Vitamin D--anyone taking it??

I keep reading on various sites of people taking vitamin D supplements & that it helps MS. I asked my neuro about it when diagnosed & he told me it has no effect on it. I don't even take a multivitamin at this point, but thought maybe it would be a good idea. Any input??

I take 5,000 IU a day as well. This was suggested by my neurologist.

My neuro prescribed 50000 IU once a week because my vit. D levels had gone down to 12. He prefers for his patients to maintain a level of at least 80. I have been taking it for several years now and indeed it had risen to about 70. But lately I have had several other health issues - I don't if those cause my levels to start dropping again - so my neuro told me to double the dose; not in IUs but frequency. So I now take the capsule (same 50K IU) twice a week. However, it is still dropping and is now down to 33 even on twice a week dosage.

I have tried most every medicine (not even IV steroid as temporary relief during relapse) out there including Gilenya and had to stop taking because I had adverse reaction to each of them. I was diagnosed more than 8 years ago and have relapse of some form almost every other year like a clock-work. It lasts anywhere from a year to year and half.

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Diagnosed in 2006 - main complaint for which I saw my PCP was vertigo/ lightheadedness.
Like MS, it keeps me constant company.
Advantage of having MS for me - when I stopped working because I couldn't handle stress, I thought I will go crazy because I LOVED my job. Instead, I discovered liking to several hobbies and have gone back to writing which had stopped completely for over 25 years with hectic and stressful job and family! Just as I could not have a better neuro, I could not have a more loving and supportive spouse!

Just as you never know what to expect from having MS, you never know what you will discover within yourself unless MS affords you time to try things :LOL:

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin and nearly everyone is deficient. It is best to have your vitamin D level checked. Thought I was OK because I was eating salmon and taking cod liver oil. You can't get enough of this vitamin from food. When I had mind checked it was 19 ng/ml. The recommended range is 30 to 90 ng/ml. My believe is people who are sick need more vitamin D. I started taking 5000iU a day. Got my level up to 72 ng/ml. The preferred form of vitamin D is D3. It is oil soluable so make sure the supplement is in an oil base. There is evidence that increasing your vitamin D level can improve MS symptoms. If you get the vitamin D from the sun there will be no problem of overdose. If you take a supplement it is recommended that you take vitamin K2 and magnesium alone with it. This vitamin and mineral works together with vitamin D to distribute the calcium properly. Here is an article explaining the importance of vitamin D.

http://www.naturalnews.com/027345_Vitamin_D_exposure_sun.html

Thank you, Gretchen! Yes, I am worried also about dropping vit. D level. And it is true that it is linked to your MS symptoms - that is why my neuro wants my levels to be at least 80 at all times. Last year has been very rough with several different health issues and that prevented me from having an active lifestyle. Plus, I cannot tolerate being in Sun at all - I get severe headache and increased bile secretion. For past several months, I am also suffering from chronic cough from GERD and hence my sleeping pattern has totally been destroyed. I can't lie down, can't sleep even sitting in recliner or propped for long so it is hard to get early morning sunlight. But you are right, I need to find out what I can do.

voodoodoll - I am not sure Vit. D level is alone sufficient to make a judgement whether your children may get MS (I hope and pray they or for that matter, nobody does!!!) plus low Vit. D level is not a definitive cause for MS. As far as I know, there is no consensus on what causes one person to get MS. But I think for healthy kids (or kids to be healthy ) there is no harm in letting them play out in open air and may be even get a little dirt. We as society care too much about cleansing and washing and remaining clean. Some exposure to natural elements helps to improve immunity, in my opinion.

My bad, voodoodoll - I am sorry for presuming they were younger children. You are right, that was stupid advice on my part

lymedisease1 - what you say is absolutely right - as one goes north or south away from equator, prevalence of MS is more. Unfortunately, not enough research reaches southern hemisphere but when writing one of my science fictions, I was researching about Argentina and that is when I realized the disparity of attention.

The problem is there is empirical data about vit. D and MS however, as yet, no exact cause has been determined. There are just theories. And doctors have been able to isolate several dozen genes that seem to be related to MS. But that's about it!

And I think for being healthy, we all need to include all important vitamins, minerals and micro-nutrients. Personally I always prefer to get as much as I can through food but when you have a life-long companion like MS, supplementing it does become necessary. Your advice of getting supplements gluten-free and with no preservatives is really good! For GERD, I was initially given a med and my psoriasis started flaring up. When I researched more about the med, I found it uses Parabyn for preservative. I immediately informed my doctor and he changed the prescription.

My sister is declining with the MS she has been dealing with and she told me about the criticalness of Vit D in 2006...she's on East Coast and I'm in Calif...and NEVER ever thought I'd be deficient in Vit D and when I tested, GOOD GRIEF....I was about in the tank...everyone sits at computers or tv and hardly in the sun for LONG periods...

Before I came in from the Sun in my early 50's, I'm sure I was never deficient as I spent hours on the beach every weekend and every vacation was at beaches except London one year......

Millions are deficient and it's very very sad...take drugs for so much they may not even need but not getting help by inexpensive Vit D3 and K2.....J

I might add that prior to hip replacement in Oct 2010, I had gotten my level to about 80, from a puney 16 in late 2006....and I was aware that D levels could drop with a surgery, via Vitamin D Council, well, I was anxious to see if my levels did fall and sure enough they fell about 40 pts with that surgery.

So if and when any surgery, a good awareness....jam

https://www.vitamindcouncil.org/further-topics/i-tested-my-vitamin-d-level-what-do-my-results-mean/#

luvmyboys9900,

It's not how much Vitamin D you are supplementing that should be any concern. Its how much that is actively in your body. You need to have your Vitamin D blood levels checked.

You can get the 50,000 IU dose from Amazon, Biotech makes it. You would not want to take it daily, but if you usually take 5,000 IUs a day you can take 50,000 IUs every 10 days. It's the cheapest way I have found to purchase it.

10000 IU DAILY FOR ME.....