dlynn, from the sounds of things i'm afraid you are almost certainly overdosing D3 in relation to magnesium.
you would be an unusual person if your diet was actually providing a sufficient daily amount of mag - *without* adding high dose D3 to the equation.
i do not ascribe to the coimbra protocol and any time i have high dosed D3 it has been done based on my own investigations into the academic literature, protocols provided via my local hospital. beyond that it's been personal experience and lessons learned - primarily related to magnesium.
if your protocol doctor is only looking at serum calcium for fear of hypercalcemia and fails to assess serum magnesium for depletion, i feel he is doing you a major disservice.
TiMS member zyklon has published various of his blood test results periodically over the past year and a half. they clearly document the difficulty involved in achieving high normal serum magnesium status, while taking even modestly high dose D3.
echoing NHE's xp, I will add that over a decade ago i managed to deplete my magnesium status while taking just 4000 IU per day of D3.
in another TiMS member's case, 10K IU D3 daily with insufficient mag accompanied crippling full body spasticity and ultimately suicide.
in my far less severe case, main symptoms were shortness of breath and crippling dysphagia (both still spasticity issues).
based on the above i imagine it's clear that i strongly disagree with Elliot re 15000 IU / day being no big deal. must be done appropriately and with attention to cofactor levels and *not just calcium*.
I also took daily magnesium with D3 but like NHE, my timing was off. the pharmacist who brought this issue to my attention advised an approach that is not consistent with NHE's. specifically he said *always* take magnesium with D3 but then also always take *more* away from your daily D3 intake. when i made that change, i felt the improvements within 48 hours. then i went back to my old regimen and my symptoms returned. i was convinced. for months if not years i could feel supplemental magnesium 'kick in'. i wondered if i would ever be able to go a day without taking a magnesium supplement.
after that it would take ages for me to find the correct *form* of magnesium. once i moved away from the highly laxative magnesium oxide and similar forms, i thought i was in the clear. but magnesium bisglycinate gave me a severe GERD cough - it took me a stupidly long period of suffering to realize that the magnesium was over-relaxing my lower oesophageal sphincter. since then, properly dosed and timed magnesium glycinate has remained in the regimen long term.
ultimately, maximizing healthy magnesium in diet and adding magnesium glycinate as needed to reach daily needs has done the trick. i no longer feel it if i skip magnesium supplementation for a day. i don't feel it 'kick in' when i take a mag pill. it's comforting to know that the worst of the tissue depletion is now in the past.
i hope you are able to take advantage of the combined experiences of the membership here to find something that works for you too!
there is a certain amount posted here at TiMS about magnesium in the context of CCSVI specifically, and also magnesium's role in preventing restenosis after a stenting procedure. it's worth knowing your own serum magnesium status and making sure your diet meets requirements to match your lifestyle.
it's also worth noting that the Daily Value (DV) often seen on food labels, is a blanket daily number that applies to anyone age 4 and up. some authors have proposed daily intakes of 7-10 mg of elemental mag per kg of body weight. for some, this can mean that a 400 mg DV amount is insufficient.
these are the D3 cofactors with which i'm most familiar.
https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-v ... -minerals/
i am not on board with every assertion made at that site^, and it could be improved with the addition of proper research citations.
i am highly skeptical about the introduction of riboflavin to this conversation, and would be interested in seeing any well designed, peer reviewed academic literature supporting its interactions with D3.
since doing work on cofactor status, i have noted a major improvement to dose response when i take D3. the first time i followed the hospital's regimen to boost by 50 nmol/l, my levels actually went up by 70. later, after more cofactor work (notably magnesium and zinc) a shorter version of the local hospital's protocol saw my levels jump over 160 nmol/l rather than the expected 50, ie my dose response to D3 more than tripled.
dlynn if you can get your own copies of the serum levels for d3, calcium, plus magnesium and zinc, you'll be in a better position to assess your best bet for next steps. those four numbers are a decent place to start, in order to make sure your levels are closest to those of healthy controls as opposed to those of a typical ms patient
(this is 'step 1' stuff over in the CCSVI forum!)