Vitamin D levels and suppliments

Since my  recurrence of prostate cancer, 3/10, I have been monitoring my vitamin D3 levels. Initially my vit D was 45 ng/ml. Within the normal range of 30-100. I wanted to get it higher say 65-70. Summer was here so I got alot of sun and started taking suppliments 2000 iu per day. My vit D increased  to 54 in July and then dropped back to 49 in August. I increased the vit D suppliments to 5000 ui per day. I met with my radiation oncologist today and she seemed very concerned with that level of suppliment saying that anything more than 2000 ui is dangerous.

Is anyone else working on vit D levels and using suppliments? What do you take and what levels are you targeting. Is 5000 ui a day to get to 65-70 ng/ml over the top?

Hey BB..........my D-3 level started at 26 last winter. 1000 IU per day got it up to 36 this summer. That's when I started with 50,000 per week (that's correct, one 50K pill per week). I've just passed my 8th week, and will be retested in a month, or at 12 weeks. This is being done under my internist's care. It's not uncommon, although at first blush, it seems outrageous. My aim is to also get the level up between 60-80. It takes a while, so I'm very curious to see where it stands in another month. I will post my levels when that happens. Stay tuned, and let us know how you're doing.

Arnie in DE

I did a quick search on PubMed.gov (a good source), using key words "prostate cancer", "Vitamin D" and "IU". Got 10 hits. Found some good stuff on the benefits of Vit D. For example, one cohort of patients after failed initial PC treatment, after taking 2,000 IUs of Vit D their PSA held steady or reduced, or it slowed their PSA doubling time. I had read this many times before, but hadn't seen the study abstract itself.

Anyhow, I was looking for max amounts of Vit D from any of the studies, but struck out. However, here's one quote: "There are no unreasonable risks from intake of 2000 IU per day of vitamin D(3)."

I like Arnie's suggestion...ask you internist for his/her help in safely boosting your Vit D level. There is such a thing as Vit D "intoxication", so be careful.

Thanks forn the input.Very helpful.I have a blood test this comming Monday. If it is trending up I will cut back to 2000 ui per day and see what happens. If not, perhaps I will try switching brands. I understand that some brands of suppliment are not as good as others. In any event, I will probably back off of the 5000 ui per day.

Very good point Sephie. My Rad doc sited these same issues. I'm monitoring my vit D monthly until I reach my target 65-70. We need to be careful with suppliments,

Vitamin D has come under great interest. Indeed there is an epidemic of insufficiency. If you search for Rheinhold Vieth (Dr. of Nutrition Science, U of Toronto) he has led many studies, including delaying progression of psa in cancer patients. See here one of his presentations:

http://wildhorse.insinc.com/directms13oct2005/

and
http://preview.tinyurl.com/2c4mwrr
or
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9598513?dopt=Abstract

My first D test was at 25 ng. After 15 months of 10,000 iu/day I finally stabilized at 70 iu/day. I have since cut back to 7200 day and maintain there.
The 400 iu/day recommendation is many years old and is to avoid rickets in children. Not a contemporary issue. Over dosing on D is difficult. Prolonged high doses can lead to hypercalcemia (stone formation), not a good thing. Any supplementation should be under medical monitoring. This is a general health issue, not only prostate cancer. Many good things come from strong doses of D.

One of my Vit D, 25-Hydroxy tests, indicated that my level was extremely low at 14.4. My Oncologist Rx'd 60,000 iu, of D3, wkly, and I started taking daily, 6,000 iu of OTC D3, along with the 1,500 iu that was included in my daily dose of 2,000 mg of Calcium Citrate. It took nearly a year for my D level to rise to what is considered a mid range of 54 ng/mL. Now I have dropped back to 1, 2,000 iu cap daily along with the C supplements. Unfortunately, I had severe bone loss during my ADT treatment, (never had the urine test to know if I had bone loss or not) and now have to take a bisphospnate (Fosamax) plus the supplements. Another story altogether. Anyway if you would like to spend a few minutes reading comments from Dr. Meyers and Strum, plus results of many studies about Vit D3, they can be found here at

http://www.ustoowichita.org/pdf/Vitamin%20D3%20Level%20and%20daily%20supplemental%20intake.pdf

Unfortunately I was not aware of these tests until I read about them in Dr. S. Strums book.  Not one of my doctors mentioned them.  Now I'm trying to play catch up.  Goes to show there is nothing simple about having PC.

Before anyone else goes off supplementing with Vitamin D3 you should first get a test done for 1,25-D (not 25-D although you might as well get em both done). 1,25-D is the active version of D that performs the actual work of RNA transcription for protein production inside cells. 25-D is only a precursor version for making 1,25-D.

But be aware that the 1,25D is a much trickier test to do -- requires clotting/spinning/freezing the sample and not many clinics know how to do it, and it costs 5-10 times more than the 25D.

Whereas the 25D test tells you almost nothing really -- whether it be high or low -- the 1,25D test, if it is above normal (30s is perfectly normal), can be an indication of systemic inflammation/infection. And you can't have cancer without inflammation.

For instance, my 1,25D measure 48 pg/ml (above 40 is above normal) just before I was diagnosed with my PCa. At that level you are entering the range where calcium can be re-sorbed from bones, causing osteoporosis.

I am an old Marshall Protocol fan, so I always wince when I read these threads where people are bragging about their high D levels or supplementation. But do get your 1,25D checked along with the 25D if you are supplementing because you don't want that getting too high (shld be in the 25 pg/ml range for normal people).

I have not had my 1,25D checked since that last time but will try to have it done at end of this month at yearly physical -- might be interesting if it went down or is still the same.

Post Edited (JimStars) : 9/16/2010 7:22:25 PM (GMT-6)