My Vitamin D update- What's yours?

[HRTstudent]

So my vitamin D 25-hydroxy started around 30 on the 30-100 scale. After about 6 months now on 5k IU with breakfast and dinner (10k a day), and missing very very few doses, my level shot up to just over 90! I also tried to get a little more sun and aimed for 15 minutes a day in the sun with no shirt on, but probably only got that like 20% of the time at best.

So I would say, supplementing vitamin D works pretty damn well and in 6 months you can triple your level!

I plan to drop it to 5k now with breakfast only.

How is your D doing?

[Simon1972]

i only just started this week taking 1 tab of 1000Iu a day of D3- - started total test at 379 not sure where its at now, feel slightly better , any studies reccomending D at 5000-10000IU a day as you are taking? seems on the high side and may not be needed.

although im feeing like maybe 1000iu may not be enough for me.

[Bill_boy2005]

i only just started this week taking 1 tab of 1000Iu a day of D3- - started total test at 379 not sure where its at now, feel slightly better , any studies reccomending D at 5000-10000IU a day as you are taking? seems on the high side and may not be needed.

although im feeing like maybe 1000iu may not be enough for me.

Just have to test and dose accordingly. I'm on 10,000 a day as well. I'm climbing from a low of 18 on the 30-100 range. Last test I was 40ish.

[Simon1972]

Just have to test and dose accordingly. I'm on 10,000 a day as well. I'm climbing from a low of 18 on the 30-100 range. Last test I was 40ish.

how long have you been on 10000 ui?

[zaggahamma]

no bloodwork and stopped taking it a few months ago...reckon i need to

but was gonna ask to to post if you noticed anything since the 30 and now 90 update

seemed kind of relevant than just the 60 point difference

[Bill_boy2005]

how long have you been on 10000 ui?

Since I started with Dr Crisler in January. I will test in two weeks to see where I am. I spend a couple hours a day this time of year outside generally without a shirt. And a lot more than that boating on weekends. So I may not need as much from June to October.

There's a good paper on his site for what vitamins people on trt should be on. I follow that as well as am chasing some other blood test related values for efa's. So I have a large bag of fish oil, evening primrose oil, PC, and a few other supplements I take daily.

[kelkel]

My BW just came in this morning and I'm planning on updating an older SHBG/D thread also but here are my results:

March 5th, 2012: Vit D 25.6 (30 - 100)
SHBG: 40.8 (19.3 - 76.4)

Started prescription Drisdol March 20th at 1.25mg (50,000 units) one pill per week

June 6th, 2012: Vit D 79.4 (30 - 100)
SHBG: 25.2 (19.3 - 76.4)

Note: Also mass actioned a little more T to push SHBG down so I'll have to see where it levels off at when that program is done.

Obviously very happy with the results.

[oscarjones]

I know some people who blast with 50,000IU a day for a week straight, then level their dose off to 5,000IU maintenance. I haven't blood work results to prove this method, and all my knowledge is empirical at best.

This is to kind of "jumpstart" extremely low levels.

[APIs]

My last BW in early May showed a level of 41.1 on a LabCorp range of 30-100. Hadn’t been in the sun or supplementing with Vit D. Doc says I'm fortunate having naturally good levels. He said a majority of men he sees have a Vit D deficiency in some form. I'm always in the sun during the summer, so I expect my levels to only get better. Guess I'm lucky in this respect...

[kelkel]

API I don't know if I'd call 41 a good number. Sure wouldn't hurt to be a little higher with the obvious benefits!

[keep fightin]

sun in shorts most every day plus 5000-6000 iu D keeps me in the 80's-90's for me ive seen that it drops off fast if you dont supp

[HRTstudent]

ive talked to a few docs (in person) who specialize in more "holistic" approaches and they both take and recommend 5k IU of d3 per day. one said he has his whole family on it as well.

as for the 10k a day for me, well, my number was 30 or 31 and just in "range" so I knew I was really low. I took 10k and planned on dropping it to 5k once I got to 70+ on the same 30-100 scale. as far as safety, we don't know of any toxicity with vitamin D. my doc said it was fine if I continue the 10k for this very reason. but I decided beforehand to take 5k once I got a good level.

