I take 2000 to 4000 IU a day (2000 in Summer when I'm getting enough noon day sun). My neighbor, who is 85 years old, takes 5000 IU, per her doctor, and is doing fine. I still think sun is the best source for vit. D but most of us don't get enough of that on our skin, so supplementation is necessary.
I take 2000 to 4000 IU a day (2000 in Summer when I'm getting enough noon day sun). My neighbor, who is 85 years old, takes 5000 IU, per her doctor, and is doing fine. I still think sun is the best source for vit. D but most of us don't get enough of that on our skin, so supplementation is necessary.
Thank you kindly. Do you have your blood tested to make sure your
readings are within limits. I guess your Vitamin D can change on a
daily basis depending on whether you're outdoors or indoors.
I was advised by the clinic to see a primary physician which I don't
have, nor do I have Health Insurance. Will it be safe to supplement
without the primary and go back for another blood test in 3 months
or so. Do you take Calcium supplements with your Vitamin D3 to
maximize absorption.
Yes, I have blood work done regularly (which includes testing vitamin D levels) because I have Lyme Disease. My levels have been fine with the amounts I listed previously. I have not heard that calcium is needed for absorption of vit. D but I do take it as part of my vitamin regime. You could do some research on that.
Since you don't have insurance, you could try to determine if you are deficient in D by looking up symptoms for vitamin D deficiency. Many people are deficient without realizing it.
NSI Make vitamin D in 2000, 5000 and 10 000 iu strengths quite cheaply (between 10 and 15 dollars for a years supply)
I'd start with 5000iu per day initialy, to quickly build up your levals, then reduce to 2000iu per day when it comes time to buy your next bottle, to keep them nice n high. I'd run it past your doctor to make sure he is happy with this regimen.
Calcium wont help with vitamin d absorbsion (fat does that - so always take it with a food containing some fat) but it will assist the vitamin d in keeping your bones strong.
I was vitamin D Deficient. The way I understood if was if we are deficient, then the over the counter D is not strong enough to bring up our levels. Once our levels are brought up, then we can try to maintain with over the counter D..... Our levels should still be checked from time to time.
My doctor got my levels up by giving me a prescription for D, 50,000 units......and I think it was once a week to begin with.
Vitamin D deficiency is now a VERY common problem for many reasons. Our sun block is great but it blocks out the D which we all need. They say 15 min. per day in the sun is necessary. Living in the Northeast we cannot do that here year round, plus I have Lupus and cannot be in the sun anyway. I cannot get enough through diet alone.
Thanks jon. I figured my doctor had a reason for giving me the 50,000 units as prescribed. I never asked why but thought it better to do as he said
I have trouble swallowing so one pill for me opposed to swallowing many pills is one good reason. My pharmacist says this is quite common, the prescription I mean.
I did NOT know that D came that high in units so I do thank you very much for that information
Beware Of The Lab Cost for a 25-hydroxy Vitamin D Blood Test.
Because I wasn't able to do a blood test with one of these home
test kits, I had to go to a walkin clinic. Cost breakdown with no
health insurance. Office Visit: $95.00 Blood Test: $25.00 Lab: $339.00
Right now I'm a little annoyed with this walkin, because they did not
inform me that there would be additional very expensive Lab costs.
The $25.00 Fee was to draw the blood and send it to a Lab. There
was no mention that I would get a bill from the Lab for $339.00 which
I am now disputing due to the negligence of this walkin plus this
walkin misplaced my first blood sample and I had to go back a second
time to have them draw blood. No Charge For The Second Blood Sample.
I GUESS MY FIRST SAMPLE HAD GOLD IN IT. Just a little sense of humor
to get through this.
If you don't have health insurance and have to go to a paid walkin clinic,
due your due diligence and know the in office/out of office fees are before
you agree to anything, just don't assume.
On that note, would like to thank everyone for responding.
Note: My Blood Test Of 15 means I'm insufficient. It should
be between 30 - 100 ng/ml. Toxic would be: 150 ng/ml
I was vitamin D Deficient. The way I understood ...
My doctor got my levels up by giving me a prescription for D, 50,000 units......and I think it was once a week to begin with.
