Health & Family Vitamin Ds

Hi, do we have people here on the forum who take vitamin D? I am sure we do since virtually everyone these days has Vitamin D defficiency.

How much do you pay for capsules. I pay usually between $45-$60 for 4 50000IU capsules. However today I paid $6 for 6 25000IU capsules. Does that make sense to anyone? I am feeling mesmerized. How can there be such great difference?

 

I buy mine from iherb.com (a US site) 5,000 IU - $8.38/120 caps. The highest you can get is 10,000IU from this site. Have been taking these for years and recently I had my levels tested and was 98nmol (I think that's it). I assume you're asking about the D3 form?

 

Yes heard about that one from another source too. They sell 180 for $8.28AU
Doctor's Best, Best Vitamin D3, 5000 IU, 180 Softgels

 

I will need to do my long due blood test to check, but I do take multivitamins. vitamin D wasn't an issue on the last test. I also get a good amount of sun during the week.

 

Change of diet won't hurt (many foods contain vitamin D ET eggs, fish, mushes - linky) nor will some exposure to the sun - you can't get sunburn sitting in front of an LCD screen with a picture of sunrise.

 

I have noticed I dont get cold and flu if I keep taking it. Just saying...

 

Supplements won't help if you don't have a deficiency. If that case you are just wasting money.

Saying that "just about everybody is deficient in vitamin D" doesn't mean that you are.

Have your blood tested first.
Marg

 

I have off course. I was at "almost NO vitamins D" levels when I started taking

 

Wow, how?
Surely you have been in the sun for the last weeks or so?

 

I just lie in the sun - it's free.

 

I have taken Vitamin D for years
Being Vegan I make sure my levels are up
My mum was advised to take it from the Head of Liver at the Austin Hospital
She was having severe bone pain he said to take the Ostelin brand as this achieved the best results. Within a week the pain disappeared.

 

These appear high doses - would they be initial high dose to boost the levels, then going back to maintenance levels?

Since I don't get the opportunity to get outside much during the day, and in winter, am fully clothed when outside (therefore extremely little actual skin exposure), I take 5000 IU / summer and 10,000 IU in winter. I take Now brand, but have also used Doctors Best. Make sure you have six monthly tests, and ask for the actual levels (rather than the dr saying 'you're fine'). Vit D is toxic being a fat soluble vitamin (apologies if I'm preaching old news here)..

 

Yes they are indeed high.

I was told to take 50k IU per week to boost it and then 1000 IU per day. But I opted to take 50K per month to keep it easy.

 

Interesting approach. I take it every day to keep my blood levels consistent. I am wondering if a single big boost would spike your bloods for it to then drop off again, then spike etc. (I'm unsure if 1000IU would be enough to keep levels high enough unless you expose skin in summer and winter)

I'm certainly not a doctor or nutritionist, just my learnings after having very low D levels a few years ago (and the wonderful, or very dangerous, internet) to work out an approach for myself.

 

not something I chose to do myself. my doctor gave me options and said that people usually forget capsules on a daily basis. its easier if you keep the frequency low but dosage high. I know people who take Vitamin D shots per year. thats easier...

 

Great stuff. Working with your dr and regular testing, it looks like you're all go. You could buy 5,000 IU tabs (there could be 10,000 IU tabs available too) and take multiple at a time, they're smaller capsules.

 

Usually I am more deficient in winter than summer but I try on sunny days to go outside the house, have coffee, walk the dog around the pool, hence have my 20-30 minutes of vitamin 'D' from outside light. Hence I know I am fortunate enough to do it and have the time so I am not deficient, whereas my two kids take the supplements!

 

Moved from Brisbane to Darwin and my vitamin 'D' levels went up by over 30%. Spend less time outside here too.