Wife has been told she is vitamin D deficient (unsure if any specific number metrics were provided) during her last blood test for her thyroid levels.
So, now I need to source some bargain level wisdom on vitamin d, and where fellow OzB'ers source their supplies from?
Any pointers would be welcome.
Scrolling through some previous deals talk of various IU levels, but unsure if just 'really big numbers' is sufficient, and also combining with K2.
Very rarely do people overdose for Vitamin D3.
Most people underdose, and it barely makes a dent.
The key is to test for it. Then go for recommendation by your doctor. Then test again in a month. This second test will tell your right away how much you need to be taken to bring it to normal range by next month. Different people absorb it at different rates as per their health / age.
Even without overdosing vitamin D3, it can affect your arteries / kidney due to calcification, that's why you need to take vitamin k2 mk7 accordingly along with magnesium, I have written more details in my below post.
Ok, but I did just the other day .
Just making people aware,
and most importantly that it’s not just passed through like most other vitamins.
I’m sure you are correct though, more people suffer from a mild deficiency , but taking too much without medical direction can cause real and permanent harm to yourself.
Holy cow, you are first person I have seen someone overdose on Vitamin D. If you could give us more details that would be really educational like what was was your level before if you tested, how much did you start to take, what was your new overdose level if you got tested, what were your symptoms / figure out you were overdosing and how are you coping now? Thanks.
Some people absorb vitamin D3 better than others.
Toxicity level of vitamin D3 is very rare, which would be around 50000iu or higher per day for several months. And if you don't take it with vitamin k2 and magnesium or get these enough from food, it will be even worse. Taking any supplements and you start to feel not right , is the first sign to stop.
I hope nothing permanent damage has happened to you. I had scarily very low vitamin D3/B12 level on the other side.
@sntc: Not overdosing levels , but high enough for my doctor to notice and ask if I was taking a supplement and tell me to stop.
I don’t know about any symptoms but maybe my kidneys are working workings better maybe ,
We’ll see .
well there's people taking 20x recommended daily dose in this very thread so..
Lol what is the recommended daily?
Good info above, but to add my experience: I’ve been taking 5000IU daily for a few years now due to low D levels (even being an outdoors person). Latest blood tests have shown great improvement, now in the upper healthy range. I buy from iherb. Cheap, tiny capsule, never had any side effects. https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-vitamin-d-3-high-potency-5…. They have many brands though. Dr happy for me to keep taking at this dose.
I also take K2 every second day. Also from iherb.
Get the report and have a look.
You can also get the test done for Vitamin D3nthrough online kit / local labs.
Depends on how low you are, in order to take the right dosage to bring it up back to normal level.
But with vitamin D3, you should also account for vitamin K2 (mk7 version) and Magnesium.
The more vitamin D3 you take, the more magnesium it uses to be absorbed by the body.
Vitamin K2 is mainly advised because vitamin D3 will bring in more calcium from the food you eat from intestines to the blood and K2 will take them to the bones so that your arteries aren't calcified. Once on the bones, magnesium is Austin needed here as well to stick to bones.
Of course other vitamins/minerals also play part, but these are the main ones.
If I were you, I would start with 10000iu D3, 100mg K2 MK7, 500mg magnesium from magnesium glycinate.
This is what I used to / try to take everyday.
I have recently ordered 20000iu D3 with 200mg K2 MK7 - https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/156252233561?mkcid=16
Also, got myself magnesium glycinate powder 50 gm for 10$ in ebay. Previously, I got capsules.
Do your research with best form of vitamins that you plan to take, their dosage after or before meal, with fats or water, morning or evening etc and other vitamins to take with them to avoid creating deficiency in other vitamins/issues.
When I was severely deficient, my doctor prescribed me with 1x 60,000IU (60 KD) single tablet per week to take for 3 months.
After that, I came up with my own research and came with above combination.
My vitamin D is in normal range the last I checked after couple of years.
Some people absorb vitamins more efficiently than others. Vitamin D3 & K2 gets better absorbed with a fatty meal, so take it after lunch or dinner where you are eating some fats. If it affects your sleep, take it in the morning after lunch or breakfast with fats. You can take magnesium at night with water, helps most people with sleep as well.
I would say test after 3 months or 6 months, if you follow above dosage.
If you hate, taking tabs everyday, the doctor also have vitamin D shots of 100,000 iu to 600,000 iu once every 6months or so as needed.
Due to modern work environment, most of us are deficient in vitamin D3, and you won't notice this until you are too deficient and start wodering what's wrong with me, feeling tired all the time, depression , anxiety, frequently waking up at night unable to sleep, very drowsy and tried to get out of bed, back pain etc.
I am not a doctor, follow at your own risks, which I found and follow. Of course, I miss now and then and also take break for a while weeks to months to see how I go.
Good luck.
Update - but you mentioned in the description thyroid issue, so vitamin D3 alone may not be your solution.
Have a look at this video about thyroid journey of a person and lifestyle change they made which helped them and could work for you as well
Good info, thanks
Thyroid vitamin b1 water soluble, you won’t cause harm,
unlike self diagnosing and overdosing with vitamin D.