I hope this helps
Prescription Vitamin D is D2 which is not absorbed as well as the OTC D3. You can find D3 in 50,000 iu's through BioTech. The OTC D3 is actually much more effective than the prescription D2...
I caution against taking Vitamin D like some people in such high quantities every day. Remember, Vitamin D is stored in the fatty tissue of the body, so any that you don't use, you will not get rid of. Secondly, I do agree that sun is the best source for your body to synthesize its own Vitamin D.
I'm not sure how bioavailable most supplements are. I do know that Vitamin D requires some sort of lipid-soluble material to travel across the cell membrane, so you'd probably have to treat it like Vitamin E and take it with a meal to absorb effectively.
And yes, like another poster said, Vitamin D3 is the natural form that your body uses.
It probably is a really bad thing to be low in Vitamin D, so if you don't get enough sun, do whatever you must to raise your levels, but not TOO much as it will be toxic over a long period of time of high dosing.
Thanks for the feedback. Right now I'm getting some natural sun and taking a 2000 IU D3 Supplement with a 400 mg Calcium Citrate Supplement. Yes I take these supplements after a meal for absorption.
Last edited by mod-anon; 07-07-2010 at 11:02 PM.
Reason: removed quote
That's perfect. What is the ideal blood concentration, 50 ng/mL? Will you have it checked again? I wish you the best.
Thanks for the response. Will I get checked again. Not anytime soon. Number One like many I don't have insurance and Number Two it's to expensive. This simple blood test cost me $25.00 for a blood sample at the clinic and another $339.00 for Lab Processing. Unable to do a test with a kit bought on the internet, not allowed in NYS. I should be okay if I continue to take the supplements daily with food for absorption.
Oh I understand. Just keep doing what you're doing. These things take a long time. I'd be interested to see the improvement subjectively in your overall health as times goes on.
My doctor told me mine is low too but she wouldn't give me the number... all I know is that it's below 30. I started drinking 1-2 glasses of milk fortified with Vitamin D3 last week. Do you know how long my levels will get to the optimal level? I keep getting twitching and fatigue... wonder if it has to do with my low level... all started during pregnancy.
My doctor told me mine is low too but she wouldn't give me the number... all I know is that it's below 30. I started drinking 1-2 glasses of milk fortified with Vitamin D3 last week. Do you know how long my levels will get to the optimal level? I keep getting twitching and fatigue... wonder if it has to do with my low level... all started during pregnancy.
Oh sorry to hear that. Well, with diet it may very well take awhile. But that's ok, as long as you are making progress. If you get more sun during the day, that'd be best. If you want to do it quickly, boy unfortunately I don't think you'll be able to do so without some supplementation for at least a short while, such as going through maybe a bottle of something. At least that way it'd be cheap and fast. Problem for you will be analyzing how to prevent going deficient again in the future. I'd say supplementing in the winter for instance in the midwest and eastern US is NOT a bad idea at all. Best of luck to you.
Btw, the twitching and fatigue are most likely caused by something else, but I wouldn't rule it out either. There's a lot of unknowns about Vitamin D deficiency; more unknowns than knowns.
I was deficient in Vitamin D a few months ago. Actually, I had many health problems but I'll address the Vitamin D issue. Blood tests showed my Vit D level to be 15. Doc told me to take 6,000 IU Vitamin D3 a day. I did. After three months, I had my blood tested again and my levels are up to 40. The change in my overall health has been dramatic.
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When you don't have insurance, you have to get creative. Personally, I can be healthy by following a common sense eating plan, eating the way my parents and their parents did and moving my body. Since so much of what we eat doesn't have the nutrients due to over farming, I take some vitamins. Vitamin D3 is one of the most essential vitamins a body needs. You could be outside all day long and still be deficient. It depends on your body. Get it checked, you'll be surprised how much better you will feel when you get the levels up to where they are supposed to be.
Last edited by mod-anon; 07-31-2010 at 08:24 PM.
Reason: Please read the posting rules
Oh and I forgot to add one very important thing. GIVE UP SUGAR! It will kill you. I no longer eat refined sugar and my blood glucose is normal as well as my kidney function. My lipids are almost normal now and my liver enzymes are no longer elevated. Honestly, it really works.
Last edited by HereOnMars; 07-31-2010 at 05:37 PM.
