Vitamin D?

jenniator

Hey everyone,

It is still pretty cold here in the Netherlands, so I've been wearing a sweater, jacket, and pants while going outside. I heard it takes 5-8 minutes to get enough vitamin D for the day in the summer if you are wearing shorts and shirt sleeves. So I was wondering how long will it take with a sweater, jacket, and pants? Really only my face is exposed and hands. I'm wondering since I have low vitamin D and I've been constantly feeling tired. Also does anyone know how long it takes in the winter? It is difficult for me here with the lack of sun.

flippy1234

Don't know but take a D3 supplement. Sunshine in a bottle!

Need2Exerc1se

If you have low vitamin D did your doctor not recommend a supplement? I take one throughout the cold weather when my skin is not exposed to the sun.

Contact the doctor that told you it was low and ask what dosage you should take.

jenniator

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

If you have low vitamin D did your doctor not recommend a supplement? I take one throughout the cold weather when my skin is not exposed to the sun.

Contact the doctor that told you it was low and ask what dosage you should take.

In the winter I do have been taking Vitamin D supplements from the doctor and they are pretty expensive unfortunately Now that theres been a bit more sun, I had my levels tested again and they were alright. But I still constantly feel tired and have no energy. Here in the Netherlands, you can't really get a lot of medicine like Vitamin D unless you have a prescription from the doctor, so it's not possible to just get a pill myself. Me and my husband went on vacation to Thailand for a month. I felt amazing and constantly had energy from the sun! I just felt good all the time and it's the best I've felt in so long. After being back in the Netherlands for a while, I just feel so sluggish and dead. I am from California, so I'm use to always having sun. I've never had a problem feeling tired or low energy when I was living in California. It really just happened in the Netherlands. But being here for a year in a half has really killed me ha ha.

Need2Exerc1se

jenniator wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

If you have low vitamin D did your doctor not recommend a supplement? I take one throughout the cold weather when my skin is not exposed to the sun.

Contact the doctor that told you it was low and ask what dosage you should take.

In the winter I do have been taking Vitamin D supplements from the doctor and they are pretty expensive unfortunately Now that theres been a bit more sun, I had my levels tested again and they were alright. But I still constantly feel tired and have no energy. Here in the Netherlands, you can't really get a lot of medicine like Vitamin D unless you have a prescription from the doctor, so it's not possible to just get a pill myself. Me and my husband went on vacation to Thailand for a month. I felt amazing and constantly had energy from the sun! I just felt good all the time. After being back in the Netherlands for a while, I just feel so sluggish and dead. I am from California, so I'm use to always having sun. But being here for a year in a half has really killed me ha ha.

Oh, that is unfortunate. I just buy my supplements at the grocery store. They make sun lamps for low vitamin D, but I really have no idea how effective they are.

Is it illegal to order vitamin D supplements from the internet?

jenniator

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

jenniator wrote: »

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

If you have low vitamin D did your doctor not recommend a supplement? I take one throughout the cold weather when my skin is not exposed to the sun.

Contact the doctor that told you it was low and ask what dosage you should take.

In the winter I do have been taking Vitamin D supplements from the doctor and they are pretty expensive unfortunately Now that theres been a bit more sun, I had my levels tested again and they were alright. But I still constantly feel tired and have no energy. Here in the Netherlands, you can't really get a lot of medicine like Vitamin D unless you have a prescription from the doctor, so it's not possible to just get a pill myself. Me and my husband went on vacation to Thailand for a month. I felt amazing and constantly had energy from the sun! I just felt good all the time. After being back in the Netherlands for a while, I just feel so sluggish and dead. I am from California, so I'm use to always having sun. But being here for a year in a half has really killed me ha ha.

Oh, that is unfortunate. I just buy my supplements at the grocery store. They make sun lamps for low vitamin D, but I really have no idea how effective they are.

Is it illegal to order vitamin D supplements from the internet?

Yeah it is I'm actually not sure if it's illegal to order them from the internet ha ha. I don't think it would be. It would be expensive to get them imported from America though. I wish there was another way besides having to take a pill always. But it really sucks feeling so tired and having no energy. I don't know how people from hardly any sun countries can survive!

SueInAz

Two things: Can you get calcium supplements that have Vitamin D? I was recently told by my doctor that I'm on the low side of normal for it and I live in Tucson, AZ and run for exercise in shorts and short sleeves several days each week. Odd, right? I was looking at Vitamin D pills and found I can get nearly as much D in calcium pills as in a Vitamin D pill alone and almost all calcium pills have both because D is needed to absorb the calcium properly.

Another alternative is a blue light. Here are a few links that should give you some good information on it. I'm not sure where you can buy one locally but there should be several internet sources for them. I know I've seen that Costco sells them online.

http://www.tranquilityisyours.com/light-therapy.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03222/Light-Therapy.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846322/

jenniator

SueInAz wrote: »

Two things: Can you get calcium supplements that have Vitamin D? I was recently told by my doctor that I'm on the low side of normal for it and I live in Tucson, AZ and run for exercise in shorts and short sleeves several days each week. Odd, right? I was looking at Vitamin D pills and found I can get nearly as much D in calcium pills as in a Vitamin D pill alone and almost all calcium pills have both because D is needed to absorb the calcium properly.

