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vitamin D3-we need to take higher dose

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 5/25/2010 3:07 PM (GMT 0)
here is the article by Dr. Hyman. He tests all his patients and found most have D deficiency.
www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/vitamin-d-why-you-are-pro_b_585311.html
Vitamin D3 can prevent colon cancer (and other cancers) and deficiency in it is related to autoimmune disorders.

Good food sources for D3 include salmon which we eat once a week but I'm concerned about farm-raised salmon being fed antibiotics. So now I'll be buying wild salmon if possible, or maybe canned. I'm really trying to keep antibiotics out of my body.

I've upped my D3 to 4000/day (by pill).
Note that D3 is different than Vitamin D. D3 is the one to take.
Posted 5/25/2010 3:12 PM (GMT 0)
Vitamin D deficiency is an epidemic BUT the jury is still out on what constitutes a necessary and appropriate level. Current thinking is the set levels that have been reported are too high meaning that most people are insufficient after all. More to come on this topic I am sure.

Sue
Posted 5/25/2010 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
I take vitamin D3 5000 IU every day and I swear it seems to be helping... I also am taking Zyflalmend, which I feel is also helping... On the Zyflamend, you are supposed to take two per day but I find 1 a day is enough for me so far...
Posted 5/25/2010 3:55 PM (GMT 0)
Both my doctor and my husband's doctor prescribed 1000 IU vitamin D 3 according to our blood tests!

ElaineNY

Posted 5/25/2010 4:06 PM (GMT 0)
Yes I take about 4000 to 6000 a day. Whether it helps or not I don't know, but Vit D is pretty cheap vitamin, plus just being out in the sun you get a good dose and it is free :P
Posted 5/25/2010 4:18 PM (GMT 0)
For the past 4 years I have been taking about 3,000 IU of D3 daily and can bearly maintain optimum blood levels.  I find that it is easier to keep my levels up in the summer with all the sunshine than in winter.

But Vitamin D is one of the few vitamins that it is possible to OD on.  It costs about an extra $30 to include a test for D during your regular blood work or checking cholesterol levels.  After testing most people find that they will need more D than expected, but it is possible that some may take too much D and that can cause problems. 

Optimum blood levels are around 40 to 65 ng/ml (100 to 160 nmol). Quest Diagnostics needs to clean up their procedures for measuring Vitamin D. Quest's numbers are usually too high. For example a reading of 40 from LabCorp, ARUP, or Clinical Pathology will show up in a Quest reading of about 48 or so.

Google 'vitamin d cancer', heart disease, crohn's, ulcerative colitis, or anything.  It is pretty much a panacea vitamin.  I find that my blood levels drop when I was flaring so I guess my body was using it. 

Posted 5/25/2010 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
All I know is I definitely feel better taking it.  Less lethargic and I am 70.  I ask the VA to check my husbands level and both of us were just a little below normal.  We don't have to pay for any tests - just getting our doctors to agree can be the problem.

ElaineNY

Posted 5/25/2010 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
The article quoted a study showing that it would pretty hard to overdose on D3.

My distrust of lab tests means I won't be getting tested for this unless it's part of something else.
I'm going with 4000/day for now but it is interesting to hear of others happy with 5,000 and 6,000. I might up mine after a week or two.
Posted 5/25/2010 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
Especially important is the section about vitamin D co factors. Zinc and Vit K2 are especially important on their own for IBD. It's my understanding that zinc shouldn't be taken with other minerals (ie. magnesium) because it prevents them from being absorbed. So a vit D3 pill with all of the cofactors included wouldn't be the best. I give them to my daughter seperately.
Posted 5/25/2010 9:03 PM (GMT 0)
Just a plug for the canned salmon- I love it! It is awesome. Get over the freak out of seeing the skin and bones when you open the can; just mix it all up with a fork and you get a calcium and omega-3 super meal -- the bones will just mash right up.
L
Posted 5/25/2010 9:59 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, the canned salmon is awesome and healthy.  wish I could eat it.  We ate it when I was a kid - so that would be about 60 years ago.  Mom made patties and loaf.  She only took out the bigger bones.  I love the skin.  Now since UC I can't tolerate it - maybe it is the IBS!  I miss it.  Also, can't eat fresh or broiled or any salmon.

ElaineNY

Posted 5/25/2010 10:29 PM (GMT 0)
Lynn, I think you wrote a similar post about canned salmon a while back? Since then I've mushed up the bones with the salmon instead of picking it out as I'd always done and it is fine. Are you saying you also leave the skin in and mix it in?? I can't quite bring myself to do that...
Posted 5/26/2010 12:42 AM (GMT 0)
killcolitis
thanks for a very interesting link. The co-factors do seem important. Luckily I eat leafy greens and a handful of sunflower seeds (for important magnesium) often.

and Babeinthe Woods
in that link is the very subject you mentioned-Quest Lab being "off" on their Vit D results.
from Dr. Cannell:
Remember, to compare the technique Quest uses to the technique Lab Corp uses you must divide Quest's result by 1.3.
Posted 5/26/2010 2:20 AM (GMT 0)
FYI I take a calcium, magnesium and zinc combo vitamin and when i went to walgreens the "Nature made" brand now includes 50% d.v. of D3

I figured I'd give it a try.  Usually at walgreens they eventually go on sale buy 1 get 1.

Posted 5/26/2010 2:32 AM (GMT 0)
hi doors12
what killcolitis was saying is the research suggests not to combine zinc and magnesium at the same time. Scientific reasons that the combination is not effective when taken together. Even though we need those other minerals along with D3.

FWIW.
Posted 5/26/2010 2:50 AM (GMT 0)
I take between 3,000 - 4,000 daily and my GI doc said that's fine.

My D levels are low...my husband's were lower, but he doesn't have UC.

I must say his moods and all over body pain has improved a LOT over the past year.

q
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