Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BrightLight]

 Hi, thought I'd ask here as I am getting muddled with supplementing. I haven't had any blood tests to confirm levels, so am trying to take general maintenance amounts but there are varying views out there.

I don't take a multivitamin and most of my supplements are taken as drops as I'm not keen on large tablets. I have been quite happy with what I take but recently decided to up my intake of Viramin D3. To see if that helps with sleep, low mood and muscle issues. I am vegetarian and work at home and could well be deficient from a few years of less than adequate sun exposure and diet not including enough.

Anyhow I have bought a D3 2000iu and it says to take daily. I think the UK recommended is 400iu but read that this is low. Have also read that 1000iu is a good maintenance dose. Also read that 5000iu is more like the amount we need. Have also read that you need vitamin K to work with D to prevent any build up of calcium!

I am looking to choose a good average dose. Anyone take it daily that has not been officially diagnosed as defficient and willing to tell me what dose works for you? Several women have told me they felt different during perimenopause when they upped Vitamin D but I forgot to ask them the dose. I also wonder if there are adverse effects of too much.

Magnesium. I know this works with Vitamin D and currently take 300mg every day or so.

[BrightLight]

BrightLight - I'll PM you what I'm taking so as not be accused of pushing a particular product!

S x

Thank you, it is helpful to hear about other peoples research and dose choices.  Heres hoping the intake of Vitamin D3 makes a difference to me. x

[blossom60]

I found this about vitamin K.

http://nutritionexpert.healthspan.co.uk/vitamin-k2

[dahliagirl]

I had a test that came back as 39, in October (that is just within insufficient, at a time of the year it should have been at its highest).

I took 25ug/1000iu a day and felt improvement in my general health and achiness in 6 weeks.

I probably should have had some follow up, but this was not suggested.  I have no idea what my levels are now.

I find if I stop, the aching comes back, so I take 25ug/1000 throughout the winter (Oct-March) and 10ug/400 during the summer.  (I tried stopping in the summer, but after a bright start, the summer was rubbish and I did not get out as much as I hoped.  I also think my levels have been low over a number of years, so it may take longer to sort them out).

I think my diet is good enough for the vit K and magnesium.  Vit D is hard to get enough of through diet alone, though.  I also take omega3.

I stick to the tablets, which I am not keen on as they all contain some calcium carbonate as filler.   I tried the spray, but symptoms come back if I am using just that.

[BrightLight]

I found this about vitamin K.

http://nutritionexpert.healthspan.co.uk/vitamin-k2

Thank you - that is a useful site.  It does seem that more Vitamin K would be needed when you take supplements that metabolise calcium better. 

[BrightLight]

I had a test that came back as 39, in October (that is just within insufficient, at a time of the year it should have been at its highest).

I took 25ug/1000iu a day and felt improvement in my general health and achiness in 6 weeks.

I probably should have had some follow up, but this was not suggested.  I have no idea what my levels are now.

I find if I stop, the aching comes back, so I take 25ug/1000 throughout the winter (Oct-March) and 10ug/400 during the summer.  (I tried stopping in the summer, but after a bright start, the summer was rubbish and I did not get out as much as I hoped.  I also think my levels have been low over a number of years, so it may take longer to sort them out).

I think my diet is good enough for the vit K and magnesium.  Vit D is hard to get enough of through diet alone, though.  I also take omega3.

I stick to the tablets, which I am not keen on as they all contain some calcium carbonate as filler.   I tried the spray, but symptoms come back if I am using just that.

Thank you, I feel more confident in the dose I have.  I will try it for a month at 2000iu a day.  I have not seen sunshine properly for a couple of years and I am vegetarian, it only just dawned on me that I may well be deficient.  Good to hear it has helped you.

[Sarai]

Sorry to be annoying but I'm one unlucky person who took what the GP said in vitamin D3 and had a very severe reaction, it totally ruined 2015 for me.