Another alternative is a blue light. Here are a few links that should give you some good information on it. I'm not sure where you can buy one locally but there should be several internet sources for them. I know I've seen that Costco sells them online.

http://www.tranquilityisyours.com/light-therapy.html

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03222/Light-Therapy.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2846322/

That is pretty strange you are on the low side being from Tucson! But it does happen. The problem is here in the Netherlands, they don't sell supplements like calcium or vitamin D really. I had to get a prescription just for a iron pill! Unfortunately we don't have a Costco here either. I will look at the links you send

hgycta

Unfortunately, the whole guideline of sitting out in the sun having your skin exposed to sunlight in order to get vitamin D is only sufficient if you live in certain areas. Above or below a certain latitude, it's not that easy. I would suggest talking with your doctor if you're concerned about your vitamin D levels before you look into supplementation, as my doctor prescribed me some vitamin D pills once and even those were too strong for me and made me very ill (I still take vitamin D supplementation, but I have switched to a much lower dosage). In the meantime, just try to look for vitamin D fortified foods as much as you can. Vitamin D milk, yogurt, cheese, and I remember buying mushrooms once that flaunted the claim of having 100% vitamin D per serving or something crazy, so you could eat those, too!

Mr_Knight

jenniator wrote: »

It is still pretty cold here in the Netherlands, so I've been wearing a sweater, jacket, and pants while going outside. I heard it takes 5-8 minutes to get enough vitamin D for the day in the summer if you are wearing shorts and shirt sleeves.

It gets stored and released as necessary. Just make sure you get enough sunshine in the summer, and you'll be fine the rest of the year.

Vitamin D "deficiency" is one of the better scam-scares going these days...

SciranBG

In Minnesota today it was still snowing, so cold here too!
Doctor recommended I supplement vitamin D, I usually get it with a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement.

zoeysasha37

Could you go to indoor tanning salon ?

weavingtheweb

jenniator wrote: »

Here in the Netherlands, you can't really get a lot of medicine like Vitamin D unless you have a prescription from the doctor, so it's not possible to just get a pill myself.

Just not true...
https://www.kruidvat.nl/kruidvat-vitamine-d-hooggedoseerd/p/2868594
http://www.newpharma.nl/search-results/index.html?key1=Vitamine d

ETA Iron: https://www.kruidvat.nl/kruidvat-ijzer-tabletten/p/102299

healthygreek

thorsmom01 wrote: »

Could you go to indoor tanning salon ?

Tanning salons are great for getting skin cancer-so go with D3 if you need to. Try getting it on the Internet.

RodaRose

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/

The flesh of fatty fish (such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel) and fish liver oils are among the best sources [1,11]. Small amounts of vitamin D are found in beef liver, cheese, and egg yolks. Vitamin D in these foods is primarily in the form of vitamin D3 and its metabolite 25(OH)D3 [12].

jorinya

I live in Nigeria and its too hot to sit in the sun. I know how you feel because I am from Ireland. Check with your local health food shop, they might have some good ideas of supplements. Best of luck!

ForecasterJason

This site should help you. I use it to estimate how much vitamin D I get from the sun when I do get sun exposure, although I don't know how accurate it is. http://nadir.nilu.no/~olaeng/fastrt/VitD_quartMEDandMED_v2.html

bametels

Because your Vitamin D levels were tested and were back in the normal range, you need to be careful about taking a Vitamin D supplement. Too much Vitamin D is toxic. Based on the posts of other MFP folks, it looks like Vitamin D (D3 is best) is available to you without a prescription. But you should check in with your doctor first about whether or not you should take it. If your doctor says "yes," you will need her or his advice on how much you should take. You'll also need to get your levels tested at regular intervals to avoid toxicity. In addition, there are other medical conditions that can cause you to be tired, so discussing your continued problem with your doctor is important to ensure that more Vitamin D is the appropriate treatment.

KellieTru

I'm a Canadian and I had the Dr order a vitamin D level blood test a few years ago (wasn't covered under the provincial plan...I paid $25). Glad I had it done (winter) because it did show I was deficient. I wouldn't have known...I didn't feel any symptoms (yet). I just got the test done as a baseline as that was around the time that Vitamin D was in the news a lot. I now supplement in winter; I use vitamin D drops (1000 units per drop) daily. I'm always outside in summer so I don't bother taking it then.

kchezelle

There's a vitamin d supplement in isotonic form that absorbs into your system within 5-10 mins. Better absorption than pills and even liquid states. Since those normally can contain any binders & fillers
http://caisotonix.marketamerica.com/shopping/details?id=13324&skuName=isotonix-vitamin-k2-with-d3