what strength Vit D for a level of deficiency of 12?

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Further to my earlier post- Im in UK and  i m querying if dosage is appropriate it s Pro D 3 high strength formula 500mcg per capsule .. i take them 3 times a week ... also how does calcium tie in with Vit  D  - i m confused ...should i be taking it too ..? Any one help ?

 

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  • Posted

    Calcium needs vitamin D to be absorbed into the body, but not the other way round. If you are deficient in calcium you should take vit D and calcium. You have a very low vitamin D reading. Did your doctor recommend your vit D tablets? I take 800iu (20mcg) a day and my reading was 26. I know some people who take a higher dose.  I read in the British Medical Journal last week that no one actually knows the correct vit D dosage! I suppose as long as your vit D increases. It can take a while for the supplements to have an effect.
    • Posted

      Thanks for your reply and comments ptolemy ... no idea how helpful they are ... i m totally at a loss with this deficiency ... been unwell with present symptoms for 3 months and been taking D tabs for that amount of time ... but still feel unwell ,,

       

    • Posted

      Vitamin D deficiency can be pretty nasty, so the sooner you can boost yours the better you should feel. Just keep taking the tablets! They reckon that half the UK population is vitamin D deficient. 
  • Posted

    500mcg 3x/wk = 60,000IU/wk. Standard high dose therapy in the UK is ~50,000IU/wk, so it's well in the ball-park.

    Doctors don't seem to be advising patients on high dose vitamin D to take additional calcium, but it stands to reason if you want to re-mineralise your skeleton that a good calcium intake is sensible. This could be dietary or via supplements. I and some others, though, have noticed that bone pain does seem to get worse while taking calcium. Is this to do with rapid bone hardening? Not sure. If you want to go for a supplement, Osteocare contains magnesium and vitamin K which are also essential to bone formation. 

    (Very high dose calcium supplementation is not recommended however as it has negative effects on cardiac health.) 

     

  • Posted

    Hi, my vit D level was 59 when I had my last blood test and my doctor said it was low so I'm taking 4000 iu per day for a month and then another blood test. Originally it was 17 and I was put on 20000 twice a week for 9 weeks and my level rose to 79. My doctor said she wanted a level of around 100. As has been said there seems to be no exact level that doctors feel is adequate. I hope that helps.
    • Posted

      I think 50 was the target goal but the goal posts seem to being changed in some areas up to 75, my target is 50 at the moment too, but it may have gone up since my last blood test.
    • Posted

      I should have said 50 and 75 minimum.
  • Posted

    Think of it this way:

    The body makes anything from 10,000 IU to 25,000 Iu each time it is exposed to sun (UVB rays) for 15 minutes a day. The sun is the best and natural way to get vitamin D... So if you're severely deficient - levels of 20nmol/litre and under - then a "high dose" of vitamin D is required to increase your levels until they reach normal (75-80nmol/litre) and then maintained for a year on at least 1,000 IU a day. Calcium supplements are not required unless you are deficient as you get it naturally from many foods, plus it causes more harm than good. Increase your vitamin K and F intake (greens and linolic acids *flax seed oil, nuts etc) to help distribute the vitamin D to where it needs to go - the bones. 

  • Posted

    12 is a very low level. I would think your doc is working on this with you. 
  • Posted

    Does anyone get constipated from vitimin D or is this a coincidence when intake it.
    • Posted

      Now, that it a very interesting question, because it never occurred to me there would be a link, but I was plagued during the several months I was taking high dose vitamin D. A quick Google shows that lots of people have complained of exactly the same thing. Several sites say it is related to your magnesium status while on high dose vitamin D and a magnesium supplement can help, but you would have to check that out. Myself, I relied on lactulose and prune juice as no amount of fibre or water to drink made a difference. Well, let's chalk it up to things I wish I'd known at the time...  
    • Posted

