My Vitamin D number is 15..is this normal?

I did a little research and what I found is that it should be between 30 and 50. I don't know what it does to weight but I know it affects a lot of conditions (like MS). I also found out that it's nearly impossible to overdose on Vitamin D so you may just want to start taking a supplement. I hope that helps.

My Vitamin D levels were at 18 and my doctor put me on a prescription of 20,000mg a day for 30 days because they are supposed to be MUCH higher. I don't remember what the number is supposed to be, but 15 is definitely too low. A prescription was needed because you can't get that dosage over the counter. It will affect weightloss because your metabolism is slow because your body is trying to conserve energy, due to the low Vit D levels. Hope this helps.

Normal is 30 and ideally is 60.
You should get a bit of sunshine (vitamin d levels are always lower in the winter because people do not get alot of direct sunlight with exposed skin.
For most healthy people, supplement of 5000 IU daily will supplement their vitamin d level enough.

Vitamin d deficiency is not associated with helping or hindering weight loss, but it associated with muscle aches (myalgias) and poor bone health.

I hope this helps!

If you choose to take a supplement... be aware that it does have a toxicity level. Watch you steer clear f it.

Well, that depends. This number should have a unit to accompany it. Serum vitamin D levels are typically measured 2 ways- as ng/mL or as mmol/L. I think optimum vitamin D levels should be around 50ng/mL or 120mmol/L, but this can also vary as the council to determine DRIs meets continually and adjusts values for all nutrients based on the newest research. Vitamin D is currently one of the newest and most popular areas of research, but still an area where scientists are trying to establish criteria for which to set vitamin D levels. I guess you are low regardless of the unit. Alot of people are low, especially if you live in the northern part of the country. People are physically unable to produce vitamin D from sunlight when they live above a certain latitude. I would just take a vitamin D supplement or multivitamin containing vitamin D or try to drink more milk or eat vitamin D fortified foods if you are concerned.

I don't really know the link between vitamin D and weight loss, but I assume if it did have an effect, it would be small compared to diet/exercise effects. Hope this is helpful!

I decided to get on a supplement as well. I went with a liquid form (25k) that I found at the drug store. When I get to work, I fill up my big jug of water for the day and squirt my vitamins in there. Be careful though...you might not want to start out pounding 25k or 50k worth of vitamin D. Especially on an empty stomach. The first day, I took 5k, then increased it every couple days until I got used to it. Now I can take 25k, no sweat. But in the beginning it made me feel woozy.

Good luck!

Talk to your Dr. Mine was 8 when I had blood work and she said that was the lowest she ever saw it. I am now taking a script for 50,000 u once a week for 6 months and then go back to get it checked

Thanks everyone for the Vitamin D info. When I went to the Dr this week she said it was actually 4 which is non existent...she gave me an RX for 50,000 mg to take once a week! That seems like too much. I wonder if there are any side effects for Vit D, some people have told me they got sick (upset stomach, constipation) from taking vitamin D...anyone else get sick?

No worries. She is just trying to get your Vit D levels up. She won't keep it that high forever. She will probably retest quite often to see how fast they are rising. Doc's do this with a lot of gastric bypass patients, because of our malabsorbtion. If you get retested and they aren't going up very fast, ask your doc about getting Vitamin D in a DRY form, in a capsule. Some people don't absorb anything in oil gel cap very well. I know I don't. Hope this helps!
ETA: Don't worry about the high dosage, cause like I said it's practically non-existant in your body. We retain Vit.D in our bodies, but you don't have any, so she's trying to up your numbers really fast. Just stay on top of getting repeat lab tests to check your levels. She will know what to do. Like I said no worries! :bigsmile:

Just wanted to add a little note in here about Vit D levels... if you are taking any kind of acid reflux medicine try to take any calcium and Vit D supplements at opposite times of the day. The acid reflux meds can hinder the absortion. This is what happened to me... and had to switch it up... much better results. I too had a test result of 1. And my doctors were flipping back and forth with my having lupus or fibromyalgia.... what a world of difference now that my levels are above again.
Other things we don't realize that stop us from naturally producing vit d from sun exposure is all the sunscreens that we now use in our daily products. Which mind you is needed to help fight getting cancer but vit d defiency is the common result.

Under 20 is deficient, under 30 is insufficient. 30-100 is normal (mine is low too).