How does everyone here take their vitamin D? For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). It’s hard to tell if it’s “working,” since the health benefits are subtle and evident only in the long term, but I’m doing pretty well.
Is there any risk to taking such high doses of vitamin D? Is a smaller daily dose better for maintenance? What works for you, personally?
[quote]TwinIron wrote:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/162/How_I_Replenish_My_D3_Levels.aspx
How does everyone here take their vitamin D? For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). It’s hard to tell if it’s “working,” since the health benefits are subtle and evident only in the long term, but I’m doing pretty well.
Is there any risk to taking such high doses of vitamin D? Is a smaller daily dose better for maintenance? What works for you, personally?[/quote]
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/diet_performance_nutrition_supplements/vitamin_d_1
Read this then ask any other questions.
V
I’m sure you know, but Vit D dose also depends on sun exposure and your skin type. You wouldn’t need to supplement with it during the summer if you were fair skinned and got some sun.
[quote]Vegita wrote:
[quote]TwinIron wrote:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/162/How_I_Replenish_My_D3_Levels.aspx
How does everyone here take their vitamin D? For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). It’s hard to tell if it’s “working,” since the health benefits are subtle and evident only in the long term, but I’m doing pretty well.
Is there any risk to taking such high doses of vitamin D? Is a smaller daily dose better for maintenance? What works for you, personally?[/quote]
Read this then ask any other questions.
V[/quote]
Thanks for the direction, Vegita
The way to tell if you have taken the right kind, and enough vitamin D, is to test. Your doctor can arrange an 25(OH)D test or there are home testing kits. I’ve bought kits from:
and
http://shop.trackyourplaque.com/Category/11/Vitamin_D_Testing.aspx
It is possible to overdose on vitamin D. It is rare. The condition is called hypercalcemia. Overdosing can occur when levels reach 120ng/ml or higher.
I personally keep my d3 levels between 60 to 70ng/ml year round.
That’s right. Get your 25(hydroxy)D tested…then adjust your dosage accordingly.
TZ
[quote]Menthol wrote:
The way to tell if you have taken the right kind, and enough vitamin D, is to test. Your doctor can arrange an 25(OH)D test or there are home testing kits. I’ve bought kits from:
and
http://shop.trackyourplaque.com/Category/11/Vitamin_D_Testing.aspx
It is possible to overdose on vitamin D. It is rare. The condition is called hypercalcemia. Overdosing can occur when levels reach 120ng/ml or higher.
I personally keep my d3 levels between 60 to 70ng/ml year round. [/quote]
[quote]Menthol wrote:
It is possible to overdose on vitamin D. It is rare. The condition is called hypercalcemia. [/quote]
I believe you are thinking of hypervitaminosis D, which can result in hypercalcemia.
How exactly does the home test work?
[quote]Vicomte wrote:
How exactly does the home test work?[/quote]
I believe you take the blood sample, and send it to a lab, usually included in the package!
[quote]TwinIron wrote:
For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). [/quote]
Dude, that’s a lot. Don’t take that much without a blood test.
Also, I noticed my older bottle of Carlson’s D pills are really tiny, and my newer bottle the pills are about three times the size of the others, but they are both a 2000 iu dosage. Any ideas why this is?
[quote]EasyRhino wrote:
[quote]TwinIron wrote:
For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). [/quote]
Dude, that’s a lot. Don’t take that much without a blood test.
[/quote]
Yeah that’s probably the amount and dosing protocol to take if you are deficient, or are significantly under 60 ng/ml. If you haven’t been tested, I would advise against this.
Ive been taking 8-10,000iu a day for 2 months and am fine with it.
Jason
[quote]Vicomte wrote:
Also, I noticed my older bottle of Carlson’s D pills are really tiny, and my newer bottle the pills are about three times the size of the others, but they are both a 2000 iu dosage. Any ideas why this is?[/quote]
Checking the ‘Other/Inert/Whatever Ingredients’ part on your pill bottle should answer your question.
