Vitamin D supplement?

[Anonymous]

I'm on the very low side of normal for Vitamin D. Normal starts at 30, I'm at 32. My doctor said I *could* try supplementing if I wanted to. Seemed simple enough, so I didn't ask any further questions. Thing is, I got to the pharmacy and there were so any different dosing choices for Vit D. I didn't know that would be the case.

I have been feeling terrible for months, but the doctor can't figure out why. I'm wondering if maybe this could be the culprit.

If you were low but not abnormally low on Vit D, would you supplement? Would something like 1000 iu's be a good place to start?

[Anonymous]

Yes, but make sure it's D3.

[Anonymous]

NP - What's the difference between D2 and D3? My doctor prescribed 50000 iu, once a week pill.

[Anonymous]

My kid recently got on a prescribed adult dose. You want D3 because it's better absorbed by the body (per the office nutritionist) and he's taking 2000iu every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid recently got on a prescribed adult dose. You want D3 because it's better absorbed by the body (per the office nutritionist) and he's taking 2000iu every day.

+1-- I think 2,000 is a pretty typical recommended daily dose if you're low. Above that and the recommendation may change to every other day, or once a week (as a PP mentioned). D3 is fat-soluble so it does build up in your body-- you should see (and hopefully feel!) a change with supplementation.

[Anonymous]

My doctor discovered my D deficiency in my bloodwork from November. She told me to take 2,000 iu every day until March, then go down to 1,000. My level was much lower than yours though so maybe 1,000 would be sufficient?

[Anonymous]

I had a vitamin D count of 8 when I was first tested. The doctor gave me once-weekly pills of 50,000 u for 12 weeks. I made sure to get D3. At the next test my reading had inched into the normal range,32. She told me to stay on a dose of 1000 u/day thereafter.

[Anonymous]

Get the gel kind. Start with 1000 per day.

[Anonymous]

OP: are your thyroid readings normal?

[Anonymous]

1000 or 2000 is fine. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say Vit D is not your problem. That you have numbers in range makes you more well off than a great many people. What are your iron and thyroid numbers?

[Anonymous]

Yep much more likely to be iron related if you feel bad. Typical symptoms are exhaustion,especially climbing stairs, exercising is down right impossible. Craving for ice is a sure sign but also craving steaks and burgers. What kind of symptoms do you have?

[Anonymous]

At a level of 30, I would not take the 50,000 once a week. There is a danger of overloading on Vitamin D, unless you are very scrupulous about getting rechecked. You could do it for three months or so, as long as you got your level checked at that point (you'd have to be religious here.)

I agree with D3. 2,000 should be plenty. If you go with 50,000 once a week, you can find D3 in that amount but would probably have to order to on line--try iherb.com.

I also agree that level as a general matter would not be nearly low enough for you to feel bad. Agree you need to get thyroid and iron levels checked and would also check B12. No matter what the lab normals are, you should be above 500 on that (per our cardiologist who is as conventional as they get).

[Anonymous]

OP, take at least 1000 per day. That's what a person with higher level would take to maintain.

I'd get B12, thyroid, iron checked as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP: are your thyroid readings normal?

Yes, they are. I've had them checked twice this year. My iron levels are normal too.

[Anonymous]

OP here again - I haven't had B12 checked, but I don't really seem to have the symptoms indicative of low B12, but like I said, my iron and thyroid levels are totally fine. Some of you asked about my symptoms. You may have seen some of my other posts over the last few months because I've been trying to get to the bottom of this. I'm sorry if you've had to read through this before. Symptoms: fatigue, daily body aches and weakness (flu-like feeling but never a fever), sore throat on-and-off, disrupted sleep. I'm a 35yo F.

I've had extensive testing by an ENT, PCP and endocrinologist. CBC normal, neg. Lyme, very low ESR (sed rate), strep negative, extensive thyroid panel normal.