all things vitamin D

[Daisy3]

My other half was told to take 4/5000iu a day. Even 10,000iu per day was seen as a good amount to take. His neurologist thought the first amount mentioned was conservative. Go ahead and take what you have been told and then some more.

[jimmylegs]

heya bubba, 4000 IU is considered a long term *maintenance* dose, so that would indicate that 2000 IU is draining your levels over time.

also, what's your mineral intake like, ie calcium, magnesium, and zinc?
if you're not taking minerals with your D3 supplement your body probably won't deal with it properly.

also, i found when i corrected zinc deficiency that my body's response to D3 supplementation tripled. it was crazy.

unfortunately, hydrating with beer saps your body's zinc so you'll likely have to take extra to optimize your serum levels! ;D

anyway i'd say go with the doc's recommendation of 4000 IU/d of D3, but start paying attention to zinc levels too. see if you can get both Zn and D3 tested at the same time.

over the next while, you could see if you can get serum zinc up to 18.2-18.4 umol/L, and evaluate whether your dose response to D3 improves in step with zinc optimization.

aim for 40-50 serum D3 (or 100-150 for those who speak in nmol/L)

HTH! let me know how things pan out

[Bubba]

heya bubba, 4000 IU is considered a long term *maintenance* dose, so that would indicate that 2000 IU is draining your levels over time.

also, what's your mineral intake like, ie calcium, magnesium, and zinc?
if you're not taking minerals with your D3 supplement your body probably won't deal with it properly.

also, i found when i corrected zinc deficiency that my body's response to D3 supplementation tripled. it was crazy.

unfortunately, hydrating with beer saps your body's zinc so you'll likely have to take extra to optimize your serum levels! ;D

anyway i'd say go with the doc's recommendation of 4000 IU/d of D3, but start paying attention to zinc levels too. see if you can get both Zn and D3 tested at the same time.

over the next while, you could see if you can get serum zinc up to 18.2-18.4 umol/L, and evaluate whether your dose response to D3 improves in step with zinc optimization.

aim for 40-50 serum D3 (or 100-150 for those who speak in nmol/L)

HTH! let me know how things pan out

Well I was taking what you reccomended, but remember I quit the zinc causw it wasmaking me sick... maybe I need to try it in smaller doses?

[jimmylegs]

possibly bubba.. how much zinc were you taking in one shot? did you take it on an empty stomach or with a meal? i remember getting sick from zinc when i first started - i took 100mg all at once. had to back off to 50mg with meals, twice a day. now i just take 50mg 1x per day, normally. some people probably only need 25mg or less per day. as long as the serum level is 18.2 - 18.4 umol/L (or the higher teens will do .. i recently saw a new study with numbers in healthy controls up into the 19 range.. will have to post that one). hope that helps bubba!

[Wonderfulworld]

Hi Bubba
I take 4000IU as a maintenance dose all the time now, with my neurologists' approval and GP's - like yourself once I went to 2000IU my D3 went below normal again.

The excellent JL gave me the advice about dividing up the dose and Cal/Mag/Zinc and it is only when I followed this advice that my levels of D3 came up to the normal range so the Zinc is a factor.

My schedule is:
Morning - Multivitamin/mineral with 400IU D3 in it.
During the day sometime - 3000IU Vit D3 and 250g Magnesium
Later on: Zinc tablet (50% RDA)
Evening: Cal/Mag tablet going to bed think there's 500mg Cal/250mg Mag.

I've followed this for a while now and I'm going to get re-tested again in the early new year for D3 and Zinc levels.
Hope that helps - I do think the D3 keeps the MS at a lower level of activity - whenever my D3 levels drop I have worse MS.

[MSUK]

Relationship between vitamin D during perinatal development and health



Vitamin D deficiency is a highly prevalent condition that is present in 40% to 80% of pregnant women.

There is emerging evidence that vitamin D deficiency may be a risk modifying factor for many chronic diseases, including osteomalacia, rickets, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, heart disease, type 1 diabetes, and cancer.

Heightened susceptibility to these diseases may originate in early life during the development of tissue structure and function.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1334

[MSUK]

Vitamin D metabolites associated with clinical and MRI outcomes in MS patients



Abstract
Purpose The associations between vitamin D and MRI measures of brain tissue injury have not been previously investigated in multiple sclerosis (MS). This research evaluates the significance of vitamin D and its active metabolites in brain tissue injury and clinical disability in MS patients. ... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1334

[David1949]

Whenever I try to take large doses of vitamin D I get a skin rash similar to rosacea. Otherwise I'd really max out on it. Does anyone else have that problem?

[tara97]

I had reactions to D when I first took it. tremors got worse and muscles were stuck contracted in the neck. I did recognize that at first it did make me better it made me more rigid and stronger so I just took it 1000ius 3 days a week and then increased as tolerated. it eventually leveled out.

I dont know what the big mystery about D is for the "experts". calcium has 175 uses in the body and cellular energy is one of them, neuromuscular function, neurotransmitter function, neutralizing the acids under whcich our immune system opperates.

[MSUK]

The elevated risk of multiple sclerosis relapse for new mothers doesn't appear to be related to low vitamin D, results of a small prospective study showed.

Among women with MS, vitamin D insufficiency was common during pregnancy -- at 71%, Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, of Kaiser Permanente Southern California in Pasadena, and colleagues found.
However, relapses were no more common at lower serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) levels and by six months postpartum were actually associated with marginally higher levels (P=0.04), the group reported online in the Archives of Neurology....Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1334

[trapatron]

Last winter I had fatique every day. In the spring I started with D vitamines. Now the fatigue is gone so I will beleve its an connection between those two. Any else with some exprienses on this?
I allso had the liberation nov 3. No changes yet but I hope on an slowly recovering from the right sides weakness and heavy legs and weak fingers.

[paulmur]

yes I've found D3 significantly reduces my fatigue. I take 20,000 mg/day.
I stopped for a week or so and found fatigue coming back. I definitely think there is something to it.

[jimmylegs]

hey there, don't know if you were also outside in the sun this summer, but that could have something to do with it too - cutaneous synthesis + supplements also.

if you find yourself getting fatigued this winter it may be time to rethink dose (make sure to get bloodwork done though, you want to be up over 100, 125-150 is best, but no higher than 250 nmol/L.

i accidentally went up to 271 on one lab test. i didn't feel any different but it can cause problems from hypercalcemia up that high.

[jimmylegs]

sorry you haven't seen changes from liberation treatment yet.

while you're waiting, if you are interested, you could list all your symptoms for me under the 'natural approach' or 'diet' forums, and i could tell you which might benefit from correcting some or all of the common nutritional deficiencies found in the average MS patient.

[vivavie]

Jimmy, I take vitamin D 1000 UI morning and night. I never saw any difference, I take it as a "precaution". Maybe you can explain me the difference between D and D3, should I switch?

Paulmur mentionned 20 000mg/day, isn't that very high???
Thank you
S