Hello Honey,

I take 6,000 IU of Vitamin D3 everyday. During the summer months it drops to 5,000.

Whatever your doc recommends, make sure you take D3.....NOT JUST PLAIN D. Vitamin D can not be stored in your system, therefore, anything that you do not absorb in 45 minutes after taking, is released in waste.

D3 is stored in your system and released as you need it.

Your doc will probably start you off with 1,000 - 2,000 IU, then see how you respond. If you do not find a big difference, then he will probably increase your intake, in thousand-increments.

Good luck

Ah, thank you, D....yes, she recommended 1000 IU daily to start....but didn't mention D3 vs plain D....I will definitely get that!

HUGS from down south :)

My dr started me on 2000 units a few weeks ago. Im not sure it is making any difference and he didnt tell me what my number was. I will ask next time Im in though. I think I need to take more daily.

Hi Cajun,
I checked my last test from 9 months ago, and it has 30 listed as the minimum on that. The range for optimal level is 30-100. I have a scipt to be rechecked now, so I'll let you know if it was changed in my neck of the woods. Hugs!

An old high school friend is now a nurse and she has Vitamin D deficiency. She has to take a prescription for it. She told me that I needed to get mine checked because I am so sluggish all the time. She said she had no energy but once she started her meds she felt MUCH better.

Was on 50k iu for over a year...my original score was 3. I am now only taking 2K per day for maintenance. They are right about D3, it's the only one that will bring your levels up.

I to was put on Vitamin D for a severe definincy... the numbers were low.. so the dr. gave me a prescript... I neglected to take them.I guess you could say.. accidentally on purpose.....and this time when my blood work was redone.. somehow the severity of it turned to normal...sooooooooooo...go figure!!....the reason I didnt chose to take them... was that everyone,,, I personally knew family and not family have been giving that diagnosis latly including my husband.. they havent rechecked his blood work of late.. but will update later..

Hey Cajun...

I'll admit, this is one of those vitamins I don't take on a regular basis as it messes with my stomach. Usually it comes right back up if I don't take it with food.

But I'm usually hanging at around a 30 when they run tests...they tell me to beef it up, I listen and then through some process of osmosis or something, I forget to take it again. It's gotta be the polish in me (ha!) No offense to anyone here I hope. Long standing joke in my family.

So should we start up a "Vitamin D bandwagon"? Daily post...did you take your Vitamin D today? But it's funny, I've had a burst of non stop energy today and I wonder if it was because I was in the sun today? Hmm?

Wonder,
Maybe it was the sun today! I know I haven't been out in the sun enough lately...I was reading a couple of sites online, and they talked about how important it is to get enough sunlight exposure. Now that we all wear sunscreen, we lose lots of the Vit D building benefits of the sun....

Took my Vitamin D today!! LOL

HUGS from down south :)

My Dr. gives me 50,000 i.u. twice a week and my D went from 6 to 38, so I should be feeling better. Trying to. Have a touch of the flu now so it's hard to tell. I don't get enough son, and am trying to do that, also. I eat very carefully and drink milk, eat eggs, sardines, yoghurts , berries and lots of nuts. Bananas. I go to bed the same time each night and take yoga, pelites, and feldenkrais lessons. Plus I get deep tissue massages. So I do all I can and still, I am sick. the best meds I take is Xyrem (sodium oxybate) which allows me to get the stage 3 and 4 sleep that most of us are missing.

I had a low level of Vit. D3 ( a 26 I think) the first Dr said take 3-5,000 IU/day, they also said that that was why I was in so much pain and taking it would help. It did helped with my Seasonal Affective Disorder- S.A.D. (AKA winter blues) but not my pain. Then another Dr noticed that my D3 was a little low but my D2 was below 4 on the same test the other dr had taken. The 2nd Dr wants my levels at or above 80 so she put me on 50,000IU (which is only available via Rx at that level) weekly for 6 weeks and then once a month for 6 months. I did the D2 as directed but with no relief from pain. I am suppose to have my annual exam on the 22nd of Feb and to have repeat blood work at that point. So I have been taking D3 5-8,000 IU for 9 months now and it has been 5 months on the D2 with no relief. I am all for natural vit. and minerals but I have yet to find anything that helps even a little. So I really don't know what to say. Jen

My D level was low, so I was put on a script. Next time it was checked, doc said my D was the highest he'd ever seen. I DO think it was helpful! I forget how much changed when I started taking the D and the B12. I did improve. I didn't "get better" but I did feel an improvement.

Nowadays I forget to take it a lot. I need to set myself up a system. lol

Rosehurts, many people ARE deficient now. With our lifestyles keeping us in out of the sunshine, and wearing sunscreen when we are in the sun, we're not producing the D we need and it's showing up in all sorts of ways. You might have gone to normal, but the "normal" rates aren't what the specialists know we actually need... so you still might be deficient, just reading in the normal range. If that makes sense? lol

I also believe that vitamin D plays a role in our feeling of well-being. The question is: what is a "normal" level of vitamin D, and will a supplement increase our levels, with correlating benefits to our health and wellbeing?
In today's mostly indoor lifestyle, humans receive less sun exposure than what nature intended. The widespread use of sunscreen, including those added to cosmetic products that most women wear daily, further hinders the natural synthesis of this vitamin.

In the media and advertising, many negative aspects of sun exposure are highlighted. Surely, no one wants to end up with melanoma, photo aging, or wrinkles? But what about the serious consequences of lack of sun exposure? Isa low level of vitamin D linked to "light exposure" related conditions, such as winter depression or SAD,sleepdisorders, even obesity?

Until there is a scientific consensus on how much vitamin D is optimal for health, I am exposing myself to moderate amounts of sunlight, eat healthy, and take supplemental vit D3.

If you cant take a vit D supplement or dont want to take one, just go stand in the sun for 10 mins a day. Hard to do in the winter but low Vit D also cause fatigue and bone loss.

Dr Mercola has a blurb about Vitamin D levels being updated in recent years, but the labs are not advocating higher normals from what I have seen. Google Dr Mercola or search for his column on this site, and you will probably find the article. I believe many people who decide to supplement vit D don't stop to realize it is a fat soluble vitamin, and it needs fat to be present in your stomach when you take it, as well as Calcium, or it is not absorbed. People on low fat diets especially need to be aware of that and take it with some fatty food. My level is running 56 with lab normals 18-72, but Dr Mercola's normals are more like 80 to 90. I take Vit D3 1000 mg every night with some ice cream to get the fat and calcium needed for assimilation during digestion. Since I started to supplement it in November of 2010, I do notice that I have less pain from my FM. I work at home, and sometimes I am not outside in several days to a week, to get any sun, depending on how much work there is for me to do, because I work long hours on the computer. In the summer I am outside in the sun for long hours on some weekends when not at work on my computer, seems there is less work to keep me cooped up in the summer when it is warmer. Altho I live in panhandle of FL it has been cold here for past month or so, and I have been busy with work, so rarely in the sun. The cold wind & air makes my FM worse so I avoid getting cold.