Vitamin D problem?

[OuchThatHurts]

Saw the recent thread on Vit-D. Here's my problem and maybe this is something obvious but I'm at a loss. The last time it was checked (many months ago, maybe a year) I showed low D but felt perfectly fine. I never would have known. Not a major low factor, just slight. Anyway, he gave me an Rx for D3 and I took it. This is where things get weird.

I got a metallic taste in my mouth which, no big deal really but also going out into the sun made me majorly nauseous. Just felt awful. Obviously I don't want to have low D but I'm not sure what to do. And I've seen for years people taking high doses of D. This was 5,000iu/day.

Is this a 'if it's not broke don't fix it' thing or is there something I'm missing?

Those symptoms immediately disappeared a couple days after stopping the Vit-D3.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[j4ever]

im no guru but sounds like that dose may be to high for you

 

[bad rad]

What were your levels? I have digestion/absorption issues and 7000iu/day nets me mid range levels. Magnesium plays a vital role in vitamin D absorption too and although I take a lot of that I still have lower levels of magnesium too on blood work. Developing toxicity takes a while at fairly high doses for most people. You might be absorbing it very well. Last I checked, the recommendation was 2000iu or less daily for low levels.

 

[old timer]

It's going to vary with a lot of factors. Me:

I'm 54
I spend a fair amount of times outdoors
I drink A LOT of coffee (which interferes with absorption)
I take 10,000 units per day
I drink some milk and eat a can of salmon, on average, most weeks

I had my GP test me during my recent physical and my numbers came back 66 pg/ML in a range of 18-72 pg/ML.

EDIT: I just remembered that Vit-D is fat soluble, so I try to eat it with a meal that has fat in it (not my chicken breast and pinto beans lunch that eat most days )

 

[NEMSZ]

Saw the recent thread on Vit-D. Here's my problem and maybe this is something obvious but I'm at a loss. The last time it was checked (many months ago, maybe a year) I showed low D but felt perfectly fine. I never would have known. Not a major low factor, just slight. Anyway, he gave me an Rx for D3 and I took it. This is where things get weird.

I got a metallic taste in my mouth which, no big deal really but also going out into the sun made me majorly nauseous. Just felt awful. Obviously I don't want to have low D but I'm not sure what to do. And I've seen for years people taking high doses of D. This was 5,000iu/day.

Is this a 'if it's not broke don't fix it' thing or is there something I'm missing?

Those symptoms immediately disappeared a couple days after stopping the Vit-D3.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Are you sure it was D3 you were prescribed?? Usually the prescription is D2 in one big 50,000 unit dose per week..

I was looooowwww Vit D a couple years ago, it was 19.. I took the script D2 but didn’t really feel anything.. I started taking 5,000iu of D3 per day (the one I take is in coconut oil gel cap) with my magnesium L-Threonate and my levels are 55 now and hold around there year round..

And yes I felt a major difference, but my levels were very low..

Vitamin D is more like a hormone in the body than an actual vitamin… Dr. Rhonda Patrick has some pretty interesting stuff out there about how important Vit D is in the body..

 

[OuchThatHurts]

What were your levels? I have digestion/absorption issues and 7000iu/day nets me mid range levels. Magnesium plays a vital role in vitamin D absorption too and although I take a lot of that I still have lower levels of magnesium too on blood work. Developing toxicity takes a while at fairly high doses for most people. You might be absorbing it very well. Last I checked, the recommendation was 2000iu or less daily for low levels.

19 ng/mL I remember him saying it wasn't a deficiency but definitely low.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Are you sure it was D3 you were prescribed?? Usually the prescription is D2 in one big 50,000 unit dose per week..

I was looooowwww Vit D a couple years ago, it was 19.. I took the script D2 but didn’t really feel anything.. I started taking 5,000iu of D3 per day (the one I take is in coconut oil gel cap) with my magnesium L-Threonate and my levels are 55 now and hold around there year round..

And yes I felt a major difference, but my levels were very low..

Vitamin D is more like a hormone in the body than an actual vitamin… Dr. Rhonda Patrick has some pretty interesting stuff out there about how important Vit D is in the body..

That's exactly what my level was (is).

 

[NEMSZ]

That's exactly what my level was (is).

Yea that’s called “insufficiency” not a full deficiency lol

I use the SR (Sports Research) brand, it’s like $16 for a full year supply, I take 5,000iu per day year round with my Mag like I said…

No side effects to speak of..

Get those Vit D levels up bro..

