Advice on how to improve my Vitamin D levels please?!


Question: Advice on how to improve my Vitamin D levels please?
I am a 38 yr old female with a Vit D level that tested at a level 30 seven months ago. I went on the perscription Vit D2 50000 IU once a week for 12 weeks then a maint. dose of 2000 IU Vit D3 daily. I just got retested and my Vit D is now 22. I live in WA so sunshine is not easily found. I do eat a lot of food that has Vit D in it.
Why does my level keep dropping instead of going up? Are there any disorders that I should have my dr check for that could cause me not to absorb vit D that well?

I don't know if this adds much but I have only lived in WA for 18 months, before that I lived in the sunny south. I already have arthritis from L3-L5 w hyperlordosis. My old Dr said that the arthritis was most likely due to the Vit D deficiency.

Answers:

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

It is medically advised to get sun exposure where ever possible because the skin can synthesize 20,000IU of vitamin D in around 15-30 minutes. It is now scientifically recommended for people to go to a tanning bed in order to get their vitamin D requirements, just make sure you are using them moderately and don't allow yourself to burn. UV exposure is the best and most effective way of getting your vitamin D requirements. The body only absorbs about 60% of the vitamin D in supplements.

I have included a link to a lecture by Dr. Michael Holick, a leading scientist in the field of vitamin D. This is an excellent video that manages to be both informative and very entertaining at the same time. I have also included a link in which he discusses tanning salons. It should be noted that he does not advocate tanning, which is prolonged over-exposure for the purpose of darkening the skin. He does advocate the use of tanning beds for the production of vitamin D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq1t9WqOD…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3es0Xl_6…



Here is a better question - have you mentioned to your doctors that you have only lived so far north for the last 18 months? It takes years - years - for vitamin D levels to drop if you ever had healthy levels.

I'm going to assume he already has checked your kidneys and is on the ball - because I'm sure it occurred to him "hey, we're pumping all kinds of D in this lady, and her levels aren't going up" too....



tanning bed



I have Fibromyalgia -Vitamin D3 supplementation has cleared the constant muscle pain. I did high levels for 3 weeks & was pain free. I knocked the dose down to 2000iu's a day & a week later the pain was back. After restarting high levels, the pain is managed again after 3 days.

I personally did 35,000iu per day for 2 months trying to refill my stores. It is highly recommended that you have your vit.D levels tested but my research shows toxicity only at outrageous, long term levels.

I originally did B12 injections daily for a couple of years & then I tried guaifenesin (Dr.St.Amand's protocol) for 10 years but discovered vit.D3 supplementation only recently & that has worked better than anything else!

Vitamin D3 is not a vitamin at all but a necessary hormone that effects the immune system & nearly every aspect of health. Having low Vitamin D levels greatly increases risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, MS & being deficient can create or greatly exacerbate health problems.

The prescription vitamin D supplements are the wrong type (ergocalciferol ). As warned by the National Institute of Health -

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17023…

Luckily you can buy vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) over the counter and the upper limits are extremely high. Current recommendations are for 35iu per pound - a 150# person needs minimum of 5250iu per day & the rda is 400iu. This amount is for minimal needs and does not account for depleted stores. March is when stores are at their lowest.

Vitamin D3 deficiency is becoming an epidemic. U.S. RDA are much too low. It is possible that upper atmosphere pollution is blocking the needed UVB light from the sun.

I also highly recommend a low carb way of eating to allow the body to regenerate rather than degenerate.


http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1560…
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl…


Dr. Joe Prendergast, an endocrinologist /diabetologist has managed over 1500 diabetic patients and, in the last decade, not one of his patients has had a stroke or heart attack. Only one has even been hospitalized! His secret—50,000 units of Vitamin D3 daily. Dr. Joe further reports:

* Reversal of advanced coronary disease
* Reversal of advanced lung disease, avoiding a lung transplant!
* Cure of multiple sclerosis
* Cure of amotrophic lateral sclerosis
* Regression of rheumatoid arthritis
* Improvement in allergies
* Control of many cancers including prostate, breast, colon, brain tumors, leukemia, myeloma, etc
* Reversal of osteoporosis
* Prevention of influenza
* Cure of depression and many other mental disorders
* Hashimoto’s hyperthyroidism

In summary, the evidence for safety and remarkable efficacy of Vitamin D3 suggests that virtually ALL adults should probably take 50,000 units of D3 daily. This is certainly true for those with virtually any illness.

http://enews.endocrinemetabolic.com/2008…



Maintaining an overall healthy diet not only offers your body the nutrition and energy that it needs to function, but offers several health benefits and avoid serious health problems on a long run. The best available source of vitamin D3 is sunlight. 10,000 to 15,000 IUs of vitamin D3 can be easily created by exposing our skin in the early morning sun for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Eggs, dairy products and fish provide most of the vitamin D3 in our diet. You can also try Lexor Health Vitamin D supplements.

http://www.lexorhealth.com/t/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-d/



i'm 37 and live in sunny Queensland...i too had a level of 30nmol/l. After 6 months of taking 5000IU of D3 (more effective), my level is only 40nmol/l and i need to get to optimal 200nmol/l! After doing a lot of research, i found that i am deficient in a few vitamin and mineral co factors needed to help utilize vitamin D.

