Vitamin D

My doctor gave me a prescription. I take 1 capsule a week which is equal to 50,000 IUI's. My copy after insurance is around $10. for 4 capsules. It seems high to me for 4. I asked about just buying them over the counter and he seemed to think, or say, that I would have to take a lot to equal the amount of the prescription. Not sure if this helps, but I guess it is useful information. I wonder why your doctor did not give you a prescription? Though it probably is cheaper to buy them in bulk and take them daily. I am all for saving money! I would be interested in other people's experiences, thoughts. and suggestions.

F/49

I had a perscription for 12 weeks.  It was once a week a 50,000 tablet.  I was also on that with vitamin D3 2,000-3,000.  After the 12 weeks my blood was okay.  So now I just take vitamin D3 2,000 once a day.  I also take calcium citrate with vitamin D and that has about 1,000 extra vitamin D a day.  So total a day I get about 3,000 mg.  I buy mine at Sam's Club.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/177447.php

D3 (cholecalciferol) is in the form our bodies produce when we make like plants out in the summer sun (the botanical reference is for your benefit fruitgirl) - so that's the form I ingest. Don't know if one brand is better than another though.

I have heard that D3 is better absorbed in the presence of oil (i.e. fish oil), but I don't know if that is true. Can't think why it would matter unless it has something to do with the environment found in the gastrointestinal tract (as opposed to skin cells). Anybody know the answer to that?

Anyway, I'm looking forward to summer so I can put away the supplement bottle and resume autochthonous vitamin D production by the pool.

Make sure it is vitamin D3, cholecalciferol. Other forms are not as effectively absorbed. Sunlight is also effective, one day at the beach without sunscreen can produce 10-20,000 IU. Most people are deficient especially in late winter.

But you should monitor your blood levels. It costs an extra $25.00 to include vitamin d levels along with my regular cholesterol tests. Nature has builtin controls to prevent overdosing vitamin D from sunlight but they will not work if you take D3 orally. I have been taking about 3,000 I.U. a day for over 4 years and can barely keep blood levels of D at about optimum levels in the summer and slightly below in the winter.

Vitamin D (along with fish oil) is becoming the up and coming panacea. Research in the past 5 years has been awesome. I will not repeat the claims here, they will seem to be almost too good to be true. But Google 'Vitamin D cancer', 'vitamin d heart disease', or vitamin d anything and you will discover professional, double-blind, testing that is blowing researchers away. As for me, I have not had a cold in over 4 years.

If we evolved as prehuman nudists in the African savanna for a million years then it makes sense that we could be attached to sunlight. It is not a coincidence that most people catch colds and flu in the winter and not in the summer.

Thanks everyone. I picked up a big bottle of D3 today at Costco. As for sunlight, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and it's essentially non-existent this time of year! I get quite a bit of sun in the summer, as I work outside quite a bit.

On the calcium note, I assume it'll be ok if I just take it at breakfast, because I have a BIG glass of milk each morning. Right?