Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency

by Lynda Rosado
(Walden, NY USA)

One Treatment for Vitamin D Defiency is Unprotected Sun Exposure

One Treatment for Vitamin D Defiency is Unprotected Sun Exposure

Today I received a letter from my doctor informing me that my vitamin D level was low and she instructed me to take Vitamin D 50,000 IU (yes, fifty thousand) once a week for six weeks.


I tried to call her to make sure this dose was not an error but she is out for the next few days. I ran out to buy a bottle but it's only 1,000 units per capsule. Do I really need to take 50 of these pills? Could this be for real or most likely an error?

Comments for Treatment for Vitamin D Deficiency

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50,000 IU's of Vitamin D per week
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen

Answer:

Hi Lynda,

No, this is not a mistake. Your doctor REALLY wants you to take 50,000 IU's of Vitamin D per week.

This is a 'Normal' dose of Vitamin D to treat Vitamin D Deficiency.

So, instead of taking 50 pills all at once, you could take 7 pills per day, which works out to about the same amount.

But there are many different formulations of Vitamin D that don't require you to take so many pills- or even none at all.


There is

Sunshine Mist Vitamin D Spray 1000 IU's per spray

OR

Vitamin D in Pills 5000 IU's per Capsule


If the idea of taking pills every day doesn't interest you, you could make sure that you get adequate amounts of Vitamin D by getting in the sun 4 -5 times per week, but if you live north of 37 degrees latitude, then you do not get ANY Vitamin D from October to April.






Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com
Dosage Recommendation? Vitamin D Level an 8???
by: Patient X

3 weeks ago, and after 4 years of pain and 7 doctors, a simple vitamin test showed I had a vitamin D level of 8. On my own accord, I started taking 5,000 IU's Vitamin D caplets every morning and have since noticed my energy and overall health skyrocket.




More About Vitamin D


My doctor baffling chronic left side pain of 4 years (what they thought was pancreas, stomach or spleen related) has significantly improved, and my digestion has suddenly improved.

My troubles for the last 4 years, have been everything from chronic left flank pain near my stomach and under my ribcage (which only goes away when I lay flat on my back), to chronic colds, flu's, 2 week long fevers, low energy, and heart palpitations.

Since I started the vitamin D supplements 3 weeks ago, I have not experienced a single day of fever (very common before that), my energy level is UP, my immune system is KICKING BUTT, and my metabolism appears to have leveled out. Also, the left flank pain has significantly improved, and I just feel stronger overall, and like my body for once is actually using what I'm eating. In other words, I'm feeling more like my old indestructible self again for the first time in 4 years.


With that said, does anyone have a general suggestion for a safe daily dose that could take me up to the optimum vitamin D level quickly but not take me to the "danger zone" or leave me short? I'm 240 lbs, 6 foot 3, and male.
Finding the Right Vitamin D Dosage for You
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen

Hi Patient X,

I'm SO glad to hear about your health success using Vitamin D. It's such a 'normal' nutrient that people just can't believe that it can help people out with their health as much as it has with you.

The ONLY good way to find a good safe dosage of Vitamin D that won't give you too much is to get your level checked at least yearly- preferably around February when it should be at its lowest- and tailor your Vitamin D intake to that.

A good starting recommendation is 30 IU's for every pound of body weight. That would put YOU at 7200 IU's per day as a general guideline. I know that this sounds like a lot, but bigger people need more Vitamin D based on their body weight.


And this is still well below the 10,000 IU's per day Tolerable Upper Limit recommendation that many researchers are trying to have governments institute.

Vitamin D researchers state that there has NEVER, to their knowledge, been an overdose of Vitamin D on less than 10,000 IU's per day, so 7200 IU's per day seems like a safe place to start.


But if you begin this regimen, be sure to have Your Vitamin D Level Checked in 3 to 4 months and also to take into account any sun exposure that you may get.




Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com
re: Vitamin D Level of 8
by: Patient X

Kerri, Thank you! That is perfect. I will do so and have my levels checked soon, and again in February. And I am continuing to feel better everyday.

