Vitamin D - do you take it? How much?

[PatsMom]

I take 5000 IU's a day plus what is in my multi-vitamin and what is in my calcium supplement if I happen to have bought one that comes with Vitamin D. My levels are tested regularly and are good. Before I started the supplements a few years ago, I was horribly deficient.

 

[Tiger926]

I am deficient as well...22. I've been taking about 5,000 units per day, for years. I can't take the serious amounts as I have a liver dysfunction, and they aren't sure if that will affect it. I was also diagnosed with osteoporosis at 32 years old - his youngest patient. So, I take Vit. D drops, and Vit D is present in my osteo meds. I am allergic to milk though, so I don't get much in food.

I take Vit D3 drops. No one should be taking Vit D2, as it really doesn't do anything. It is very difficult to overdose on Vitamin D, which is actually not a Vitamin, but a hormone.

The protocol for U.S. and Canada is undergoing serious change, as most people are below levels. In Canada, we have some of the highest Vit. D deficient populations because of our long winters.

Levels for adults and kids are in the process of being tested and changed for all age groups in both of our countries. Some great research being done in the area of Vit. D.

I will echo the above sentiments that some doctors know nothing about it, as is the case with many medical issues. It is virtually impossible to overdose on it, or to see any ill effects.

Tiger

 

[momrek06]

I take 1200 daily.

Back in 2007, my body scan came back and MD called to say I had "osteopenia" in my hip. Now a few months prior to that my Mom had had hip replacement due to her osteoporosis. After that call I thought, "I am my Mom".

Well I upped my Vit D to 1200.

THEN we moved in 2008 from the northeast to sunny San Diego and after one year here I had another body scan and GONE!!! No more osteopenia as I am in the sun all of the time, 12 months out of the year!!!

I continue to take my Vit D every day!!!

 

[Tiger926]

I take 1200 daily.

Back in 2007, my body scan came back and MD called to say I had "osteopenia" in my hip. Now a few months prior to that my Mom had had hip replacement due to her osteoporosis. After that call I thought, "I am my Mom".

Well I upped my Vit D to 1200.

THEN we moved in 2008 from the northeast to sunny San Diego and after one year here I had another body scan and GONE!!! No more osteopenia as I am in the sun all of the time, 12 months out of the year!!!

I continue to take my Vit D every day!!!

Well done! You are so lucky, as I had Osteopenia at age 28, but full blown Osteoporosis by 32. Our Canadian winters are so bad...Plus, because I burn in the sun, I stayed out of the sun, so no Vit. D, except when I went to WDW for 2 weeks each summer.

All of my docs have now told me that I am to be in the summer sun on a daily basis without any sunscreen (I can't really use it as I have chemical allergies, but I was using some organic stuff for awhile due to worries about skin damage).

The sun is great, when you can get it! Best of health, Tiger

 

[momrek06]

Well done! You are so lucky, as I had Osteopenia at age 28, but full blown Osteoporosis by 32. Our Canadian winters are so bad...Plus, because I burn in the sun, I stayed out of the sun, so no Vit. D, except when I went to WDW for 2 weeks each summer.

All of my docs have now told me that I am to be in the summer sun on a daily basis without any sunscreen (I can't really use it as I have chemical allergies, but I was using some organic stuff for awhile due to worries about skin damage).

The sun is great, when you can get it! Best of health, Tiger

Oh sweetie, I am sorry you are dealing with all this at a young age.

I did hear that MD's want us to be in the sun for like 15 minutes w/o any sunscreen. But being here in SoCal, you really have to wear sunscreen all of the time which I do. Along with sunglasses and hats. Where your sunscreen and see if you can get yourself in that beautiful sun as much as possible during your warmer months.

 

[lakelandgal70]

Yes I am low and dr wanted me on 10,000ius then back down to 5,000 ius. This is per day. And I live in the sunshine state haha But I also have a chronic illness that depletes my Vitamin D too

 

[Tinkh]

We do not get enough sun here in Ohio, so I hit the tanning bed about twice a week. My mom has very low Vitamin D and has to take supplements because she has avoided the sun like the plague for years.

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

I taek 5000 a day, but I just had mine tested and it was a bit low, not too bad, I think it was 19 and they want it over 20. I will be retested in a few months, and if it is normal my dr. told me then it will be 1000-2000 a day.

 

[WDWBarb]

wow! I have a ton of hair loss too. I don't necessarily think my hair looks thinner, but my tub drain is full every time I wash my hair. I'm not sure I knew that it was a symptom of vit D deficiency. it doesn't seem to have improved since i started the Vit D pills though...I really need to get my level rechecked this week. Will have to look into the D3 you suggested.

