How Much Vitamin D to Take

AnneN

This is a great thread - I am just starting to read about vitamin D, so this is very helpful. And timely - I have been taking half-hour walks each evening this summer, so I have probably been getting enough from the sun so far. But as the days get shorter up here in Minnesota, I find that lately I have been taking more walks in twilight than daylight. I guess I will have to pay attention and get out there before the sun starts to set! Thanks for reminding me that sun makes a difference!

Wwgoddess, you were asking Sandra about more diet/lifestyle suggestions - there is a whole book of diet/exercise/lifestyle things you can do that will help your treatment be more effective that have been clinically verified. A doctor by the name of David Servan-Schrieber has documented them in a book called Anticancer: A New Way of Life. My primary care doctor recommended this book to me the day she diagnosed me.

I have been following many of Servan-Schreiber's suggestions (the half-hour daily walk is one of them) and I believe that's a major reason my cancer has responded so well to hormone therapy. My oncologist said it's one of the best initial responses she's ever seen.

Servan-Schreiber is a physician and cancer survivor who combed through the medical literature after he experienced a recurrence, looking for ways to change his lifestyle to reduce his risk. This book is the product of what he learned. 

mbarnes

Anyone interested in vitamin d should take a look at www.vitaminD3world.com It has some great summaries of the data, offers a free newsletter to keep you updated on new development and has recently launched a new micro pill formulation of vitamin D which is very good value

dlb823

mbarnes ~  While your information may be worthwhile, soliciting -- which is clearly what you're doing with 5 identical posts to different threads -- is not allowed on this website. 

susanbeep

I would like to invite everyone to join a new group "The Answer to Breast Cancer-Vitamin Don facebook.  The data on Vitamin D deficiency as a major contributing factor in causing cancer is now as extensive as the data on smoking causing cancer. You will not hear about this from the pharmaceutical industry as Vitamin D is a major threat to their profits.

Nearly two years ago the Canadian Cancer Society started recommending that everyone take Vitamin D supplements to prevent cancer and yet still, most in the world are unaware of this fact. 

Studies have shown that Vitamin D deficiency is widespread. Indeed the campaign by dermatologists telling us to stay out the sun (which produces Vitamin D in our skin) has been so successful that even people living in sunny parts of the world are as deficient as those of us living in Northern regions.

More recent data also suggests that high Vitamin D levels dramatically improves the prognosis of patients with any of the four major cancers-lung, colon, prostate and breast cancer.

The data on breast cancer is particularly compelling both in preventing and helping with the treatment of the condition.  My aim is to encourage 1,000,000 women worldwide to join the group and help in making sure that every woman knows about these data.  Keeping your Vitamin D level optimal is probably the most important step you can take in preventing breast cancer.

Please clink on the link to the Group page and join and invite all your friends to join us. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=91037397172#/group.php?gid=91037397172

Here are two web sites that find are good resources for more information:

 http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ and

 http://www.vitamind3world.com/ 

dash

I have been struggling for 2 years to get my Vit D level up. I was on 5000-7500 IUs daily for a year and it did nothing. I use quality brands, too. I spend a lot of time in the sun, even tried the tanning beds that are supposed to help with Vit D levels. Gyn doc put me on 50,000 IUs of a week for 8 weeks, TWICE and it finally upped it to low 40s. I went back on 4000-6000 IUs daily and this last test showed me back down to 31. Uggg. He said to me "Maybe you're just one of those people that need to take 5000-10,000 IUs daily for life."

 I'm very frustrated over my inability to boost my D. Between the BC, a strong family history of heart disease, and bone health worries, I really want to fix this! Someone posted success by using liquid Vit D drops. That's next on my list to try. Doc wants it to at least 50-60~I would like it a little higher.

I have to wonder though, if the BC, the family history of heart disease, my own heart issues...I have to wonder if it's a family trait to have a hard time absorbing Vit D...some faulty gene at work...I guess it's too simplistic of a solution to blame it all on malabsorbtion, but maybe it's a component to the solution.

gscott

For those of you low in vitamin D, I just found out after taking 2,000 units a day for months, that I was only at 32. I have malabsorption issues from Celiac disease which one out of 133 or something like that don't even know they have. My doctor is having me take 50,000 IU's twice a week for 8 weeks. I hope it's not too late and that the lumps I have are cancerous. I go in on tues for the beginning of my testing...and anxious still about getting the mammogram after all I am reading:(

Springtime

Hang in there GScott. Are you going to a breast surgeon yet? That's where I'd be going if I was you... They seem to be where the rubber meets the road....

Eldub

I had a terrible time getting my Vitamin D level up, despite taking high doses in pill form.  Liquid (drops) are what finally did it.  My last level was in the 90s!  I think it also made a difference that I started taking calcium.  At least, the drops raised my level slowly but consistently over about a year, to the 60s, and then when I added calcium it went up to the 80s, and now 90s.  Might be worth a try...

(I was taking 6,000 IUs daily - 3 drops - over the last maybe year and a half.  Since I got to the 90s I'm taking a bit less, and will see what my levels are at my next testing.  My endocrinologist is the one who starting testing my Vitamin D level - before I ever had a cancer diagnosis.  She is still the one who is staying on top of it.)

Linda