I've done a lot more reading, and all of this you probably already know, but I thought I'd share this stuff with you and the board in case it helps at all:

I am also a Type 1 diabetic. I have been told for years my problems were related to complications of my disease...but doctors could never find any true correlations, like hand and foot tingling, numbness, sexual dysfunction, or any other forms of neuropathy to back their claims.



My glyco-hemoglobin has always run in the 6.0-6.3 range (average blood sugars of 120-127), and I've known for a fact I do not have diabetic complications. (As a true example, I still heal faster than most people I know who are non- diabetics, even on foot injuries, etc).

I've always known my symptoms are directly correlated with a perfectly healthy nervous system under strain, reacting to a very real ongoing problem.

I dug a little deeper and discovered that type 1 AND Type 2 diabetics often experience LOW Vitamin D levels. This is NOT something my doctors have ever brought up with me, and something I suspect many doctors do not with their diabetic patients.


Interestingly, since the diabetic's chronic, over exerted autoimmune response often puts stress on the pancreas and other vital organs- the proper absorption of nutrients becomes a challenge the longer the disease is in effect.


The kicker to all this is that a balanced vitamin D level actually calms the immune system down (in turn making it stronger and less fatigued), and takes the stress off of vital organs.

This also leads to proper absorption of everything from vitamin B complex, to vitamin A, E, and simple electrolytes, and I would imagine, greatly reduce the diabetics risk for other complications, including pancreatitis, heart disease, and gall bladder inflammation.


There is even a theory that vitamin D deficiency may play a huge role in the development of not only cancer, but diabetes...which turns it into a chicken vs. the egg argument.


My point is, a LOT of diabetics have numerous health problems related to diagnosed low electrolyte and vitamin levels.


Balancing the D level, allows the body to naturally absorb the intake of foods and vitamins, and simultaneously takes the stress off the organs and immune system allowing the body to rebuild needed tissues, and a proper vascular system.

I am current, living proof of that outcome, and getting better each day!
Vitamin D and Diabetes
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen

Wow! That was FANTASTIC Patient X. I hope that there are people out there who are going to pay rapt attention to what you have to say because people just still do not believe that something as simple as Vitamin D can have the effects that it does.


Thank you so much for sharing your story.


Interestingly, you brought up a point about Diabetes that most people are unaware of.

Diabetes is an autoimmune disease.
And, as you said, not only do diabetics have low Vitamin D levels, but Low Vitamin D Levels are more and more being shown to CAUSE DIABETES!


But an interesting aspect about Type 1 Diabetes is that there is a STRONG Link with Celiac Disease. An autoimmune disease related to the incomplete digestion of wheat proteins.

Again, few doctors ever suggest this link to patients, but there has been at least one study that showed that Type 1 Diabetic children Completely Eliminated their need for Insulin- in effect, curing them of diabetes!!

And I believe that this is also related to Vitamin D because of it's immune modulating and anti-inflammatory properties, a deficiency can allow the Celiac Disease to go 'unregulated' and thus leading to early onset childhood diabetes.




Yet, since the data is not Conclusive, as per the AMA, doctors will not even suggest that patients get their Vitamin D levels higher or to even TRY a Gluten Free Diet to see if these ABSOLUTELY SAFE measures could potentially improve their diabetes.


What a shame!


I find it SO INTERESTING that I get called an Alternative practitioner and they are called Conventional! It seems like it should be the other way around.


Sigh... Maybe someday docs will come to understand these quite simple issues and won't have to have the consensus of 10,000 studies to say, "Hey, lets treat your Vitamin D Deficiency and see if that will help you out."


Again, thanks SO much for your story Patient X. It is much appreciated.




Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com
Upper left side pain and Vit D
by: Ted

Hi Patient X,

I had similar pain. I don't have diabetes but I had this seemingly undiagnosable upper left side pain. Had it for three years on and off and I've had all the blood tests, scans and CTs and they just told me I have IBS. So I went on the FODMAP but I just got tired and depressed.

I think I have a touch of IBS but that pain is too high, right up under my ribs and I know the colon only tunks up under the lower ribs a little. A friend told me to ask for a Vit D test and mine was low so they stuck me on 25,000 a week for 2 weeks. I'm only into week 3 and I feel so much better. The pain is almost gone completely. I think you theories about the strain on the digestive system right true, well it certainly does for me.

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