Causes of vitamin D deficiency>>>

Co factors needed to help utilize vitamin D - magnesium (most important), zinc, vitamin K2, boron and vitamin A. Zinc deficiency is an easy test i had done for free at a pharmacy but you may need to buy the zinc sulfate and do the test at home. A zinc deficiency explains why i have to add a LOT of salt to my chicken lol (zinc is essential for maintaining your senses of taste and smell). Check the link about the zinc taste teste >>>http://www.diabetesexplained.com/zinc-di…

Calcium cannot absorb without vitamin D. Calcium and magnesium work together so a good ratio is 2:1 eg: 1000mg of calcium to 500mg of magnesium. An easy home test for hypocalcemia is called the chvostek sign. When the facial nerve is tapped at the angle of the jaw, you will typically see a twitch of the nose or lips >>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ-xMeNAq…

Hypocalcemia>>>
http://www.livestrong.com/article/174517…

Lack of sunlight. Everyone living north of 35° latitude will get no UVB rays between the months of November through March because of the angle of the sun. Well Australia is south of the 35 degree latititude so lack of UVB isn't the problem, it's not getting enough sunlight to create vitamin D..UVB rays do not penetrate glass so sitting inside your airconditioned car isn't doing much for you..except make you cooler lol.

Enough vitamin D3 from the sun - think again>>>
http://www.goodhealthwellnessblog.com/19…

Low cholesterol - cholesterol is the precursor to vitamin D. Vitamin D3 is made in the skin when 7-dehydrocholesterol absorbs UVB ultraviolet light at wavelengths between 270–300 nm. Statin drugs can cause low vitamin D levels

Wearing sunscreen - prevents absorptions of UVB rays. Of course staying out in the sun too long leads to skin cancer due to the radiation...recommended between 10am - 2pm for about 15 - 20 minutes without sunscreen. Cancer rates have gone up 30% since the sunscreen campaigns as vitamin D is found in 829 studies to lower cancer risk..in one study by 77%.

Kidney and liver problems - processed (metabolized) by the liver and kidneys into an active form of vitamin D

Parathyroid conditions (parathyroid - glands in front of the thyroid) - PTH (parathyroid hormone) is ordered to help diagnose the reason for a low or high calcium level to help distinguish between parathyroid related and non parathyroid related causes. PTH is ordered along with calcium and usually phosphate.

Parathyroid>>>
http://parathyroid.com/low-vitamin-d.htm

PTH...results>>>
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understand…

Malabsorption problems like celiac's disease. More and more cases are showing up as asymptomatic (no symptoms).

Medications - statins, ulcer medications, anti-inflammatories, laxatives, prednisone, corticosteroids, barbiturates. Specific drugs listed>>>http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/vitam…

Vitamin D Deficiency - the Ignored Epidemic of the Developed World>>>
http://jeffreydach.com/2007/06/10/vitami…

The truth about vitamin D>>>
http://www.foodmatters.tv/_webapp_296559…

Vitamin D council>>>
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

RedAngel :)



Vitamin D2 is useless. The food you're eating is fortified with D2. It doesn't work.
Natural health professionals recommend 5 to 10,000 iu of D3 daily as a maintenance dose. You should probably be taking 20,000 iu a day. The dose you're taking is obviously not enough.
MD's are not experts in solving vitamin D deficiencies because they get no training in nutrition. They follow practise guidlines that are not based on up to date orthomolecular data, but rather mostly dictated by pharamceutical companies.
Mercola.com has a wealth of info. on vitamin D deficiency. Check it out.
There have never been any studies on vitamin D3 toxicity. Guesstimates figure it might be something like 50,000 iu for months on end. Your body, half exposed to natural sunlight, produces 20,000 iu in half an hour in the summer only. Anyone living north of Atlanta gets zero D3 in the winter.



you should not have to tell your doctor to check you for disorders. He should be already doing that.
There are a few that com to mind and one is Croatians disease.
There are also some liver issues that can cause the body to not absorb Vitamin D sufficiently.
You certainly did not suddenly develop arthritis in the 18 months you have lived in WA. This may have been an ongoing problem that is now worse because you are not in a sunny climate any more.
Go back to your doctor or select a new one and ask more questions. Ask why things are getting worse despite supplementation. Ask what other diseases can cause this.




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