Have been taking 10k-20k Vitamin D3 for years, and my GP said I need to take more. Also been taking magnesium of an evening to try help with cramps and sleep, but never felt it is very effective. (Have leg nerve pains from an old back injury).
Understand vitamin D helps with immune system recovery too, something that seems to have been overlooked in this conversation.
Visited FNQ on holidays and didn't take as many vitamin D. After a week back at home I caught a cold (tested negative to Covid on RATs) and it has been very slow to get over, even though I take echinacea for colds.
Rarely catch colds, and antibiotics don't tend to agree with me, so didn't visit GP and just isolated. Guess my fault for not taking enough vitamin D daily. Not severe (checking temperature and use an oximeter) and eating citrus fruit, but it has just been slow to get over this particular cold.
Don't forget Zinc. I ignored it when my colleague recommended it. I take Zinc/Copper combo 50/2 mg now and then early in the morning with water. This will boost your immune system along with vitamin D3 (take vitamin k2 / magnesium as well if you are not getting these enough from the food). Vitamin C from citrus vegetables /fruits. Check which one has the highest like kiwi/amla etc You want to avoid that has too much sugar like orange which also feeds the virus. These are the deadly combos for quick recovery from cold.
In addition to above, I make myself herbal tea with a dash
of few herbs combination of - ginger, cayenne pepper, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, clove etc with a touch of honey 2 to 3 times a day.
Best of luck.
I was diagnosed as having low Vitamin D approximately 15 years ago after complaining to my Doctor I was always getting sick. I've found the Now foods Vitamin d-3 & k combo good https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-vitamin-d-3-k-2-120-veg-ca… (you should take them together as already explained by an army of people). Iherb is amazingly quick in their delivery (I often get stuff ordered from them in the U.S. quicker than stuff ordered in Australia at the same time.) And their prices are really good with free shipping when you order around $80 of product. They also have big sales 4 times a year with a really big one in November were your can save a fortune, around 50% from memory. iHerb has a huge variety of products, also check their bargain/sale bins for vitamin and food items. You can also get harder to source stuff like, multivitamins, tonics, Vinpocentine (a neurotropic) and Nattokinase the new flavour of the month wonder cure, which would cost a small fortune if bought in Australia.
unsure if just 'really big numbers' is sufficient, and also combining with K2.
Unsure why you need community opinion on the IU levels since your gp has all the necessary information though…
For general information on Vit D look into some youtube vids from reputable sources (how to take/ what food groups can help). For instance vit d is fat soluble, so if you’re taking it without a meal with some fat in it (milk / cheese/ etc), you might as well throw it down the crapper as it will be very poor absorption.
I naturally tan so time in the sun doesn’t increase my vitamin d enough. My GP had me start on 3000iu per day but had to increase to 5000iu after a blood test review.
Anyway, I buy Cenovis 200 pack from Amazon when it’s on discount which is frequent enough. Currently $8 or $7.20 with subscribe and save https://amzn.asia/d/ajSgEYK
Sunshine is free and that's the best bargain you'll get!
If that's not an option, then you can get very high potency 10,000IU from iherb, it works out cheaper because you don't need to take as much:
https://au.iherb.com/pr/now-foods-vitamin-d-3-high-potency-1…
A lot of people eat plain diets that do not cover adequate nutrition requirements. A lot of health issues and chronic diseases can be caused by poor diets, so on top of the supplements you should also consider cooking and eating more fatty fish to increase vitamin D levels. Maybe salmon but sardines are good to eat as they're small so the mercury content is a lot lower than larger fish.
Getting your vitamins and minerals from whole foods is important (e.g. vitamin D from fatty fish, magnesium from leafy greens etc.), people shouldn't rely on just supplements.
I am not overly fond of fish but I will be making salmon patties tonight. Cannot tolerate son's beloved tuna casserole any more but I could do sardines on toast more often. Thanks for the recommendation.
One of our favourite meals is pumpkin lasagne. I slice pumpkin in a food processor now which is very handy! My variation recipe uses 2 boxes of frozen spinach (inexpensive!) with chopped onion as a layer, lightly cooked. The cheese sauce (cheese is so expensive now) layer uses a bottle of bechamel sauce, to which I add more motzarella and parmesan to. Everyone loves it.
That pumpkin lasagne sounds seriously delicious! So do you use pumpkin as a substitute for beef?
Yes, a meat substitute. I used to slice it as thinly as possible by hand, so using a food processor makes the job much easier! Last time I used just under 2kg Kent pumpkin, which made 1 large and 1 medium sized lasagne dishes, so 8 decent sized serves. Used one pack of fresh latina lasagne pasta. Cannot recall where I got the original recipe from, but the addition of chopped onion makes the spinach a bit tastier in my opinion. A little extra milk to the cheese sauce makes it go a little further to. About 40-50 minutes in the oven; I cover the top with foil until the very last.
Be aware that Vitamin D is not water soluble and is not passed out of the body through the kidneys, so can build up to toxic levels, damaging kidneys etc.
You need to be monitored though blood tests to ensure your not exceeding the recommended levels if using supplements, and as mentioned previously 10 minutes in the sun per day is enough for healthy synthesis.
Go to a GP and let the professionals look into it .