      Taking high dose vitamin D3 (vegan) caused a laxative effect on me. I had to taper down to 10,000 IU a day from 25,000 IU and think it's going to take some time to increase my levels. They were 5nmol/litre when I started vitamin D treatment 2 months ago. Got blood tests later on so will know if I need a higher dose injection - Ergocalciferol, D2 - or not. Hope not, as so far, supplementing with vegan D3 has already cost me over £80 and D2 and D3 don't mix well... But try telling that to a GP who initially stared me on 800 IU a day to treat Osteomalacia! Argh!!
    • Posted

      Taking high dose vitamin D3 (vegan) caused a laxative effect on me. I had to taper down to 10,000 IU a day from 25,000 IU and think it's going to take some time to increase my levels. They were 5nmol/litre when I started vitamin D treatment 2 months ago. Got blood tests later on so will know if I need a higher dose injection - Ergocalciferol, D2 - or not. Hope not, as so far, supplementing with vegan D3 has already cost me over £80 and D2 and D3 don't mix well... But try telling that to a GP who initially started me on 800 IU a day to treat Osteomalacia! Argh!!
    • Posted

      I had my levels checked after supplementing with Vegan D3 and the results are 145 nmol/litre. That's an increase of 140 nmol in 2 months. The pain is still there - more so as I can't stand the cold penetrating my soft bones. I read somewhere on another discussion that Osteomalacia can take anything from 6 - 12 months to heal. My GP just rang me back to say "Stop taking the vitamin D now as it's too high." HA! Not too high at all according to the Vitamin D Council who say Optimum Levels are 150 nmol/litre. I asked my GP to chase up my Rheumatology appointment which when I booked it 3 months ago, was told it would take 14 weeks... He hasn't got back to me. I'm going to have to ring the hospital myself and ask them how much longer do I have to wait?!! I'm in constant agony. Lost 4 inches in height. My hair's falling out... it's half the full head of hair I had before all this started. And all my GP ever did was prescribe me a low dose vit D3 - Fultium - which isn't vegan and has a carcinogen as one of its main ingredients as well as gelatine... I refused to take them (gel capsules) so he prescribed me the same thing in liquid form... again a very low dosage. I had to search and fund my own vegan vitamin D3 - a cost of over £80 for a 9 month supply which lasted me a month as I was taking a high dose daily.
    • Posted

      Do you think it is just vit D deficiency you have? 
    • Posted

      I have Crohn's (and colitis) with prolapsed discs in my lower spine and neck along with a blood disorder (Thalassaemia Beta) - to name but a few ailments. I think the deficiency = low vitamin D levels, are to blame for many of my problems including flare-ups of Crohn's and the agonising pain I now have in my bones. I have an appointment - AT LAST - next week to see a rheumatologist. Lots of questions to ask... tests to ask for too. 
    • Posted

      Thank you.

      I have Osteomalacia (adult rickets) caused by vitamin D deficiency. My vit D levels have risen considerably - went from 5 nmol/litre to 145 nmol/litre in a month taking very high doses (20,000 IU a day) - but the pain still persists. I hope to get some answers at my hospital appointment along with some help regarding the pain. Will let you know how it goes. x

    • Posted

      That is incredibly fast, I went from 26 to 52 in three months. Your body may possibly need time to adjust completely to the improvement of course.
    • Posted

      I know. I was surprised at how good the vegan vitamin D was (and still is, as I'm continuing the treatment with 1,000 IU a day for maintanence). 

      Rheumatology appt. was a complete waste of time. The doctor had no knowledge of Osteomalacia, let alone vitamin D deficiency and put the pain down to FIBROMYALGIA!! Ignored the prolapsed discs, of which I have 5 in my lumbar and 2 in my cervical... Just repeated what my GP told him to - after a slight examination (ATOS style). I've had it with the NHS. All they want to do is drug me... keep trying to thrust medication on me. It's thanks to medication that I am this wrecked, but argue that with them... ARGH!

    • Posted

      On the other hand without the drugs I think a lot of doctors would be totally helpless. They just rely on them. What worries me is that some of them have not read the literature very well and do not understand it anyway,I have a friend who is a pharmacist and she is horrified by some prescriptions that are written and are contra indicative. I think fibromyalgia is a favourite along with it must be a virus! 

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