Hair loss is also a symptom of thyroid disorders (hypo/hyper), which can go hand-in-hand with Vitamin D deficiencies.

DD is hypothyroid and has very low D levels. She's on 50,000 IU's once a week, 2,000 daily and her levels have not really increased.

 

[bengalbelle]

Hair loss is also a symptom of thyroid disorders (hypo/hyper), which can go hand-in-hand with Vitamin D deficiencies.

DD is hypothyroid and has very low D levels. She's on 50,000 IU's once a week, 2,000 daily and her levels have not really increased.

I have both. For the first time in years my thyroid came back in normal levels and I didn't have to increase my dosage (200 mcg).

Last year my Vitamin D level was a 5. This year (last month) it was up to 17. I'm on Maximum D, 50,000 IU/week. I don't (and have never) drink milk and I burn easily so I don't spend lots of time in the sun.

I have hair loss but no one would look at me and notice. My biggest complaints are fatigue, weakness and pain. I hope that will go away if my levels ever get normal.

 

[Snoozan]

I take 5000 x 5 or 6 days a week, plus whatever's in my multi-vitamin. Last time my level was checked, I was over 100! My NP thinks I should back off on the Vit D3, but my endo wants me on this amount due to my thyroid cancer as I have to stay super-suppressed on my Levothroid for that.

 

[cepmom]

Hair loss is also a symptom of thyroid disorders (hypo/hyper), which can go hand-in-hand with Vitamin D deficiencies.

DD is hypothyroid and has very low D levels. She's on 50,000 IU's once a week, 2,000 daily and her levels have not really increased.

what is the test to check for thyroid disorders? I would have to check my records but think my Dr ordered that and it was normal

 

[WDWBarb]

what is the test to check for thyroid disorders? I would have to check my records but think my Dr ordered that and it was normal

I think it's listed as T3/T4, depending on which exam they do. My records just list "thyroid" and then it says "within range."

The medical community isn't in agreement about what "normal" is. The acceptable range is too broad, according to some, leaving people within levels that make them feel terrible.

 

[Anjelica]

I take 5000IU a day.

 

[Bilberry]

Vitamin D3 is great! It's helped my health greatly. Hope it helps you too. I take 6000ius a day. That is how much it takes me to keep a testing level between 60 to 70ng/ml. At this point I test on my own, outside of the hospital. There are home testing kits that I use.

An article that I liked about how to take D3 correctly written by a cardiologist, explaining how his patients take and test for D3.

Getting vitamin D right
http://www.heartscanblog.org/2010/01/getting-vitamin-d-right.html

Most of the article:

Vitamin D is, without a doubt, the most incredible "vitamin"/prohormone/neurosteroid I have ever encountered. Frankly, I don't know how we got anything accomplished in health pre-D.

Unfortunately, people I meet rarely take their vitamin D in a way that accomplishes full restoration of vitamin D blood levels. It really isn't that tough.

Here's a list of common tripping points with vitamin D:

"I take vitamin D: 1000 units a day."
This is probably the most common mistake I see: Taking a dose that is unlikely to yield a desirable blood level. (We use 60-70 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy vitamin D as our target.) Most men and women require 6000 units per day to achieve this level. There is substantial individual variation, however, with an occasional person needing much more, a rare person requiring as little as 1000 units.


"I bought some vitamin D on sale. They were white tablets."
Time and again, patients in my office who initially have had successful vitamin D replacement, despite being reminded that only oil-based forms should be taken, switch to tablets. While they initially showed a 25-hydroxy vitamin D blood level, for instance, of 67 ng/ml on 8000 units per day with an oil-based capsule, they switch to a tablet form and the next blood level is 25 ng/ml. In other words, tablets are very poorly or erratically absorbed.

I have had people use tablets successfully, however, by taking their vitamin D tablets with a teaspoon of oil, e.g., olive oil. Oil is necessary for full absorption.


"I'm going to Florida. I'll stop my vitamin D because I'm going to lay in the sun."
Wrong. 90% of adults over 40 years old have lost the majority of their ability to activate vitamin D in the skin. A typical response might be an increase in blood level from 25 to 35 ng/ml--a 10 ng increase with a dark brown tan.

There is an occasional person who, with sun exposure, increases blood levels substantially. This can occur in both fair-skinned and dark-skinned people, though I've never seen it happen in an African-American person. The occasional person who maintains the ability to convert vitamin D with sun exposure, or young people, should seasonally adjust their vitamin D dose, e.g., 6000 units winter, 3000 units summer, or some other regimen that maintains desirable blood levels. You can see that monitoring blood levels (we check levels every 6 months for the first 2 years) is crucial: You cannot know what your vitamin D needs are unless you assess 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels.