My levels were about 38 so I was give 40000iu a week, that's not a typo, but it seems those in power say this OK, not for me though within a few hours I reacted but drs said it was just my anxiety. I was shaking, tingling feet and hands, skin felt sore like sunburn, lost my appetite, sense of taste, got the runs, obviously lost loads of weight, I got bilateral tinnitus, hyperacusis too.
I was not told I needed anything else, I should have been told we need vitamin K2 and magensium as vitamin D3 depletes magnesium in the brain and lowers blood sugar.
I learnt all this from a US site. By that time I had had 4 lots of 40000iu and my level was 97.

I made formal complaint to the makers and its all documented in my gp notes.

I told 4 drs my symptoms before realising it was not in my head it was real. I should have been monitored as I am a low blood sugar person, I am quite small too, a lightweight where drugs are concerned and have autoimmune disease which means my body over reacts.

I am trying to raise awareness of the bad aspects of large does of Vitamin D3 in some people.

[BrightLight]

Hi Sarai - really sorry to hear about your experience, it sounds really horrible and I am glad you got to the bottom of it.  I do know that high dosing is given when a blood test is done and it's interesting that you mention the K2 and the magnesium - surely your GP should have known this.  With such a high dose of Vitamin D, something is bound to go out of kilter - that is my laymens, rational brain talking.

I am going to stick with 2000IU max and keep taking my magnesium and watch for anything untoward.  I hope you are feeling better now.

[Hurdity]

Sarai - I remember you reporting your terrible experience. Do you have any information about this ie links to studies and evidence etc? I would be interested to know the scientific basis for why, if you are deficient in Vit D you also need to supplement with extra K2 and magnesium rather than dietary intake being sufficient. I'm not talking about the normal biological processes and how it all works, but specifically the need for additional supplementation. On some US sites (that sell supplements) the inference that we also need to supplement, is drawn from knowledge about biological processes, and this is then given as a reason to do so - so it would be good to read more about this. Thanks

Hurdity  x

[Winterose]

I take a sublingual spray which has Vit K 2 included, you will find it on Amazon, 1 spray lasts for months, I take 2 sprays in winter and one in summer and have done so for 3 years,

[Sarai]

Hurdity sorry I don't have any links to provide. I learnt the hard way and not from sites trying to sell anything.
Firstly while I suffered I trawled the net regarding vitamin D. Eventually I was led to an article on the Mayo clinic site regarding vitamin D, it states a low blood sugar person need careful monitoring, my doc knew I was one of those. My entire time on the stuff I felt sure I was in a sugar hypo.
I joined a number of facebook sites in the US about Vitamin D and low blood sugar and all agreed it is the thing to do when having vitamin D we need K2 and magnesium, I have also read it on many articles since.
I believe its something to do with how vitamin D is absorbed by the body, it needs K2 to help it along.
Now magnesium I had confirmed to me, way too late by a pharmacist here, who when I told her my tale said she had fallen into the same trap, though on a much lower dose than me. She suddenly simply said vitamin D depletes magnesium in the brain, I asked why docs here don't care she said they wont put funding into this particular area of research.
All I know is I did not imagine it, within an hour of the first dose the shaking started. I just wish I had gone to A&E that day when I felt I should, maybe then I would have stopped at one dose and not 4.

[Hurdity]

Thanks Sarai - when I have more time I'll have a trawl round myself. All I know is that we should get most of our vitamins and minerals from our diet ( notwithstanding that some people become deficient through inadeqaute dietary intake) - but I don't understand the need for additional supplementation over and above dietary Vit K for example, if you are deficient in another vitamin ie Vit D - so I need to read about it! The body has to deal with excesses of all these supplements and sometimes high doses can be harmful.

From what I've read anyway Vit K is stored in the liver as is Vit D so doesn't even need to be taken every day.

Hurdity x

[Winterose]

Lots of Vit K2 in Jarlsberg & Leerdammer cheese,