osteopenia

One thing you need to know is you should probably take no more than 400 IU in a dose, or 600 maximum.  The body can't absorb too much at one time.  If you are concerned, ask about taking a second dose some hours away from the first.  I take mine at suppertime and bedtime (with a small snack) because I also take prednisone in the morning, and you can't take calcium with pred, not with iron for that matter.  

Thanks for your reply.  Firstly no the 2nd Dexa scan last month was done in Greater Manchester the first one in 2012 in London.  

I really do not know what to do when I lived down South I was given 2,200 dose as my level was only 39 this was after the Dexa scan which was done when I fractured my wrist.  At the 2nd blood test (I have yearly ones for other things as well) it was 70 and the gp told me to carry on with the dose.  The next test it was well over 100 and she asked to half the dose by taking the tablet every other day.  At my next test in 2014 I think another doctor must have checked my test results and I received a standard letter from the surgery saying although my levels were ok they would like them a bit higher so could I buy some Vitamin D3 1000iu.  When I phoned the surgery to say I was alreay taking 22,00 every other day they said see the gp which I did and she then said go back to the higher dose.  I am not only confused but a bit angry why such a difference of opinion between doctors.  How are we the patients supposed to know what to do.  I always check on tablets for side effects and interactions etc although most gps don't seem to worry too much.  I am having blood tests in the new year same week as my heart scans as the nurse is away until after Christmas.  I could have gone up to the hospital but at the moment I have an awful cold coughing all the time and anyway I have had enough of hospitals this last couple of months.  Calcium I have found out also slows down absorpsion of Leveothyroxine which I have taken for years.  Something else they don't mention.  If you say you should not take more than 400 to 600iu in one dose and you may be right but why was I given the high dose 4 years ago and even when they wanted to prescibe it again in 2014 they said take 1000iu.  I have googled it and it says only really high doses 4000iu? could be toxic.  Oh well I will carry on with the higher dose until the blood tests come back.  I have other health problems and last but not least I suffer from Anxiety which has been worse this last few months.  I think it is partly to do with the stress of moving 200miles from our home town to be near family although we are starting to settle down now.

I wish you all the best and Merry Christmas to you.

One of the things I've learned is that your average doctor, no matter how medically qualified, has a very poor knowledge of nutrition and supplements.  Too much calcium is proven to cause problems like kidney stones or calcium deposits in blood vessels, cardiac problems, etc.  If taking calcium supplements as well as the D3 (and magnesium, to balance the extra calcium) you should also look into taking Vitmin K2.  Not K1 which is readily available from our leafy greens, but K2, which many of us are now deficient in because of changes in how our animals are fed.  The supplement is made from fermented Japanese soy product called natto.  It is now included in many of the calcium supplements especially designed to help build bones, not your standard calcium/D.  What it does is make sure the calcium actually ends up in the bones where it belongs.  There's quite a lot of info available now, including some good info on internet, but don't be surprised if your doctor has never heard of it, or confuses it with K1 (mine did). 

Hello again  A member of my family who is a great advocate of Vit D3 has mentioned about taking K2 as well.  I know what you mean about doctors I won't go into it but I did think I had particular problem which I researched and found out the name but my gp had not heard of it.  I learned on line that some doctors have never heard of it and worse still deny it's existance.  If you wondering what it is then I can tell you LPR better known as silent reflux.  Anyway I digress. I am not keen on taking calcium at the moment because of side effects and drug interactions but will see what the state of play is once I have the results of my blood tests.  I will try and remember to report back here again in the new year.

My theory is we probably get a fair amount of calcium in a well-balanced diet, and it's the extras like D and K2 which we need to make sure we get as well.  And appropriate exercise, of course!  Best wishes.