Quiver0f10 wrote:I had my blood work done recently and the only thing I was deficient in was Vit D. I was deficient a year ago too and since have been taking a multi with 800 IU vit D and a calcium pill with 400 IU. My Dr gave me a supplenet with 5000 IU of Vit D and I am wondering if combined will that be too high a dose? I realy wanted to keep taking the calcium and multi so I am not sure what to do.
Thanks.
If you have to take a Vit D supplment, the body can handle large amounts for short periods without toxicity. Some of the upper levels have been questioned as to their validity as people have been given doses of 50,000 without toxicity. The dose you are being recommended would not be toxic for the short term. How long are you supposed to be taking it?
If you want to read a brand new article from the worlds leading authority of Vit D, you can do so here. You may even want to share it with your MD.
ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES, May/jun 2008, VOL. 14, NO. 3, 64-75.
Conversations: Michael Holick, PhD, MD.
MICHAEL HOLICK, PHD, MD: VITAMIN D PIONEER.
Interview by Frank Lampe and Suzanne Snyder. Photography by David Keough.
http://www.alternative-therapies.com/at ... erview.pdf
In regard to building Vit D stores...
ATHM: How long does it take for supplementation to increase
blood levels of vitamin D to an acceptable level?
Dr Holick: When we give 50 000 IU once a week for 8 weeks, it
usually gets the blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D to the desired
level of greater than 30 ng/mL. People think that’s too much vita-
min D to take and it will cause vitamin D toxicity, but it’s not. I
joke with my colleagues when I give my presentation that what is
remarkable to me is what physicians seem to remember more
from their medical school days than anything else is, “Don’t ever
make your patient vitamin D intoxicated.” They’ve never seen
vitamin D intoxication. They don’t know what vitamin D intoxica-
tion is, but they know that 50 000 IU is going to cause vitamin D
intoxication. Fifty thousand IU taken once a week for 8 weeks
then once every other week is safe. When you go outside in the
sun one time in a bathing suit, your body makes about 20 000 IUs
when you receive one minimal erythemal dose (light pinkness to
the skin 24 hours after the exposure).
and
Most experts—myself included—agree that vitamin D defi -
ciency is defined as 25-hydroxyvitamin D <20 ng/mL and that
vitamin D insufficiency is between 21 and 29 ng/mL. To obtain
the full benefits of vitamin D for health, many experts recom-
mend that their blood level should be >30 ng/mL. Vitamin D
intoxication is typically not seen until blood levels are above 150
to 200 ng/mL. For every 100 IU of vitamin D ingested, it increas-
es the blood level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D by 1 ng/mL. This is
why both children and adults need to be on at least 1000 IU of
vitamin D a day when they are having inadequate sun exposure
to satisfy their body’s vitamin D requirement.