help with vit D levels

Nan:  I just called three drugstores and spoke to their pharmasists. They all said that when they fill a prescription of 50,000 iu of Vit. D, they can only fill it with D2 as D3 does not come in this high a dosage.  One told me that the only high dosage of D3 can be found in the prescription Fosemax with D.  Other than that one can only get Vit D3 in smaller dosages OTC but these doses are not used to activily increase D level in blood quickly.   Thanks   Cathey 

D3 is available in 5000 IU capsules OTC at vitaminshoppe and other stores. I take 1 a day. Easy to digest, easy to absorb, more effective and provides a more balanced intake than the 10 times prescription dose of D2 once a week that probably just passes right thru my body!

My Oncologist told me that my level was in the normal range, anywhere from 20 to 100 and my level was 28!  Now I know better than to accept 28 as a good number, so with the additional supplements that I'm taking, I'm hoping a restest next visit will show a higher number.  My Onc said if I'm taking a multivitamin that that should be good enough, but multivits. have only 400IU of D3, so from what I'm reading here, that may not be enough.

Dear Meece,

What have you tried to get the D level up?

Try OTC 5,000 IU of D3 until your next test.....

Dear Meece,

Here is a link for an article on D3 from the December issue of Life Extension magazine. Perhaps you need to show this to your PCP? Also, our dollar store has 7 day pill dispensers that are 2-sided for am and pm, and that takes care of the bottles! Fill it once a week. In all the articles I have read, you must take Magnesium for your body to absorb the D3.

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/dec2009_Are-You-Getting-Optimal-Flu-Prevention_01.htm

Ladies.. get this... two weeks ago.. I was tested for vit D do to my bone pain. ( no mets)

I was at 4.   Yes... 4.

My onco said take 1000Iu to bring it up. I told his nurse that I was already taking 2000Iu daily.. and she called back and told me he said is WILL NOT recommend more... WTH.

So.. I went out and got 5000IU... my bone pain is better.

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS.. WHAT SHOULD I DO GIRLS????????????????????????

Once you are in the 70-100 range, shift down to 1000 IU per day. But until you get up there you need to take 5000 IU per day of D3.

HEY LAURA,

WHEN MY VITAMIN D LEVEL WAS LOW MY DOCTOR PERSCRIBED A 50,000 ONCE A WEEK PILL. I TOOK THAT FOR A FEW MONTHS AND IT SHOT UP INTO THE 40S NOW I TAKE 5,000 A DAY AND I WILL BE TESTED AGAIN IN A FEW WEEKS. I WAS AT 13 WHEN THEY TESTED MY LEVEL TO START. I HOPE THIS HELPS SISTER. I THINK THE VITAMIN D THING IS HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NAN-i love lef.  glad to see there are others out there reading their magazine. 

I visited the block center in chicago in October.  they said that my d levels should be between 80-100 for breast cancer patients.  I am currently taking 20,000u/day.  many regular md are not uptodate on the appropriate levels for us with bc.

Anyone dx with cancer should have levels in the optimal range, which is close to 100 and up. From what I have read, you need to take 1000 IU's extra to raise your levels by 10ng. If you are at 40 and want to get to 100, you would need to take 6000 IU's and more per day to get there. When my daughter Lori was tested in May for the BHRT, she was taking well over 5000 IU's and her levels were only 44. Since taking the BHRT, she is now at 82.6ng, and is taking far less D3. D is a prehormone.

Dear unklezwifeonty,

What were your levels when you were tested last time? I believe I read that in one of the articles from the vitamin D council, as to taking 1000 IU's more for each 10 ng's. Let me check. Oh...and this Alternative "forum" is sooo much better than the "thread" on the other site.

Unklezwifeonty,

This is not the article which I read, but here is a paragraph which provides the same info, but it states 100 IU's for each 1 ng/ml, which converts to 1000 IU's for each 10 ng/ml.  I will keep looking.

How much vitamin D does it take to produce the optimal level of 50-60?

Each intake of 100 IU per day of supplementation raises the blood levels of vitamin D about 1 ng/ml. Therefore, if there were no sun exposure or a source of dietary vitamin D, it would require 5,000 IU of supplemental D3 per day to achieve a level of 50. This rule of thumb, of course, varies according to the size of the person; a large person will require more vitamin D than a small person. It is also interesting to note that men who have high levels of vitamin D (due to outdoor summer activity) must take 5,000 IU during winter to maintain those levels.

http://drsorenson.blogspot.com/2009/01/how-much-vitamin-d-do-you-need-to.html

OK...here is another article and it cites Cannell from the Vitamin D council. This is a paragraph from the article.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027345_Vitamin_D_sun_exposure_blood.html

Begin taking vitamin D at least eight weeks prior to being tested. This will help you customize your dose once you receive your test results. To determine a basic, starting dose, it has been suggested, as per Dr. John Cannell of the Vitamin D Council (7), that you take 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight. A person who weighs 150 pounds, for instance, would take 6,000 IU per day as a starting dose (150/25 = 6. 1,000 x 6 = 6,000). Do this for at least eight weeks, and then test. Perhaps this dose will put you in the ideal range, but there`s no guarantee since we are all so different, and have unique vitamin D receptor genotypes. The idea is to hopefully get somewhere in the ballpark with this method and then tweak your daily dose once the test results come back. If your results are still suboptimal, Dr. Cannell has estimated that each 1,000 IU increase in supplemental vitamin D will generally produce a 10 ng/ml increase in the vitamin D blood level (8). For example, if you have been taking 5,000 IU per day for 8+ weeks, and your results come back at 40 ng/ml, you would want to increase your dose to at least 7,000 IU (2,000 IU = ~20 ng/ml rise in blood level) to achieve a minimum of 60 ng/ml. Again, keep in mind that this is necessarily generalized, and additional blood testing every several months is recommended to further customize the dose appropriate to you.

When I was first tested I was 32.  However, I had been taking about 2000 IUs for some time.  I forget how much I was taking each time I was tested.  However, with my most recent test I was taking 3000 IUs and my D level was 62.  I have now bumped it to 4000 IUs because of progression (notice I do not use that nasty word "mets"  LOL) to the spine. 

The reason the docs prescribe the high dose D2 is to get levels up quickly.  I've often wondered why they just don't use a higher dose of D3.  And, D3 is so cheap.

I do believe we have to be careful from where we buy our supplements.  Some claim to have a certain amount in them, but don't.  I haven't joined the consumer lab website where they test supplements and prescriptions.  However, I do believe they are a very reputable site.  The only thing is they don't always test the brand I'm using. 

It's amazing that docs have not caught on the the importance of this "vitamin."

Any idea what sorts of things deplete VitD in one's system?