"I drink plenty of milk. I don't think I need to take vitamin D."
Oh, boy. This is so wrong on so many levels.

First of all, no adult should be drinking plenty of cow's milk. (A discussion for another day.) Second of all, cow's milk averages 70 units of vitamin D, often the D2 form (ergocalciferol), per 8 oz. Even if the FDA-mandated 100 units per day were present, an average adult dose of 6000 units would require 60 glasses of milk per day. Can you say "diarrhea"?

Likewise, other food sources of vitamin D, such as fish (300-400 units per serving) and egg yolks (20 units per yolk), are inadequate. This makes sense: Humans are not meant to obtain vitamin D from food, but from sun exposure over a large body surface area. And this is a phenomenon that is meant to occur only in the youthful, ensuring that nature takes its course and us older folks get old and make way for the young (i.e., unless we intervene by taking vitamin D supplements).


"My doctor said that my vitamin D blood level was fine. It was 32 ng/ml."
Let's face it: By necessity, your overworked primary care physician, who manages gout, hip arthritis, migraine headaches, stomach aches, prostate enlargement, H1N1, depression, etc., is an amateur at nearly everything, expert in nothing. Nobody can do it all and get it right. Likewise vitamin D. The uncertain primary care physician will simply follow the dictates of the laboratory form that specifies "30-100 ng/ml" as the "normal" or "reference range." Unfortunately, the laboratory often quotes population distributions of a lab measure, not an ideal or desirable level.

To illustrate the folly of population distributions of a measure, imagine you and I want to know what women weigh. We go to a local mall and weigh several thousand women. We tally up the results and find that women weigh 172 lbs +/- 25 lbs (the mean +/- 2 standard deviations). (That's true, by the way.) Is that desirable? Of course it isn't. Population average or population distribution does not necessarily mean ideal or desirable.


"My husband's doctor said he should take 4000 units per day. So I just take the same dose."
That would be fine if all adults required the same dose. However, individual needs can vary enormously. A dose that is grossly insufficient for one person may be excessive for another. Once again, vitamin D dose needs can be individualized by assessing 25-hydroxy vitamin levels in the blood.


"I don't need to take vitamin D. I already take fish oil."
I suspect this mistaken belief occurs either because people confuse fish oil with cod liver oil, which does contain some vitamin D. (Cod liver oil is not the best source of vitamin D, mostly because of the vitamin A content; also a discussion for another time), or because they've heard that eating fish provides vitamin D. However, fish oil capsules do not contain vitamin D unless it is added, in which case it should be prominently and explicitly stated on the label.


"I don't have to take vitamin D. It's summer."
For most people I know, if it's a bright, sunny July day, where are they likely to be? In an office, store, or home--NOT lying in the sun with a large body surface area exposed. Also, most people expose no more than 5-10% of surface area in public. I doubt you cut the grass in a bathing suit. Because of modern indoor lifestyles and fashion, the majority of adults need vitamin D supplementation year-round.

 

[trip]

The medical community isn't in agreement about what "normal" is. The acceptable range is too broad, according to some, leaving people within levels that make them feel terrible.

My Doc wants the levels to be between 2.3-3 on my thyroid tests.

 

[runwad]

I just had a yearly physical and told the doctor I wanted my vit d level checked because I've been reading so many good things about it. I've had both parents die of cancer so I'm especially interested how it keeps your cells healthy and cancer free. I go tomorrow for my blood work.

 

[autumnpalm]

I take 2,000 per week plus the additional amount in my multivitamin.

Bilberry, which home testing kit do you use?

 

[Poohforyou]

I've take 2000 iu of vitamin D3 every day for the past 6 months. I have to get blood work done soon and am hoping it's made a difference.

 

[AllisonK]

1,000 IU daily.

I was diagnosed with a severe deficiency back in November. I was tired, weak and sore and had hair loss (noticeable to me - not so much to anyone else). There were some days that I literally had to drag myself out of bed to go to class. I think my levels were somewhere around 10? Not quite sure but they were low.

I was on 50,000 IU once a week for 8 weeks and then went on the 1,000 IUs daily. I'm less tired/weak than I was but am still sore (but I'm on my feet a lot at my internship with dressy shoes and I walk everywhere on campus so that's probably why) but my hair is looking better (although the water at school makes it look so thin...). I do think I might need to be on something higher though, so I'm going to get rechecked when I go home after graduation.