Vitamin D - safe amount to take?

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jen_fitnhappy
jen_fitnhappy Posts: 102 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Despite eating well, not overexercising, and definitely sleeping well at night... I am exhausted all the time! Reading MFP and other sources informed me that most people's vitamin D levels are waaaay low which could result in fatigue.

So I go to my doctor for my annual checkup and tell him my problem and ask if I can have my vitamin levels checked. And get this... he says "they don't test for vitamin levels"!!! HUH?!? He said testing my thyroid will be enough!! So he checked my thyroid levels which came back normal. Obviously my doctor doesn't dabble in supplementation or holistic treatments, does strictly "medicine" :( I might ask my ob/gyn to check my levels as I think he is more open to this stuff.

Anyway, despite living in sunny Florida I stay out of the sun due to years of overbaking as a teen/young adult and having several pre-cancers removed. I was thinking of taking a Vitamin D supplement but don't want to over do it. What is a safe amount of "D" to take? Should I get something like "D3"? I currently just take a multivitamin.

If Vitamin D has helped you, I'd love to hear your thoughts!! (Much thanks)

Replies

  • TammyW18
    TammyW18 Posts: 244 Member
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    Maybe ur doc does not test, mine did... Found I had no vitamin d so I was on a perscribed vitamin d therapy of 50,000 international units twice a week for 6 weeks. Now I have to take and over the counter 1000 mg tablet daily.

    U can take up too 2000 mgs daily, make sure its vitamin d3.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    I mailed off a blood sample (I'm in the UK) and it came back as "insufficient" so I supplemented with 5000 IU per day for a month or so and repeated the test and now my level is good. I have a 3000 IU oral spray now.

    These doses are many times the daily requirement, but if you are deficient they have been found to give a quick return to adequate levels. http://www.drbriffa.com/2012/03/21/if-your-vitamin-d-levels-are-low-whats-a-useful-starting-dose/

    BTW - watch the units - 3000 IU is 75 micrograms (not 75 mg)
  • Meg_DeLaCruz
    Meg_DeLaCruz Posts: 24 Member
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    Before I started MFP commitment I went to he doctor and brought up fatigue too. He was concerned about vit D because of.... What he called my "celtic skin" lol. The blood tests he did showed vit D & b12 deficiency so I started taking supplements. I noticed some of the #s in the CBC were low or out of range low so I researched everything... All I came up with was either "common for vit d deficient". Or "common for b12 deficient". I also saw "dehydration". A lot. The doc and I never had a conversation about it because it's not extreme, but I took it seriously enough to make changes. I was really frustrated with how I was feeling all the time! So, It's been a few months, I still take b12 several times a week, exercise daily, way increased my water intake, and I focus on my diet to get the vitamins and minerals, and supplement with a multivitamin (almost) daily. I feel completely different on average. Another big change I made was I cut coffee cold turkey. I use to have it everyday, sometimes throughout the day....my goal was to feel better, I knew something wasn't right. It worked, I don't feel crappy all the time at all anymore!

    Just a side note: I bought vit d and b12 gummies instead of the pills :)

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