help with vit D levels

Rgiuff, Isn't it disheartening that some of us are having to lead our healthcare providers by the hand on Vitamin D testing?  Mine does not seem too interested since it does not come off his 'script pad. 

Thanks all for the re-test info.  I think I might like to ask for a re-test in another 2-3 months, so I can see the difference the supplents made without having to figure the summer sun into the eauation.

thenewme, Thank you for providing an answer to my other question (in map form!)  A picture is worth a thousand words.  There does not seem to be any "sunbelt" effect.  Hmmm...

If the sunlight premise were correct, it would look more banded.  The map actually looks as though the nations hit hardest are the industrialized ones.  I'm not discounting Vit. D, I'm interpreting that there is something else going on, as well, that could be an equal or greater factor.

Hey thenewme, that is interesting.  That is what us Vit. D supplementers were expecting to find, and now some data does bear it out.  Thanks for digging around to find it.  If your earlier map is correct, there are still some other factors at work.  For instance, if it were only the sunlight, mainland China should not be in the lowest group, Russia would be all pink, and so on.

I'll continue to follow the progress reported on here and add my update when I get it in a few months.  I am being moderate in my supplementing.  I take two 1000 IU chewables of D3 (morning/night) and then get 800 IU more in the two Caltrate + D chewables (400 IU x 2.)   Like I said, I'm at 46 which is low but not super low and I would like to get above 60 at least.

Regarding fewer incidences of BC in equatorial countries -- I've read that those with darker skin (more melanin) do not absorb Vitamin D from sunlight as well as those with pale skin tones.  I'm not sure where Asian skin tones fit into the picture, however.

I think we also have to consider economic, education and screening availability factors....... to name just 3!

It's difficult to draw conclusions from a map due to people originating from different climates with more or less melatonin in their skin so they absorb more or less less vitamin D. Areas with high rates of immigration such as The UK, America and Australia have dark skinned people living in cooler areas so they don't get enough D and light skinned people living in hotter climates so they get too much, so it all gets very dificult to assess.

Then there's the problem of poorer countries not diagnosing cancer or not recording the correct cause of death due to a lack of doctors or facilities, and richer countries diagnosing early stages that would escape notice in poorer countries.  Let's hope some good studies are trying to make sense of all this.

Edited to say, oops, I failed to notice page 13 before typing this which is a repeat of what others have said above.

I went out today and bought 1000 IU of vitamin D3. Until I can get a chance to see my doctor, I'm only going to take one a day as recommended on the bottle. So the total I'm taking daily (including my multivitamins and calcium) is 2200 per day. I'm also spending a lot of time outdoors in the sunny (but not so hot!!) Florida . . . hoping that everything combined will increase my levels.

Nan Thanks for converting and clearing up the Canadian/US testing differences. I've never been tested for vitamin D levels until a couple of months ago when I asked to be tested after reading about D on this website. Now I wonder if my vitamin D level has always been on the low side.

Just curious - I know the weekly calcium pills I am taking, takes calcium from the blood into the bones. Do you think this affects our vitamin D levels?

Makingway - When you are saying that I need 1000 IU per day to increase 10, am I to assume that this is in addition to the D I taking prior to my being tested? So if I was already taking 1200 IU and my test results were 44, that means by taking this additional 1000 IU D3 pill, in theory it should move me up to 54? Is that correct? Does anyone know if sunshine can be calculated this way as well i.e. for every hour exposed to the sun = x amount of D?

Edited to add - thanks so much for the youtube link. Really explains a lot and definitely worth watching.  

I just got my 2nd test results back.

Last Nov I tested at 20 for vit D.

Today I tested at 37.  I took D2 50,000 IU's once a week for 8 weeks and also 3000 IU's of D3 daily. 

While I'm glad my level went up, I still want it to be higher.  Not sure if the D2 did anything or not.  I will stick with the D3 and up that level a bit until I get tested again.

