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Comment by HorizonXP | Hacker News Reader

I've heard of these high dose Vitamin D regiments, and I have to ask, how and where are you getting such high doses?

I take 2 tablets of 1000 IU per day, alongside a magnesium citrate tablet. What am I missing? You're not taking 30 tablets a day are you?

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I don't take such a high dose (I was on 2000IU a day and got the point where it was causing my heart to race and I had to back off), but I take a vitamin D supplement where a 1000IU dose is 3 drops of liquid from a dropper. It would be easy (although very expensive, and IMO not advisable) to take a large dose via this method.

I have a suspicion most people taking such a high dose (over an extended period of time) must be using a poor quality of vitamin D that means they're not actually absorbing that much. But that's just speculation.

There are plenty of brands dosing at 5K, 10K, and even 50K IU.

That 1000IU is common but very underdosed. IIRC the 400IU RDA came out of some error, it's 4000IU now, but I think even that is underdosed, with many people recommending 20K as the benchmark from what the body with sufficient exposed skin produces in 20mins in the midday sun.

Isn’t your body producing it in a different form though?

I don't think so, D3 is the animal form, which I didn't mention but it is, of course, the one you want and not D2, which does have some issues. Otherwise, I think it's more a matter of vitamin D biosynthesis also having other effects that are not resulting in just the synthesis of vitamin D.

30k does sound a bit crazy but maybe it works for parent. I was taking 4k IU during colder months of WFH and after a few months had to reduce it because I was getting close to the upper acceptable limit (starting from low levels). It's important to calibrate with regular tests.

If you are in Canada, the government only allows 1000 IU maximum sold over the counter. :-(

In Turkey you can buy a 300k IU dose for, what used to be, around $1-2. It is called Devit-3 and is sold over the counter.

5000 IU drops based on vegetable oil.

X drops for X * 5000 IU.

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