This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Knowledge & Support Community

Trying to increase my Vit.D level has been very frustrating for me. Last time(last month) I checked it was 83 nmol/L. The highest was 95, and that was last year. I have been taking different brands, but almost always in tablet form.

I take 5000 mg. a day, though I upped it just recently. So, my next step is to take softgels and try to get sunshine as much as possible although it could be difficult as I am very intolerant to heat.

Thanks for all the valuable information.

mavis if your zinc is low, as is common in ms, it is harder to absorb d3. do you supplement zinc at all?

did you see this? an earlier post i expanded a bit today
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-165990.html#165990

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

So much great information. I really do appreciate all the info.

jimmylegs, MarkW, and ziniamaria thanks for taking the time to explain and help me to get my Vit D level up to a decent level for my MS, and bone health too. I do take Cal, Mag, Zinc, Potassium, Vit C, B12, and Vit D and lots of others too, per my doctors.

All my levels have been good but I never had a Vit D test Never thought about it either.

PwMS do not get out too much and with Winter just passing my neck of the woods. I have been ice and snowbound inside too much this year. My Dermatologist says you're fair, stay out of the sun. Yikes! What's a girl to do? It's a conundrum.

BTW, jimmylegs thanks for all the links. I still get lost on this site. Lol

So I found my D3 today and will take all your advice, and increase until I get to see some sun. Then test again.
CD

i was doing some research on breast cancer last night and one study found that the vitamin d3 target for reduced risk was 52 ng/ml which is about 130 nmol/L. i've seen 100, 125, 150, and now 130 as a suggested minimum level for immune system health. at least there's plenty of research to sift through

you are welcome CD

I used the Nature Made 5000IU. I took 2 per day for about 3 months and had my blood tested. It was only 49, within "normal range," but well short of the 250 I was shooting for. So I don't think the 5000IU is accurate at all. Hopefully someone knows of a supplement that is as potent as advertised because the trial and error approach takes too long.

@rokkit: 5000IU is little better than a maintenance dose. besides that, absorption depends on more than age, colour, clothing choices, sunscreen use, and location.

zinc is a factor in successful d3 absorption. if you are low in zinc too (as ms patients are known to be and as i definitely was), d3 synthesis is impaired

(and because i have my mind on it right now, with low zinc your urea cycle is also impaired, resulting in increasing ammonia levels in your blood. i have know this for a while but had no idea how serious it could get. i read yesterday that a woman who went into hospital was found to have zinc level of 7.65 umol/L and ammonia at 745 umol/L. my zinc was 8.6 umol/L when i had it tested. i shudder to think what my ammonia level must have been. the normal range for ammonia is 15-45 umol/L. !!!!!)

there is research out there that would let you calculate dose response to vit d3 over time, using your weight. when i did that early-on calculation in '06, i figured at 4000IU per day I would be 6 months getting up over 100, even.

i was not prepared for that kind of delay, so i talked to my doc and it was she who advised me to call drug info at mac. i did not give them my personal details i just asked how to get vitamin D up by 50 nmol/L quickly, and they told me. then they asked me why and when we did get into it, they said usually they would give that advice to get a patient level *up* to where mine was (low 70s nmol/L).

the 50,000 IU per day for 10 days was a quick easy fix. but with adequate zinc in my system i can't do that any more, it's dangerous. may i ask why you are shooting for 250 nmol/L by the way?

I thought I got the 250 nmol/L from some research paper but I can't find it now. I guess I'll try getting 15 minutes of sun per day this summer and check it again in September. If it's a good level, I'll take the 5000IU daily through the winter and see if I maintain it.

52 ng/ml which is about 130 nmol/L

maybe you could point out a good link for this type of conversion?

Who knows the molecular weight of all these things?

who *doesn't* know the molar mass of these things? jk wikipedia knows

also google this

si units clinical data

and you'll get the page i generally use for conversions.

jimmylegs wrote:mavis if your zinc is low, as is common in ms, it is harder to absorb d3. do you supplement zinc at all?

did you see this? an earlier post i expanded a bit today
http://www.thisisms.com/ftopicp-165990.html#165990

Jimmylegs thanks for your reply. No, I do not supplement zinc. I wouldn't know how much to take. I guess I should look into that.

I am also concerned about not supplementing magnesium while taking this much Vit.D.

My zinc and magnesium levels are 14nmol/L and .79 mmol/L respectively. Definitely not deficient but a little on the low side maybe?

hey there, your zinc could stand to go up to 18umol/L (you did not mean nmol for zinc i assume?), and you will feel better if you can get your magnesium up above .90.

DEFINITELY take magnesium while high dosing d3. i paid the price of not doing so, trust me you don't want the side effects.

take some magnesium, the most absorbable form you can find, with d3. also be CERTAIN to take some *away* from the d3. that is a critical point.

magnesium glycinate is the best form but take it before a meal. i have said this so many times i can't keep track - apologies if i said the exact same thing somewhere above :S hehehe

i LOVE that you know those zinc and magnesium levels - GOOD FOR YOU.

jimmylegs

jimmylegs wrote:hey there, your zinc could stand to go up to 18umol/L (you did not mean nmol for zinc i assume?), and you will feel better if you can get your magnesium up above .90.

You are right. It is umol, not nmol, same character, just an inverted one

"i LOVE that you know those zinc and magnesium levels - GOOD FOR YOU."

Thanks, thanks, thanks. It's ALL because of you.

no worries!

aside: it's actually me cheating, to write micro or 'mu' mol as 'umol' when it is really a small greek m (mu) which looks like this: μ

1eye wrote:

52 ng/ml which is about 130 nmol/L

maybe you could point out a good link for this type of conversion?

Who knows the molecular weight of all these things?

I hope that this is helpful. It's from a vitamin D3 review article. Figure annotations are mine though. http://www.thisisms.com/forum/post140297.html#p140297

NHE

jimmylegs wrote:no worries!

aside: it's actually me cheating, to write micro or 'mu' mol as 'umol' when it is really a small greek m (mu) which looks like this: μ

Many supplement bottles abbreviate microgram as mcg.


NHE