I just got a call from my endo’s office telling me that in my last bloodwork, he did a Vitamin D panel on me, and that I am deficient. Does anyone else have any experience with this? He prescribed a supplement for me. I’m not sure what to expect.
Sometimes I feel like his guinea pig. If it’s the latest and greatest, he seems to prescribe it for me. Or what ever the drug reps are pushing I guess. Does anyone else feel like that? I’m just a little frustrated with it all today. Thanks!
Nancy
Hi Nancy
Your doc is correct. The vitamin D has been proven to be very effective for us. It has been established in some excellent research which i am unfortunately unable to remember where it is at the moment. Anyway my doc has had me taking extra this entire year. We also started it on our young prediabetics (in our family) this year in July. They get it twice a day every day just like i do. We use the vitamin D3 form It has also been proven helpful in preventing breast cancer And I have to say our little ones who take it have not had colds or sore throats or coughs so far this school year. I don’t know if that has helped with the colds and stuff or not but I am all for it.
Nancy-
My last lab came back the same as yours:) I have to take 5,000 IU of Vitamin D tablets.
It doesn’t bother me, if I can correct it with VD tab’s I am good to go.
Same here. For the last 12 months my Endo has by on me to get my Vit D levels up to around 50. My last few came back in the mid 30s. I take some OTC Vit D, but will be going with a prescription the next time I see him. This way I only have to take one pill/day instead of multiple ones.
Is 50 the level that others are hearing is good to strive for?
Thanks you all! Glad to see I’m not alone, but sorry that we all have more meds to take! I don’t know what my levels were, they are supposed to be mailing me a copy of the labwork. I asked about OTC, and why did I have to have another prescription, and was told that the script form is a different formulation, and the OTC would not get metabolised correctly, and I would end up peeing most of it out. Have you all heard that, also?
I’d be happy to have a doctor who was current & was testing this & anything else. Mine hasn’t & I’m going to ask about this. Thanks for brining this up!
I’ve been taking D3 with my calcium/magnesium caps. It’s 2000 IU. Am wondering if this is near enough now.
Nancy & Tony, hope you will share what dosage & form your Rx Vit D is when you get it. If insurance covers this, better than paying for OTC.
I understand that a level of 50 is considered deficient. A level of 30 nanograms or 75 nanomoles is considered a better reading. This is the way a lab test reads. What we normally see is as IU’s or international units. So it would be better to start off with what DiabeticiseMe is using at 5000 IU’s per day and see how this pulls up your lab values. Remember that nothing is built in a day. it will take time to see your values rise because we use this vitamin very heavily each day for bones, immune health and all kind of things. Some of us do not break down and use vitamins very well.and your doctor may also prescribe a little pill to help you utilize what you are taking in. It is just a small supplement and not very expensive, but may make the difference in the outcome for you. The one I use costs me $3.99. But before you think about this be sure to ask your doctor about it. Vitamin D in the form of D3 is available at places like Walmart and I am sure all over the place. However you can get the supplemant best for you is the way i would go.
There’s been some research on whether vitamin D can affect diabetes; perhaps he’s read it.
I’ve been having trouble entering hyperlinks on this website recently, so the link could be invisible. It goes to a page that’s rather hard to read without a biochemistry education, though.
You are not alone…I’m also on the D3 wagon. My last result was 15 with the “normal” values 32 - 100 NG/ML
I don’t yet know what my test said, but when I picked up my prescription today, it is 1 pill and is 50,000 units. I’ll take it once a week. Hopefully, I’ll get my test results in the mail in a day or two.
My test results say: 20-100 ng/ml is the normal range. My doctor suggested a level around 50 might be optimal. That said, I think my recommendation is for 2,000 IUs/day.
My problem is that i am diligent at taking my vitamins in the morning, but tend to miss ones throughout the day or evening. If I get an Rx form that’s once a day, it would help me stay on track.
Perhaps someone more knowledgeable has more info, but here’s something interesting about Vit D.
Public Awareness Announcement
Vitamin D 3 or D2 ? 20 August 2007
Health Freedom Resources
www.healthfree.com, Call: 727-443-7711, ron@healthfree.com
VItamin D3 or D2 What’s the Difference?