I will probably check up in a year and see where I am at on this dose. quite frankly, I'd rather take less pills daily anyways and 1 less vitamin d pill is one less reminder that I am "deficient" in something .

to be very blunt about the subjective effects... it's impossible for me to know. I am still working with getting my testosterone injections right so can I accurately attribute anything to my vitamin D? I believe that would be doing you all a disservice and probably only serve to mislead someone; so I will only fairly comment on the very non-subjective measurements such as lab results.

having said that, I do believe taking vitamin D will provide people with real health benefits and men (especially) might notice subjective benefits. just look at those legit studies that compared T levels for men low and normal with regard to vitamin D. over the last 6 months or so, Ive started recommending vitamin D to my family and friends just as I do fish oil.

[AustinMike]

My BW came back last week and my level is 20 NG/DL on a scale of 30-100. He had me start taking vitamin D supplements, but Im not sure about the dose, as I dont have the bottle here in front of me.

[HRTstudent]

My BW came back last week and my level is 20 NG/DL on a scale of 30-100. He had me start taking vitamin D supplements, but Im not sure about the dose, as I dont have the bottle here in front of me.

prescription or otc?

if it's less than 5k IU, I would urge you to talk to him about it. get that level up! there are many vitamin d supps that are only the RDA which is a paltry 400 IU I believe. that would probably keep you low range lol... even though you would be "supplementing" it.

[keep fightin]

^^^^ what he said! the research on D is pretty exhaustive, subjectively I cant say I have a definite "feeling " but it makes me feel like I'm positively keeping myself healthy, less than 5,000 iu a day? forget about it! you wont make into the higher end of the lab corp scale

[AustinMike]

I checked it earlier and it is 5,000 IU of D3.

[J DIESEL3]

About 5 months ago in the winter not getting any sun and taking 3700 iu a day d3 my level was 19.

So I took 10,000 IU a day for a month then dropped it to 5700 IU per day also not getting much sun.Well my blood work came in at 54 however I did not increase the dose because I now will be able to get some sun.

I will get checked again in about a month or so to see how much the sun bumps me up at my 5700 IU dose.

[APIs]

API I don't know if I'd call 41 a good number. Sure wouldn't hurt to be a little higher with the obvious benefits!

Well, my Doc thinks it's a good number so it's therefore a non-issue IMO. I think we can get a little crazy here with splitting hairs & the bro-science sometimes. It's within normal levels & that's without supplementation or any sun exposure. So I'm happy with it. More important things to worry about for sure...

[juice2012]

After getting all my bloodwork back, vitamin D was one of my issues. Mine was 20 on the scale of 30-100. And that was with me already taking 1000 IU per day. My doctor prescribed me a "blast" of 50,000 IU taken once a week for the next 8 weeks. I'm doing 2,000 IU on the "off" days just to finish off my OTC bottle.

[kelkel]

Well, my Doc thinks it's a good number so it's therefore a non-issue IMO. I think we can get a little crazy here with splitting hairs & the bro-science sometimes. It's within normal levels & that's without supplementation or any sun exposure. So I'm happy with it. More important things to worry about for sure...

Can't disagree with that!

[bk13332]

Just for comparison sakes, I was able to improve mine from a score of 21 on a range of 20-79 ng/ml up to 38 by supplementing a 1,000 IU. Granted 38 isn’t all that great but it is middle of the road. I’m thinking of upping to a 2,000 IU to see if I can get a little closer to the top of the range. My Endo did caution against taking too large a supplement as excessive amounts can be toxic.

[kelkel]

I'd be interested to see members shbg levels pre and post D therapy if anyone can dig them up? Be good to know how effective it is toward that end.

[kelkel]

Here's another interesting article on Vitamin D:

http://www.landesbioscience.com/jour...full_text=true

[Times Roman]

so let me ask the dumb question.
besides knowing the difference, what difference DO YOU FEEL when your D levels are up?