Let me know how you all did.

Linda

Mantra- yep, you calculated that right. I don't know how to measure sunshine LOL but I've got to tell ya, I live 5 minutes from the beach and use to spend at least 3 days a week there walking around in my bikini, so, I got a lot of sun. I usually went after 2:00 pm though and I used sunscreen. I don't know if that contributed to my getting cancer or not. Might have been that along with some other factors I suspect-too much beer consumption (I never use to drink much beer, but I did the 2 years prior to diagnosis). I read hops are phytoestrogens. I also took the 'morning after pill' once, possibly twice. That's a big dose of hormones my body wasn't use to. I took Paxil for 5 years. We don't know the effects all these prescription drugs have on our bodies. Another thing I suspect contributed to my getting cancer was a major depression I suffered with when everything that could go wrong in my life did. Work, love, family, finances all went in the crapper. I was abnormally depressed. I now believe part of this depression was because my hormone levels were out of whack.

Question:

Can tanning beds raise our D Levels like the sun? I do have people tan in my Salon for 3 minutes daily ( not tanning at all..) for serotonin levels and skin issues. If D levels can come up with UVA/UVB tanning rays.. I will tan those 3 minutes a day.

Just something I was wondering as my two  friends.. who tan daily... D Levels are 70 and 85. ANd they just take a muti vit that has 400iu D3.

Hi everyone,

Here's my 2 cents worth:

My doctor told me that tanning beds do not provide the Vitamin D we need safely. It has to do with the difference in the UVB and UVA rays. Here is one link below that explains it:

http://www.womenshealthnetwork.com/nutrition/vitamind.aspx

Ironically, until my breast cancer dx, I have always been a sun and tanning bed worshipper, thinking the world would end if I didn't have a nice tan! Years ago, I used tanning beds almost every day before the regulations limiting exposure times, and stayed as long as 30 minutes a day. I was brown as a gingerbread cookie, but I only hope and pray that I did not set myself up for all this breast cancer stuff. I try not to put the blame on tanning beds, but now I'm scared to death of them and would not dare get in one because I just don't feel they are safe, but that is just my own opinion!

But, being the hypocrite I am, I did bask in the sun at the beach and at the lake last summer, got a nice tan, and enjoyed every minute of it. It just made me feel so much better, so I'm wondering if that good feeling was from my Vit D level being up (was almost 48), and why I feel rotten now at only 21 ???

Everyone take care, be well, and stay warm!

Edited by Mods to update link

Bluewillow - my endocrinologist told me the opposite! She recommended going to a tanning salon. When we went to Hawaii, my D levels spiked from their average mid-20s to the high 40s in just one week.I live in Michigan, which is the third-greyest state (after Washington and Oregon - gotta love all that water), and everybody here has some level of D deficiency, seems like, so my levels were back down again in a month, but I really did feel better for a while there.

So I stopped at the tanning salon by the house, and they said that they have a lot of doctor referrals. The way the owner explained it, they have three types of Bulb Setups - Phases I through III, and they vary in the amount of UVA/UVB they supply. They recommended that I go for Phase I - which is highes in UVA, but doesn't give you as much of a tan.  I see my endocrinologist in June; I'm really curious to see what the effect is going to be.

I was reading about vitamin D on the Health Canada gov't website and found it interesting that they are recommending the following: 

How Much is Too Much?

The Tolerable Upper Intake Level for anyone over one year of age is 2000 IU per day from all sources, including milk and supplements. Because of the potential adverse effects associated with taking too much vitamin D, it is recommended that this level not be exceeded.
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/nutrition/vitamin/vita-d-eng.php

Dear Mantra, I agree with Nan...I read that even 50,000 per day of D3 is non toxic.

If 5000 D3 daily only raised your level by a handful of points, I'd suggest bumping the D3 - take 7000 or 8000 a day - rather than get D2. The value of D2 in boosting the overall level is suspect.