Many times oral formulations are made with ingredients (termed “excipients”) that provide no direct therapeutic effect but nonetheless are useful when handling/manufacturing the drug.
Most common for supplements would (I think) be either fillers/diluents, which are used to “fill” capsules up or “dilute” very small dosages into more manageable sizes, or binders, which help “bind” the drug together when compressed into a tablet. There are other types, but what is used and for what purpose and in what ratios are dependent upon the drug and the dosage form.
[quote]Tim Ziegenfuss PhD wrote:
That’s right. Get your 25(hydroxy)D tested…then adjust your dosage accordingly.
TZ
[quote]Menthol wrote:
The way to tell if you have taken the right kind, and enough vitamin D, is to test. Your doctor can arrange an 25(OH)D test or there are home testing kits. I’ve bought kits from:
and
http://shop.trackyourplaque.com/Category/11/Vitamin_D_Testing.aspx
It is possible to overdose on vitamin D. It is rare. The condition is called hypercalcemia. Overdosing can occur when levels reach 120ng/ml or higher.
I personally keep my d3 levels between 60 to 70ng/ml year round. [/quote]
[/quote]
Dude, is that your real last name?
[quote]JPeggEFS wrote:
Ive been taking 8-10,000iu a day for 2 months and am fine with it.
Jason[/quote]
Larger people who have more fat mass (no offense Jason - don’t hurt me!!!) will need more vit D, especially if bulking because Vit D can dissolve and be stored in fat in the body.
Do you get much sun otherwise? Did you get your blood level tested?
edit** I’m not calling you fat Jason! You’re just a big dude, so by comparison you will have more fat mass than someone with the same BF%
I take 5 D3 caps per day (2,000 mg each).
One of the things I noticed almost right away when I began doing this is my nails grew very fast. I’m cutting them every few days. And because D3 helps your body absorb/utilize calcium from your food, I’ve stopped taking calcium supps as well. No need.
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
I take 5 D3 caps per day (2,000 mg each).
One of the things I noticed almost right away when I began doing this is my nails grew very fast. I’m cutting them every few days. And because D3 helps your body absorb/utilize calcium from your food, I’ve stopped taking calcium supps as well. No need. [/quote]
Ten grams?
Hard Core, Dwarf.
Hard Fucking Core.
[quote]TwinIron wrote:
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/162/How_I_Replenish_My_D3_Levels.aspx
How does everyone here take their vitamin D? For the past few months, I’ve been supplementing with a total of 50,000 IU/day in doses spread throughout the day on Mondays and Thursdays (as Poliquin suggests in the link above). It’s hard to tell if it’s “working,” since the health benefits are subtle and evident only in the long term, but I’m doing pretty well.
Is there any risk to taking such high doses of vitamin D? Is a smaller daily dose better for maintenance? What works for you, personally?[/quote]
There is no viable way to indicate whether or not vitamin D is working you just simply need to get the the test done as DR Z has already stated. Like all great things it takes a fair amount of time for vitamin D levels to reach optimal levels. (80-100 ng/mL should be what your shooting for) Once your near optimal levels that’s when you’d want to back off on mega-dosing vitamin D and simply resort to taking say 2,000- 10,000 IU/daily depending on how you react, Theirs just to many factors at play for a cookie cutter answer… Get your D checked! Toxicity is very rarely self-induced, most reports are due to a manufacturing error in which that 2,000 Iu pill happen to be a whopping 2 million. your water is more toxic!
[quote]Iron Dwarf wrote:
I take 5 D3 caps per day (2,000 mg each).
One of the things I noticed almost right away when I began doing this is my nails grew very fast. I’m cutting them every few days. And because D3 helps your body absorb/utilize calcium from your food, I’ve stopped taking calcium supps as well. No need. [/quote]
(Not trying to scare anyone but) Vit D can pull the calcium from your bones
because it increases blood levels of calcium – the amount it increases it is sort of an unknown and should be tested)