HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

vitamin D

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 10/19/2012 4:19 PM (GMT 0)
Has anyone taken abundant amounts of vitamin D. It was suggested to me to take 10,000 units a day, suppose to be good for inflammation. At that amount there is no chance of Od'ing on vit. D. Worth a shot? or BS?
Posted 10/19/2012 4:39 PM (GMT 0)
i've been taking 10,000 iu a day and my D levels are in the normal range.
Posted 10/19/2012 5:10 PM (GMT 0)
I read this article a while back that discusses a study of vitamin D and crohns disease:

http://www.webmd.com/ibd-crohns-disease/crohns-disease/news/20111031/southerners-may-be-less-likely-to-have-crohns

I haven't taken vit D but the study is interesting.  Mary

Posted 10/19/2012 5:25 PM (GMT 0)
I've taken that dosage for a about a year now. I mainly did it to help me protect against cancers. I have no idea what my vitamin D level actually was but it is usually lower in IBD patients. It hasn't helped my UC one bit at all but I continue taking it to help protect agaisnt cancer.
Posted 10/19/2012 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, if you take too much of it, you could suffer from toxicity.
That's the reason it is so important together a blood serum level first, and then after you start supplementation every 4 months or so.

I take 100,000 units every 10 days per my doc's prescription.
Posted 10/19/2012 7:51 PM (GMT 0)
I had low vitamin d and now take 4,000 IU a day. Hasn't helped my UC at all but I think its helped my immune system.
Posted 10/19/2012 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
I take 15,000 units most days (I occasionally forget). At 10,000 units I was just barely low-normal range.
Posted 10/20/2012 2:55 AM (GMT 0)
I have been taking 10,000 IU a day for a couple years- has made no difference in my UC but has brought my serum level from below normal range to a little abive middle of normal range.
Posted 10/20/2012 3:22 AM (GMT 0)
I don't think it's BS

I've participated in a vit D study for several years. My levels went low at the same time I developed UC. I take 5000 units a day once I'm not in the sun very much. It's important to make sure you take D3 and safer to get your levels checked.

Lots of info at the Vitamin D Council.
Posted 10/20/2012 3:53 AM (GMT 0)
From my docTor: Vit D takes a very long time to enter your system. If it is low it can take 6 months to be normal lets say taking 2000 iu a day. Taking 10000 will just give you an excess which you will pee out. It may even show up normal on bloodwork taking the excess but in reality wont be where it needs to be. I am unsure but he may have been only refering to it being in Places where it helps absorb calcium.

Im taking 2000 iu a day for increased calcium intake because of prednisone and because my vut D us naturally low. Based of my experience the 10000 is overkill. 5000 i would say on a really bad flare because of abdorption issues.
Posted 10/20/2012 7:11 AM (GMT 0)
Not true that one will "just pee out excess vitamin D"! The body stores it in tissue, the reason it can become toxic with large doses. I got extremely sick from a 50,000-unit megapill (generic Drisdol) containing calcitriol; some people are allergic to that. It's an essential vitamin, but not a magic potion against UC, IMHO. / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 10/20/2012 11:23 AM (GMT 0)
I'm taking 2000 ius/day after my latest bloodwork showed my levels as too low. I'll be interested to see if levels increase after adding a supplement.
Posted 10/20/2012 11:43 AM (GMT 0)
So, how does one know if one over-dosing? Blood serum levels way above normal? Would being on the high side of normal range not be fine?
Posted 10/20/2012 1:27 PM (GMT 0)

DBwithUC said...
I take 15,000 units most days (I occasionally forget). At 10,000 units I was just barely low-normal range

Probiotic said...
So, how does one know if one over-dosing? Blood serum levels way above normal? Would being on the high side of normal range not be fine?


Do whatever it takes to get your blood levels into the optimum range, 40-60 ng/ml (100-150 nmol/L), or maybe even 50-70 ng/ml. The upper levels, e.g. 100 ng/ml, are technically safe but there are examples of people who maintained near the 100 level and then found themselves in a toxic overload when they vacationed at a beach getting more vit D via natural sunlight.

If DBwithUC has to take 10-15,000 iu per day then that is fine, everyone is different. There are people on the Crohn's forum, probably because of poor intestinal absorption, who take large amounts of vit D but their blood levels are still on the low side.

That's why it is important to regularly get your blood levels measured. I was shocked at first to need 5,000 iu per day considering the official RDA was only 400 iu. DBwithUC needs 15,000 iu/day but that would put me into toxic overload.
Posted 10/20/2012 4:08 PM (GMT 0)
Doctors THINK that Vit D bloods should be in 60-80 range, but they don't know for sure. But YES, as BabeintheWoods writes above, Crohn's patients can safely take higher doses of D supplements than UCers if they have small intestine absorption problems. Just be aware that one does not "pee out" excess D quickly-- the B & C vitamins transit quickly. A & D get stored in body tissue & therefore have toxicity issues. / Old Hat (32 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 10/20/2012 4:36 PM (GMT 0)
Since Vit D3 is fat soluble, it must be taken with some kind of fatty meal or fat of some kind in order to be effectively absorbed.
Posted 10/20/2012 7:58 PM (GMT 0)
Who really knows with this stuff? It seems as though there's a fair amount of literature out there on the benefits of vit D and I'm convinced enough about it to give it a whirl. Started 5,000 IU per day two days ago. Can't give any kind of real feedback at this point.
Posted 10/20/2012 10:25 PM (GMT 0)
I didn't know that Vitamin D was toxic in high levels (5000-20,000iu), I could have sworn I had read numerous articles on how these amounts were great all year round. =/

I'd like to start taking 10,000iu

I know that Vitamin E and A are toxic at high levels for sure.
Posted 10/21/2012 3:36 AM (GMT 0)
I have been gradually increasing my dose for a couple of days, no improvement, but I will keep with it and see what happens. I am up to 7000U/day. Plan to go up to 10,000u and hold for a while. Wouldn't that be nice if it was as easy as upping your vit D dose?
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply