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Comment by tiffanyh | Hacker News Reader

> I struggle to believe that a physician told her to take 5000 IU

Believe it.

When one of the most trusted vitamin companys (Nature’s Made) sells a 5000 IU single pill dosage that can be found at any drug or grocery store in the US - it nots surprising that people buy and believe 5000 is ok.

https://www.naturemade.com/products/nature-made-extra-streng...

If 4000 IU is the max dosage anyone should take, it shouldn’t be allowed for a compnay to sell a 5000 unit dosage.

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I am 6'4" (193 cm) and 240 lbs (108 kg). A big boy. I require supplementation at 5000IU to maintain ~48 ng/mL, which is just about normal.

It is impossible, at my latitude, to obtain adequate exposure to sunlight. I tried that.

My doctor said "hmmmm your vitamin d is 9... maybe that explains the all-appendage tendonitis and muscle soreness" and recommended supplementation. I really like being able to spend 10¢ per day on D3 and K2 from Amazon instead of paying for 200,000 IU injections every month or two.

The audacity to believe you know everything about this subject.

Super-high dosages are used in loading protocols before switching to a smaller maintenance dosage.

It didn't sound like arrogance to me. The "if" at the start of the sentence indicates they are not asserting their conclusion as the only truth. That said, if toxicity is a large concern, it's strange that companies sell such high dosages at least without some kind of warning. I bet a sufficient warning would prevent at least some cases of toxicity

A lot of OTC medications have potential issues and interactions. That said, my primary care recommended I take vitamin D based on blood work and no one has batted an eye at my taking 5K IU. So the idea that's some widely-accepted radically dangerous dose is simply untrue. (Doesn't mean it's a wrong idea but it's not one that doctors generally accept.)

You missed their 10,000 IU: https://www.naturemade.com/products/vitamin-d3-maximum-stren...

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