This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

Diagnosed 5 years ago with RRMS been a Rebif addict ever since. So far I have been really lucky.... Back when the Vitamin D info was publicized my GP had my Vitamin D levels tested and found them to be very low. I have been eating about 2500mg a day since. My question is how many board members have had their "D" Levels tested and how many are taking Vit D supplements. I am just searching for more clarity regarding Vit D. Thank You in advance for your responses.

Diagnosed PPMS 11/'07 one the first blood work test the Neuro had me do after diagnosis is Viamin D level. I take 5000 IU's daily just to maintain a normal Vit D level. I have it checked twice a year.

I had my blood tested last December. My 25-hydroxy D3 level was 109 nmol/L. That was after 1 year of taking a combined calcium, magnesium, zinc and vitamin D3 supplement. This contains for each of the components respectively, 666 mg, 266 mg, 10 mg and 400 IU.

NHE

Thank you both for your reply. I was taking 400 ml and tested about the same. GP recommended 2500/day. I should probably be retested to see if that is enough.

I am taking daily D3; dunno how much

I take 5000 IU per day--
when took only 800 IU (for about 10 years) still tested deficient!
get tested every 8-9 months. Now in high range.

Hi there,

I'm RRMS, diagnosed early '09 and I started supplimenting around 6 months ago after my levels were tested. I don't remeber my level specifically, but it was close to the borderline of normal/deficiant.

I take 4000 units a day, but more importantly (I believe), I try to get plenty of sun. A half an hour exposing your skin to the sun can produce 10000 units, and when your body knows it's had enough, it stops producing, therefore avoiding the problems associated with excessive vit D.

Deleted

At diagnosis in 6/09 I was not offered the vitamin D test. I did my own research and asked for the test shortly thereafter. it came back very low, 21 ng/ml which is the very low end of "insufficient" just above "deficient". Deficient is a level that causes rickets!

I chose to go on 10,0000 IU's of D3 for a little under 3 months, and was retested at 85, which is slightly above the high end of the normal range (considered by my lab to be 80), but way way below the low end of the "toxic" range (listed as 150 by my lab).

I decided to quit taking D for a little while, then go back on at 5,000 IU every other day. Next time I was tested (maybe 3 or 3 months later?) my level had fallen to 65.

Then I decided to try a daily dose of 5,000 IUs. I did that all winter, was retested in the spring after 6 months on that dose, and my level was 71 ng/ml, still within the normal range.

So I came to the conclusion that 5,000 IUs a day is the right dose for me. I live in a northern state and I don't get significant useful sun exposure most of the year.

One caveat is that if you live in a very sunny state and spend a lot of time outdoors mid day with large areas of skin exposed and without using sunscreen, you might consider cutting back your supplementation in the summer, or at least get your level tested mid summer, since whatever you supplement will be on top of whatever exposure you get naturally from the sun.

There are a few very promising small studies showing that vitamin D reduces MS relapses more than the CRAB drugs!

I'm wondering if the vitamin D thread should be reposted as its own forum thread in the "Treatments" section, so that more people will see it and be aware of its importance, rather than having it be nested within another thread as it is now, where it could be lost.

I recently read that big pharma is working to create a patentable version of vitamin D. This is discouraging, the vitamin is affordable and works, but we can't make money on it, so lets change and patent it. Yuck.

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DX 6-09 RRMS

I started taking D3 about 6 months ago. I do 20,000/day. I've read in multiple articles there is no documented dangerous sideaffects. I ran out of D for about a week. I noticed fatigue creeping back more than usual. Of course this is no clinical trial, but when I went back on a regular dosage my energy improved.

I think there is something to it.

wrong (re side effects). pm me for deets!

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my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com

Still waiting for further blood tests, apparently, Fedex lost the last lot that was sent

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Mirry
"Just another bump in the road"

Hey there! Great post.

I had my vitamin D levels tested in June and it came out at 63.6 ng/mL. This is after supplementing approximately 5,000 IUs for about 3 months and enjoying the sunshine at every opportunity. I am now supplementing 8,000 and hope to get tested in a few months.

Does anyone know if there is any benefit in splitting the dosage during the day... so taking 4,000 in the morning and 4,000 in the evening?

Hi Ikulo,



I'm curious as to why you decided to up your dose of vitamin d3? A level of 63.6 ng/mL converts to 159 nmol/L which is right in the desired ball park of 150 nmol/L.

NHE


PS - Justs for fun, here's the calculation:

yea really, please don't get too carried away ikulo!

_________________
my approach: no meds so far - just balanced whole foods (partial 'paleo', much less outright elimination), science, supplements, & bloodwork
my regimen - www.thisisms.com/ftopict-2489.html
www.whfoods.com, www.nutritiondata.com