Hi Everyone,
How much Vitamin D3 do you take?
It is fat soluble so there appears to be toxicity concerns. Please also share with us your vit D level when it was tested. Trying to understand the relationship between better health and “safe” quantity of supplementation.
My recent vit D 25OH 40.8 and I have been taking 2,000 IU daily.
Is “more better” - up to what level?
I was taking 5,000 / day for years— my level was then tested and was 90ish. Doc told me then I could reduce to 2400… Tested again a year later in the 60s which he felt was optimal for me…
I take 4,000 IU daily. I cannot remember my last test results.
Sarah 
I take as much as needed. Seriously. My endo tested my vitamin D and it was very low. I took 10,000 IUs/day for 9 months before I was able to get it up to normal levels. Then I switched to 6,000 IUs/day and now I take 4,000 IUs/day and am stable. But I took as much as was needed to get normalized tests. And it took a while to get there.
Like Brian, I let the test results determine it. At the moment I am taking 10,000 units a day. Any less and I drop out of the reference range.
I have a Swedish orthopaedic specialist and he told me most Americans are very Vitamin D deficient. When I asked him why he thought that was, his answer was this: America doesn’t have enough nude beaches. LOL
Sarah
The average American spends what is it about 6 minutes outside each day? That definitely doesn’t help.
My warped mind connects taking Vitamin D with any other supplement – and promptly forgets to take it more often than not – I have never been able to maintain ANY habit of taking any supplement, though I can adhere to a “medication” regularly (even if it requires precise timing!) for years…
My “problem” notwithstanding, I was told to take 2000 units a day, but was never retested to see if it was sufficient.
Interesting and related article:
The data I have seen indicates that it isn’t a purely American problem (like diabetes), but exists in some degree throughout the developed world.
Now I think about it, that really doesn’t make much sense for Swedes, either. There is a relatively small part of the year when they could use a nude beach, even if available. So for the other 6 or 9 months, they would be just as badly off.
I take 50,000 units once a week.
Years ago my then/endo cut me from 4,000 IU to 2,000, stating that the higher amount would give me kidney stones???
The key, I think, is testing.
When I was first s tested it was 23, and I was put on 5000 units per day. Six months later at a level of 44, amount was increased to 10,000.
It’s been nine months since the last test, and just had blood drawn today… awaiting results. As I understand it, optimal levels are between 60 and 80.
Some time back, the VA made it possible for me to access my lab test results online. Below are the results plus the “Interpretation” ranges they provide for whatever use it might to anyone. I am taking one 1,000 unit tablet per day.
CALCIDIOL, Result: 30, Units: ng/mL, Reference Range: 21-50
Lab Test: Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy
For some reason my VA interpretation section indicates that an “optimal” amount from their perspective was changed in July of 2013 to be 21 to 50. Don’t know why it changed or if my results even use the same units of measure as yours.
This matches my understanding that they’ve shifted from essentially a “more is better” notion to a more narrowly defined optimal range relatively recently.
LOL 
Sorry, this was in response to the Swedish Dr’s statement!
I have been tested below 30 on 2 occasions. I supplemented as directed for repletion and got to about 60. I have been taking 2,000-5,000 IU per day only to have discovered some concern about calcifying tissues. I have a high serum calcium. So, at this point…I don’t know what to do. I have not taken Vit D for about 3 weeks. Thought I would try to get some sun 15 mins every day and see what my lab work looks like. Anyone else read about calcification of soft tissues (arteries, etc.)?
This is one of the reasons that I wanted to post and start the discussion.
My hope is that we can share/exchange helpful information. Are there some concerns of “too much” Vit D which could lead to other health concerns?
We, PWD, seem to have lower Vit D levels than gluco normal people. It would seem sensible to increase Vit D…but to what level? is optimal 50, 80? What is the Vit D level of a gluco normal person?
Most Americans are vitamin D deficient unless they’re supplementing, regardless of diabetes. So I don’t think it’s something that is unique to diabetes at all, but do think it’s likely that it’s being checked more frequently in people who are seeing doctors more often and receiving overall more intensive healthcare, such as us. I believe everyone should shoot for the currently accepted healthy levels, without much concern if it goes a bit higher than the newly tightened reference range that @irrational_John just posted… All things considered, I think I’d be just as content to see mine anywhere from 30-75 or so and think that’s appropriate for all people with or without diabetes.
SAMPLING OF INFO SUGGESTING THE COMPLEXITY OF SUPPLEMENTING LAB VALUES:
Suzanne C. van Dijk1, Evelien Sohl2, Christian Oudshoorn3,. (2014). Non-linear associations between serum 25-OH vitamin D and indices of arterial stiffness and arteriosclerosis in an older population. http://ageing.oxfordjournals.org/content/44/1/136.full#xref-ref-13-1
Quotes from the text. Suggest reading at least the summaries and discussions.
“From Vitamin D deficiency was defined as a serum 25(OH)D level < 50 nmol/L according to literature since 25(OH)D levels <50 nmol/l have reported to be related to several clinical disorders such as osteoporosis”
“Several mechanisms may explain why high serum 25(OH)D levels are associated with an elevated carotid IMT. First, an increase of vitamin D levels will lead to an increased calcium absorption in the gastrointestinal tract, which in turn may result in higher circulating calcium concentrations. These higher calcium levels could contribute to vascular calcification, in particular in atherosclerotic plaques in the vessel wall. This may be further aggravated because high levels of vitamin D are known to up-regulate vitamin D receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells, reducing the activity of matrix metalloproteinases, which also contributes to calcium deposition in the vessel wall [25].”
OPPOSING INFORMATION:
Francesco Giallauria, Yuri Milaneschi, Toshiko Tanaka. (2012). Arterial Stiffness and Vitamin D Levels: the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2012-1584
See links to studies done in diabetics and younger individuals.
“Vitamin D levels are inversely associated with increased arterial stiffness in a normative aging population, irrespective of traditional risk factor burden. Further research is needed to understand the mechanism of this association and to test the hypothesis that vitamin D supplementation can reduce arterial stiffness.” - See more at: http://press.endocrine.org/doi/abs/10.1210/jc.2012-1584#sthash.7hwPhBnl.dpuf
*** I don’t know what it all means, but I will be talking w/ my doctors about how to define normal and what I can do to mineralize bone vs tissue. I have broken my tibia 2x and radius 2x in falls. My doctor showed me the images of my ankle joint this last time and pointed out dozens of small stress fractures radiating out of the joint. Made me wonder and I did some searches on Medline. I have a degree in biology so I feel more comfortable reading the literature. I have been known to take articles into my doctor to initiate a conversation. I think having adequate intake of magnesium and other trace minerals might be important…especially if taking large amounts of Vit D. I currently take a MVI and 400 mg of MgOxide daily. Not recommending that everyone follow what I am doing, but I think the issues surrounding why we have low Vit D levels and how we react to those numbers is something we all need to think about and discuss with our doctors. I am going to ask for a referral to a bone specialist. I am lucky to have access to a teaching hospital with endocrinologists specializing in bone health to supplement the info I am getting from my internist and diabetes specialist/endocrinologist.
I recently started taking Vit D after my primary care doc recommended it. I asked my endocrinologist if it mattered if I took “extra” Vit D. I was considering taking my mom’s ( who died) prescription Vit D pills or drops. He said he’d seen a female patient in the past who was not Followed up with by a physician whose kidneys hardened (calcified) and she died as a result of the excess Vit D. She had originally been prescribed a high Vit D dose because she was deficient.
I went home and threw my mom’s meds in the trash!