Even if you don’t feel it, or don’t think you feel it, your body definitely does…

 

[bad rad]

19 ng/mL I remember him saying it wasn't a deficiency but definitely low.

Wow. Anything else out of range on blood work?

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Yea that’s called “insufficiency” not a full deficiency lol

I use the SR (Sports Research) brand, it’s like $16 for a full year supply, I take 5,000iu per day year round with my Mag like I said…

No side effects to speak of..

Get those Vit D levels up bro..

Even if you don’t feel it, or don’t think you feel it, your body definitely does…

This was before I started taking Magnesium. Maybe I could try 1,000iu D3 with my nightly magnesium chelate and see how that goes? Also looked into K2 as someone above said.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Wow. Anything else out of range on blood work?

Not that he mentioned. I only got that bloodwork because I was having some general muscle pain (myalgia) and suggest a D deficiency could be it. But the nausea and metallic taste was as bad as the muscular pain. But I no longer have the muscle pain and never told him that I never stayed in the D.

 

[Knight9]

That's exactly what my level was (is).

Hilarious. When I go off Vitamin D...twice in the last 4 yrs I have tested at exactly 19.6.

OTH, if you arent on coumadin or anything of the sort, try 5,000iu + K2 (Life Extension makes a great capsule)...and obviously take Magnesium L-Threonate and or Glycinate at an appropriate daily dosage and hopefully you can get up between 50-70 and feel great too.

Was the RX D2 one large dose a week? Sorry if I scanned over that.

 

[OuchThatHurts]

Hilarious. When I go off Vitamin D...twice in the last 4 yrs I have tested at exactly 19.6.

OTH, if you arent on coumadin or anything of the sort, try 5,000iu + K2 (Life Extension makes a great capsule)...and obviously take Magnesium L-Threonate and or Glycinate at an appropriate daily dosage and hopefully you can get up between 50-70 and feel great too.

Was the RX D2 one large dose a week? Sorry if I scanned over that.

This was 5000iu per day D3. But I didn't take it with the right co-factors. I'll look into Life Extension. Hopefully, if gets absorbed properly, I won't have the unusual side effects.

 

[thethinker48]

There's some interesting discussions on the effects of your ancestry, and optimal vitamin D levels

People who came from colder climates might have a different "normal" compared to someone who came from near the equator. All speculation though

19 is still pretty darn low; did you see any effects on rising blood glucose levels? (insulin insensitivity is also a sign of the effects of lower levels)

Mine sits at 70 ng/dl year round on 5-10k ius everyday depending on the time of year, feel pretty good

 

[heavyhitter]

I’ve always been told that vitamin d and calcium should be taken together to aid absorption

 

[Knight9]

I’ve always been told that vitamin d and calcium should be taken together to aid absorption

Absolutely not. 90+% of people do not need extra calcium. A by product of Vitamin D supplementation is calcium which is why you need K2 to ensure it gets partitioned to your teeth and bones. Excess calcium can lead to plaques that none of us want or need.

What you just mentioned is what I consider a great example of dogmatic BS. Just like the people who think sodium is terrible for your blood pressure or not eating eggs due to cholesterol. These are two things that come to mind because I have again recently heard them in real life in the last week or two and I think to myself...damn do people still think this?

Unfortunately, they're the same people that have cereal, or bagels/donuts in the AM instead of eggs with yolks, avocado..etc.

 

[Knight9]

Again, just be aware that if you already are on blood thinning medication - you don't dive right into taking K2 without proper research and or consultation.

 

[heavyhitter]

Absolutely not. 90+% of people do not need extra calcium. A by product of Vitamin D supplementation is calcium which is why you need K2 to ensure it gets partitioned to your teeth and bones. Excess calcium can lead to plaques that none of us want or need.

What you just mentioned is what I consider a great example of dogmatic BS. Just like the people who think sodium is terrible for your blood pressure or not eating eggs due to cholesterol. These are two things that come to mind because I have again recently heard them in real life in the last week or two and I think to myself...damn do people still think this?

Unfortunately, they're the same people that have cereal, or bagels/donuts in the AM instead of eggs with yolks, avocado..etc.

I’m exactly the opposite of the standard on sodium. I follow Stan efferdings advice which he gets from Dr. Sandra Godek at the HEAT institute on sodium intake. Did not know that about calcium with d though. Good info. Luckily I don’t take extra calcium because I’m lazy lol

 

[MasteroniPepperoni]

I mean how much sunlight are you getting? Maybe you just need more UV rays and since it's winter you could try some light tanning. If you feel worse with supplementation , why do it? You're body could just be getting accustomed though. I've never heard of prescription d3