to correct it. It is always best to consult a healthcare professional for a proper diagnosis and personalized treatment plan, but here are some general strategies:

Increase Sun Exposure: Sensible sun exposure is the most natural way to boost vitamin D production. The body's skin produces vitamin D when exposed to ultraviolet B (UVB) rays.
Dietary Sources: Incorporate vitamin D-rich foods into your diet. Good sources include fatty fish like salmon and mackerel, egg yolks, and fortified products such as milk and some cereals.
Supplementation: In cases of significant deficiency, supplements are often necessary to quickly restore vitamin D levels.

Conclusion

While shivering is most commonly associated with being cold, it is a clinically documented symptom of severe vitamin D deficiency. The connection is primarily neurological, stemming from the inability to absorb calcium, which leads to neuromuscular irritability. If you experience persistent or unexplained shivering, especially alongside other symptoms like muscle weakness or fatigue, it is important to consult a healthcare provider. Correcting a vitamin D deficiency through diet, sunlight, or supplementation can often resolve these neuromuscular issues and restore proper bodily function.

Frequently Asked Questions

Low vitamin D impairs your body's ability to absorb calcium, which can lead to low blood calcium, or hypocalcemia. Since calcium is crucial for nerve and muscle signaling, this imbalance can cause neuromuscular irritability, resulting in involuntary muscle tremors and spasms that manifest as shivering.

Besides potential shivering, other symptoms can include chronic fatigue, bone pain, muscle weakness, cramps, and mood changes like depression. In severe, long-term cases, it can lead to osteomalacia in adults and rickets in children.

Yes, research indicates that benign neonatal shivers, tremors, and jitteriness can be one of the earliest signs of vitamin D deficiency in newborns. These infants should be tested for a possible deficiency.

A vitamin D deficiency can affect your metabolism, which plays a role in regulating body temperature. While not the same as involuntary shivering, a slow metabolism can contribute to a general sensation of feeling cold.

A vitamin D deficiency is diagnosed through a simple blood test that measures the amount of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in your blood. Your doctor can recommend this test if they suspect a deficiency based on your symptoms and risk factors.

Yes, other nutritional issues, such as iron deficiency anemia or vitamin B12 deficiency, can also impact circulation and metabolism, leading to feelings of coldness or chills. A medical evaluation is necessary to identify the correct cause.

Treatment involves restoring normal vitamin D levels, which can be achieved through a combination of supplements, increased sun exposure, and a diet rich in vitamin D. Addressing the deficiency will correct the underlying cause of the neuromuscular irritability.