Vitamin D Deficiency - treatment dosage advice


(Netherlands)

I recently went to my doctor because I had almost constant pain in my bones/muscles. The pain levels had been slowly building for a number of years and I initially ignored it and put it down to 'getting older'. However I'm still only 39 and the pain has now grown to unmanageable levels - it is affecting my thinking, energy levels and the ability to carry out my job.


I have a demanding indoor office job and live in the Netherlands (not exactly the sun capital of Europe].

Thankfully one of the first tests my doctor asked for was a vitamin D test. The result was 28 nmol/L (which I think is about 11 ng/ml). It's not as low as some people have mentioned on this site but still a cause for concern.

While I was thankful that my doctor considered the vitamin test at the outset I was less than enamoured by a general lack of follow-up.

In my last appointment to discuss the results of all my recent test results (my Asthma has been particularly bad of late as well) she suggested that I take a 'higher than normal' amount of vitamin D and get as much sunshine as possible! She also mentioned that the best form of vitamin D to take was over the counter supplements as opposed to prescription drugs. She told me to take note of the amount of vitamin D I take and she made arrangements for me to take another blood test in three months time.

Whilst this is overall good advice I'm not happy to self-medicate, a 'higher than normal' dose could mean anything! From reading your site some people take very large amounts of vitamin D (50,000 IU per week), but without specific advice from my doctor I would be wary of starting such a course. I was thinking of ordering 5,000 IU supplements and taking one per day.

Do you feel that this is a suitable approach to Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment?

Comments for Vitamin D Deficiency - treatment dosage advice

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5000 IU's a day is too low..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi,

Yes, you are right, your level is pretty low. In fact, the conversion from nmol/l to ng/ml is to divide by 3.18- so your level is actually closer to 9 than 11 ng/ml.

That's pretty low.

So, if you take a look at my Vitamin D Requirements page, you'll see that 3800 to 5000 IU's is really a daily maintenance dose. It will bring up your levels, but only very slowly.

If you actually plan on sunbathing quite a bit each week until your next level (not just 'getting some sun' but really lying out sunbathing) then the 5000 IU's per day is fine.

But if you don't think that you'll be sunbathing, then doubling that would be a better plan. And in fact on the Vitamin D Requirements page, Dr. Joseph Pizzorno talks about his opportunity to study the levels of about 500 Canadians and concludes,

"...a loading dose of 10,000 IU's for 3 months and maintenance of 5000 IU's is not enough [Vitamin D] for most people in northern climes..."

and since you are on the 'lower end' of low, this is likely to apply to you. So, another plan is to do what doctors do for infants with rickets and do 'Stoss Therapy' to 'bump' the levels up quickly.

It has been shown to be a safe and effective way to raise blood levels in infants to give them 600,000 IU's all at once. And there are many doctors who do this once a year for their elderly patients in nursing homes as well. So it's got a long history of safety.

So, while I can't tell you what you 'should' do or what is 'best', it's unlikely that 5000 IU's is going to be enough. And doctor Pizzorno found that 10,000 IU's a day for 3 months was not enough to get blood levels into the 'optimal' range as outlined on the Vitamin D Levels page.

But whatever you do, be sure to keep your appointment to get your levels done again in 3 months, and you can judge from there whether your treatment is working or not.

Also, I ALWAYS suggest that people take magnesium with their vitamin d. Magnesium 'uses up' magnesium and some of the so-called Side Effects of Vitamin D that occur are really just caused from the depletion of magnesium when taking vitamin d.

Sorry that I can't give you an exact number to take, but I hope that this helps.


Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

 


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