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Comment by cactus2093 | Hacker News Reader

cactus2093

Would you still consider 5,000 IU of Vitamin D per day safe as far as these calcium issues go?

I had a doctor tell me to take that dose for at least a few months a few years ago after low levels in my bloodwork during the winter. But I've never known if I should lower the dose to take on a continuing basis or adjust during the summer when I get a little more sun (but I still work in an office/at home so spend a lot of time indoors, especially now).

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I do see people get high calcium levels after being on this dose for years. But not always. You may be able to handle that dose. If you are getting "routine" labs done, then there is likely a calcium level in there. If your calcium is normal (under 10.0 mg/dl for adults over 40, younger adults can be a little higher), then your Vitamin D dose is ok... but I would still recommend coming down a bit on that dose. It is a high dose, and Vit D builds up in your body, since it is a fat soluble vitamin.

A couple of questions if you don’t mind.

What are your thoughts on the research about low Vit D being caused by inflammation as opposed to the reverse?

Also any thoughts on what form of testing works? Seems like many things tested often have variations that are not routinely tested for.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/

My autoimmune disorder was initially diagnosed via positive responses to antibiotics. Normal testing confirmed it later on, so I’ve been highly interested in some of these unusual approaches.

just checked my "Vitamin D, 25 OH" test:

result: 13.3 ng/ml, normal range: 25.0 - 80.0 ng/ml

I'm taking Vitamin D3 Max 125MCG per day, is this "overdose"?

Thanks,

Since the doc hasn't replied to this question (yet), your Vit D levels are low enough to warrant supplementation. In my country it is common to supplement with 60K IU once a week, for 8 weeks, before moving to a maintenance dosage of 60k once a month. That's almost 10k IU/day during the loading phase. You're at 5k IU/ day, so should be fine. In comparison, a fair skinned person at the beach on a sunny day will make over 10k IU of D3.

Thank you!!!

Curious on your thoughts/experience with dosing w/ co-factors wrt to calcium levels (for patients, have you been tracking these?)

Specifically, Vitamin K:

Ballegooijen, Adriana J. van, Stefan Pilz, Andreas Tomaschitz, Martin R. Grübler, and Nicolas Verheyen. “The Synergistic Interplay between Vitamins D and K for Bone and Cardiovascular Health: A Narrative Review.” International Journal of Endocrinology 2017 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/7454376.

And Magnesium:

Uwitonze, Anne Marie, and Mohammed S. Razzaque. “Role of Magnesium in Vitamin D Activation and Function.” The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 118, no. 3 (March 1, 2018): 181–89. https://doi.org/10.7556/jaoa.2018.037.

I'm also curious on your thoughts on what you consider high for supplementation, vs say sunlight exposure, as a single MED of sunlight exposure is equivalent to about 10-25K IU of oral supplementation.

Engelsen, Ola. “The Relationship between Ultraviolet Radiation Exposure and Vitamin D Status.” Nutrients 2, no. 5 (May 4, 2010): 482–95. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu2050482.

On the flip side, I've seen that in a recent RCT, that recommended sun exposure guidelines were not sufficient in reversing deficiency:

Lee, Yu-Mi, Se-A Kim, and Duk-Hee Lee. “Can Current Recommendations on Sun Exposure Sufficiently Increase Serum Vitamin D Level?: One-Month Randomized Clinical Trial.” Journal of Korean Medical Science 35, no. 8 (January 22, 2020). https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e50.

The Harvard Gazette:

Study confirms vitamin D protects against colds and flu

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/02/study-confirm...

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