Vitamin D: Who Should Take a Supplement

The NIH recommendation of 600 IU is grossly inadequate. Most Nutritionally Oriented Medical Doctors recommend a D-hydroxy vitamin D in the range of 50-80 ng/ml. Mine was only 31 in the summer after running a half marathon (13.1 miles) in the blazing sun without sunscreen.
I now took a supplement of 5000 IU of Vitamin D3 and got it up to 53, now I am increasing to 10.000 IU. Although theoretically vitamin D is fat soluble and can accumulate, some doctors say they have never seen it in 30 years of practice.

Hi,

I had lack of sleep and hectic schedule 6 months back, leading to severe constipation and one night when going to bathroom, I fell down on my face losing my front teeth. I had a blood test done and I have been put on 2000 IU Vitamin D medicine since then and have been asked to take it lifelong. I am already a thyroid patient and now the vitamin d deficiency is an add on. At 37, this was not I wanted. So people, please don't stress out or overwork. It comes at a price of your health.

I've never posted before but I thought this would be an important one to comment on. In addition to the health benefits and issues for the lack of Vitamin D there is one addtional issue that ties into Vitamin D....Multiple Schlerosis. I was diagnosed with MS about 8 months ago. One of the issues that was brought up was a large lack of Vitamin D. Recent studies have found that people diagnosed with MS lived in areas commonly north of the equator in areas with less potent sun exposure....makes you think huh? I was told for most of my life to stay out of the sun or wear tons of 40 sunblock because of the chance of skin cancer...isn't it ironic...don't you think?

I suffered from depression for many years. Found out I was pregnant, Dr did her normal lab work and found a vitamin D deficiency. I take 10K IU per day and no more depression. It's awesome cause the depression meds have terrible side affects and are uber expensive. Wish my psychiatrist had ran some lab work before drugging me with unneeded meds that didn't even work.

As a kid, I was outside all day when I wasn't in school or church. Rain or snow or shine, we were out, unlike today's generation that prefer to sit in front of a cathode ray tube and fry their brains. I live in the great white north now and take 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D daily, not to mention what's in my calcium and vitamin supplements as well as the food and dairy intake daily. With all that, I'm barely on the low side of normal. It would be interesting to test the kids today and see where they're at.

There is a HUGE difference in your body's ability to take Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3!. Always take Vitamin D3.

i work in an office and don't see the sun very much. I have a skin disease no pigment in areas so I always burn. I don't use sunscreen unless I go to the beach. I was very deficient vitamin d and must take a supplement. I already have osteoporosis.

D3 is very important! I went to my Psychiatrist thinking I was depressed and my doc ordered a D3 test before prescribing antidepressants. The blood test turned up I was one-third the level my doc wanted me at so he immediately put me on 50,000 IUs of D3 and within 30 days the symptoms were 99% gone!!! I am scheduled to have my blood retested in Feb. 2012 to see where the D3 levels are after taking the supplements. What a smart doctor who did the right thing instead of just prescribing an antidepressant!

I didn't know until I had blood work done that I was low on vitamin D, I was so low that I'm on 50,000 units of vitamin D, one tablet a week for twelve weeks then will have my blood checked again and if everything is OK then I'll take one Vitamin D3, 2000 units a day. I don't know what the symptoms are suppose to be to know you are low on vitamin D, its a good thing my doctor took some blood and checked. Plus I take calcium everyday because I have the starting of osteoporosis starting in one hip, but at my last bone density test it showed that my bones are getting stronger.

It is extrememely hard to "overdose" on vit D. You would literally have to take over 10,000 units for months at a time. And anyone taking excessive amounts of vit's should be doing it w the supervison of a dr. anyway.
B/c I was very deficent in vit D, my dr had me take 10,000 units for 4 months before my levels were normal. I am now taking 5K a day but it's checked every few months.
If you don't know if you are deficient or not, have your dr check your levels when you get your annual exam.
My dr said most people should take 1-2K a day with no worries of reaching toxicity.

I was diagnosed with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) a few months and my Doc told me to take a Vit D suppliment they are seeing people with MS are more likely to be Vit D deficient. No it won't cure the MS but supposed to help slow the progression of MS.

Studies also show that vitamin D can help fight the flu. Some researchers believe that flu is more prevalent in winter because people are stuck indoors and sunlight is weaker than other time in the year so people don't get enough vitamin D.

Health professionals have scared everyone away from sun exposure by exaggerated threats of skin cancer. This is why we have these defficiencies. Supplements are not absorbed by the body well. Best way is to get it from the sun.

Humans have been living in the sun for centuries. Get out there and absorb some Vitamin D!

so doctor, do I wear sunblock to prevent skin cancer or do I risk that for Vitamin D? The fact is that every body is different and these are really best guesses based on a general sample of individuals... nothing is absolute in medicine or health science

I understand that vitamin D deficiency can also increase levels of pain especially for those with fibromyalgia

@S, I was diagnosed with MS in 2001, and after doing some research, I read upon the symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency and noted how I walked better and faster after sitting in the sun for about 30 minutes, and since 2007, I've been taking a supplement of 10,000 iu a day, for a couple of months there I was taking 13,000 a day--I'm doing GREAT!

Living in the frozen Tundra of Canada, 20 minute walk would kill you. This cursed place hardly gets any sunlight. We are almost always in dark. I used to think hell was fire and brimstone. It is actually a frozen palce where people have turned into icicles. You would recognize the canadian in hell. He is the one who refuses to go home.

You also forgot all of the night shift workers.... they especially at this time of the year suffer! they get off work and it is dawn and it's time to go to bed, and then when they get up in the afternoon, it's sunset....I worked night shift for 7 years and a vitamin D suppliment really helped my mood.

wow, does anyone see the connection between all these diseases becoming "epidemic" since the inception of sunscreen (coppertone, baby's butt cheek showing)? gee, melanoma is epidemic today too, hmmm how can that be if we use sunscreen? Oh, thats right, if you dont have vitamin d...says so in this article..I can't help but wonder, and I hope this makes all of you wonder too...Big money corporations make us believe (fear) the sun is bad for us, then they come out with all these products we must purchase to "protect" ourselves (and make billions), then low and behold, they come out with drugs to replace what they took away from our body "naturally" (making even more and more billions - and lets not forget all the doctors, treatments, surgery's, those bilions made after we have all these diseases because we were told the sun is bad, sunscreen is good) and gee, then they come out with these findings after the damage is already done..are you using SPF 100 on yourself or you newborns...I'd think twice if you are..can someone explain to me how our forefathers worked in direct sun for 12 hours a day, in the dead of the summer, for decades farming, before sunscreen...we had very little cancers back then didnt we, did melanoma even exist? did osteo exist (other than in the very very old) hmm..
Oh, and please dont come back with global warming, we still need natural d (sunlight/real food) for our bodies to fight off these diseases...I hope this makes at least one person think about what they put in their bodies and on their bodies...millions would be better...

I am 55 and have recently been having issues with being tired and generally feeling bad. they have tested my heart, lungs, thyroid, cholestoral, and done the general tests, mammogram, etc. Nothing so far. Maybe this is the answer. I do tend to stay in the house more and have for the past few years. I wil try this.