[bass]

before supplementing i was at 32 from scale 30-100, now I'm at 97 plus and to be honest i have no clue what the difference is in terms of "feeling", but its not about how you feel, its more about overall health. here are some of the benefits,

http://www.livestrong.com/article/25...min-d-for-men/

[zaggahamma]

like the new avy bass

[Times Roman]

before supplementing i was at 32 from scale 30-100, now I'm at 97 plus and to be honest i have no clue what the difference is in terms of "feeling", but its not about how you feel, its more about overall health. here are some of the benefits,

http://www.livestrong.com/article/25...min-d-for-men/

most of this is abated for me since on trt. I take a daily multi as well.

not sure if mega doses of D provides any additional benefit for me, which is why i was asking if anyone could FEEL a difference?

[HRTstudent]

exactly... vitamin D is not something I believe we can feel. and I am in no way continuing on with my vitamin D supplementation hoping to feel something. Rather I am making sure I correct a deficiency that I definitely had and that a lot of people have. And this vitamin also happens to be very important in the body.

It's also safe, very inexpensive, and easy to fit into my schedule.

[Simon1972]

exactly... vitamin D is not something I believe we can feel. and I am in no way continuing on with my vitamin D supplementation hoping to feel something. Rather I am making sure I correct a deficiency that I definitely had and that a lot of people have. .

but you should feel something, isnt that the point of increasing test levels using Vitamin D?

im taking 2000Iu a day now, and am still tired- i might take 10 tablets in one go , once a week- wonder if that works?

[Times Roman]

i would think it only has an impact if there is a deficiency of D in the body.

[Simon1972]

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about...in-d-toxicity/


Toxic doses

What exactly constitutes a toxic dose of vitamin D has yet to be determined, though it is possible this amount may vary with the individual.

Published cases of toxicity, for which serum levels and dose are known, all involve intake of ≥ 40000 IU (1000 mcg) per day. 1 Two different cases involved intake of over 2,000,000 IU per day - both men survived. 2 3

Serum levels: upper limit and toxicity threshold

Upper limit for a substance is the amount up to which is considered safe and without risk of adverse effects in the majority of the population.

Toxicity threshold for a substance is the amount beyond which over-saturation occurs and symptoms of toxicity manifest.

These values for 25(OH)D are as follows:
•Toxicity threshold level - 200-250 ng/mL (500-750 nmol/L) 4 5 6 7 8
•Upper limit - 100 ng/mL (250 nmol/L)

The large range between 25(OH)D’s upper limit and its threshold value implies a degree of safety at serum levels up to 100 ng/mL (250 nmol/L), since concentrations twice this amount have yet to ever be associated with toxicity. 4

In animal models, serum concentrations have reached as high as 400-700 ng/mL (1,000-1750 nmol/L) before toxic effects (severe hypercalcemia) were observed. 8 9

[HRTstudent]

but you should feel something, isnt that the point of increasing test levels using Vitamin D?

im taking 2000Iu a day now, and am still tired- i might take 10 tablets in one go , once a week- wonder if that works?

see my prior post (#12) for this particular topic!

and I wouldn't do the 10 tablets in 1 go. But I was doing 10k a day and you're only using 2000IU pills. If I had those pills I'd be doing 2 doses by 3 pills a day.

[bass]

like the new avy bass

thank you JPK!

[Bill_boy2005]

Well, my Doc thinks it's a good number so it's therefore a non-issue IMO. I think we can get a little crazy here with splitting hairs & the bro-science sometimes. It's within normal levels & that's without supplementation or any sun exposure. So I'm happy with it. More important things to worry about for sure...

You should be fine with a 297 total testosterone level than too right?

[APIs]

You should be fine with a 297 total testosterone level than too right?

There’s absolutely no correlation between this & what I was stating....

[bass]

There’s absolutely no correlation between this & what I was stating....

i agree, its like comparing apples and oranges, testosterone vs vitamins!

[zaggahamma]

i like a good orange...navel

and i been adding vitamin d to my shakes

[oscarjones]

Tangerines ftw

[zaggahamma]

eh...seeds

[Vettester]

I'm running my D lab tomorrow, permitting no further airport hiccups from a f'd up week so far! Like Kelk, I've been taking Drisdol 1x per week. We'll see if it did the trick soon enough ...