We received this email from a friend and wanted to pass it on to you. There is a lot of information recently in the news about the vital necessity of Vitamin D to prevent a score of major degenerative diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, MS, osteoprosis, even obesity. Research indicates higher blood levels are necessary for health so we probably need more than the 400 I.U. previously recommended, but some people can easily tolerate and respond to more, while others find it toxic even at low levels. So you need to know before you go. We plan to do a major newsletter about this issue with facts from the research, and exposing some misconceptions about what you need to do. For now, we want you to know this from Dr. Davis, M.D. as there is indeed a big difference in effectiveness between Vitamin D3, the active human form, and Vitamin D2:
"I am deeply disturbed by the state of affairs in heart disease. Hospitals, drug companies, medical device companies, and physicians all profit enormously from heart disease. Here I expose the startling array of scams that exist. I discuss how people can recognize them and potentially avoid them.
"It happened yet again.
"Mel came to the office. CT heart scan score: 799–quite high, enough to pose a real threat very soon. Thus, no time to lose in instituting an effective prevention program.
"We do the usual–identify the six causes of coronary plaque; begin fish oil, show him how to correct his plaque causes. You’ve heard it before.
"Vitamin D blood level in March: 17 ng/ml–severe deficiency.
"Vitamin D replacement needs to be a part of his coronary plaque control program. So I suggested 6000 units per day of an oil-based preparation of vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Conveniently, there is a Vitamin Shoppe outlet across the street from my office. I just point and tell people to go across the street.
"Mel did just that. However, he also informed his primary care physician about his vitamin D deficiency. His primary physician promptly told him he needed to take a prescription form of vitamin D and not to bother with just a supplement.
"So Mel stopped his vitamin D capsules and started taking vitamin D prescription “medication.” Mel figured, naturally, that if it requires a prescription, it must be better. Unfortunately, Mel and his doctor failed to pass the change in strategy onto us.
"So, four months later, Mel got repeat vitamin D blood level: 19 ng/ml.
"I’ve seen this too many times. The prescription form of vitamin D is nonsense. There’s hardly any effect on blood levels of vitamin D3 at all. The body’s conversion of this non-human form of D is extremely inefficient and therefore virtually useless. While it raises the blood level of vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and thereby total D (D3 + D2), there is negligible effect on the real human and active form, D3.
"How and why this preparation got through the FDA process to obtain approval as a drug is beyond me, though I am not a defender of FDA practices and politics.
"This notion that “if it’s a prescription, it must be better” is a fiction perpetuated by the drug industry. The same principle gets tossed around with fish oil, hormones like estrogens and testosterone, and others. Often, the principal difference between prescription and non-prescription is patent protection. Patent protection provides profit protection. Selling a product without patent protection can be risky business. It’s certainly less profitable.
"As always, getting at the truth is sometimes the most difficult job of all. Prescription vitamin D belongs in the garbage. Vitamin D capsules (gelcaps) do the job and do it well, over and over, with reliable, consistent and substantial rises in blood levels of 25-OH-vitamin D3.
“And nobody–nobody–pays me to say this. I say it because I believe it’s true.” ~ Dr. Davis, M.D.
Very Interesting! I will do more research on it!
The word is not Guinea Pig. We are Money generating machines for the big Pharms who legalized drug pushers.WHich are worse than the drug pusher on the cornor.At lease the cornor pusher ,we know who he is…If you don’t believe their just legal drug pushers ;look around you doctors office . Did you notice all the little gifts they give your doctor to push these drugs on you? Have you ever been in the doctors office at lunch time and the drug reps bring in lunch for everyone ? And how about Free Trips, Box Seats at ball games to bribe the doctor to push their product. The average drug Co. spends 15,000 dollars a year on every doctor in practice in this country. Who do you thing pays that money ? Us 'the consumer.
Prescription and artifical vitamin D is highly toxic and limited in benifits. Your best bet is 20 min. of full sun exposure a day. You will recieve 20,000IU’s a day. The best part is you body will shut off the production of Vitamin D production when you reach optimal leval. Second best choice is Cod Liver Oil. If you’re like me the second choice is a must. In N.E. Ohio the sun can be rare ,espesially in the winter.
Agree completely! We’re all the geese that laid the golden eggs.
Been reading up on Vit D since this discussion started. Have read research that says people over the age of 40 don’t get sufficient Vit D from the sun. Guess it may have to do with not being able to synthesize it properly after a certain age. Darker skinned people need more sunlight than lighter skinned people because their melatonin blocks it.
Research I read also said that people shouldn’t mega dose on Vit D without first getting levels checked.