Skyhigh 25,OHD from D3 supplement

[Mossy]

So after 3 months supplementing with 30000 IU first every other day and since December on a daily basis I did bloodwork last week and my 25-OHD came back 81,16 ng/ml. That's even on the lower end of what i expected (I was aiming for 120 ng/ml).

So my conclusions (both from my own experience and from the various studies I read) are:
- your needs are probably highly individual and it makes sense to test once or twice a year.
- the 5000 IU Dr. Peat recommends might be a good starting point but depending on your situation your needs could be much higher.
- it seems to be very hard to overdose.
- a serum level on the higher end (which doctors would already consider too high) still seem to be better than a level on the lower end (for disease prevention and overall well-being).

Do you take any other supplements besides vitamin D?

 

[CrackLord]

I’ve read some really controversial opinions on supplementing Vitamin D. It seems that there are a lot of people who are similar to Peat on a lot of stuff but then they disagree on taking D supplementally and consider it harmful. I’m not sure what to think of it really.

I’m reading this book now Cu-re your fatigue and it’s mainly about copper deficiency. It seems that the author is very against supplementing with VitC, VitD among other things. I haven’t gotten far enough into the book to know the exact reason why yet.

What it does tell me though is that we all probably need way more copper in our lives.

 

[Orome]

Do you take any other supplements besides vitamin D?

Yes.
In combination with high Vitamin D3 I always take Zinc, Vitamin K2, Magnesium and Boron (recommended in Jeff. T Bowles book).
Apart from that I take Thyroid, Aspirin and Progest-E quite regularly.

 

[Orome]

I’ve read some really controversial opinions on supplementing Vitamin D. It seems that there are a lot of people who are similar to Peat on a lot of stuff but then they disagree on taking D supplementally and consider it harmful. I’m not sure what to think of it really.

I’m reading this book now Cu-re your fatigue and it’s mainly about copper deficiency. It seems that the author is very against supplementing with VitC, VitD among other things. I haven’t gotten far enough into the book to know the exact reason why yet.

What it does tell me though is that we all probably need way more copper in our lives.

Do you have sources for the controversial opinions? I have yet to see or hear some compelling arguments.

Check out this interview with Georgi, Danny Roddy and Matt Blackburn (who is cautious when it comes to Vitamin D). He had no arguments whatsoever to hold against Georgi:

The Great Vitamin D Debate with Georgi Dinkov, Danny Roddy, Kate Deering & Matt Blackburn - Weight Loss For Women: eat more, train less, get results

Last week I caught up with Kate Deering, Matt Blackburn, Danny Roddy and Georgi Dinkov to chat about vitamin D supplementation.In this podcast we will address both sides of the supplemental Vitamin D debate.A few notes for the listening audience.V...

www.winatlifepodcast.com.au

And from the same Podcast there is another great Vitamin D interview with Dr. Peat and Kate Deering:

Vitamin D, Calcium and mineral metabolism with Dr Ray Peat and Kate Deering - Weight Loss For Women: eat more, train less, get results

We’ve had Dr. Peat on the podcast before, and it actually ended up being our most downloaded WinAtLife podcast. So, we brought him back again to discuss vitamin D, calcium and mineral metabolism. There’s so much good information in this one! Dr. P...

www.winatlifepodcast.com.au

 

[Peatness]

@Orome what is your blood calcium level?

 

[Mossy]

Yes.
In combination with high Vitamin D3 I always take Zinc, Vitamin K2, Magnesium and Boron (recommended in Jeff. T Bowles book).
Apart from that I take Thyroid, Aspirin and Progest-E quite regularly.

Thank you. I’ve been taking 10,000 iu of vitamin D3, along with K2 and magnesium, but I get serious bone pain. You obviously do not, based on your previous comments. I will consider the addition of zinc, in the random chance that that could help.

 

[milk_lover]

Do you have sources for the controversial opinions? I have yet to see or hear some compelling arguments.

Check out this interview with Georgi, Danny Roddy and Matt Blackburn (who is cautious when it comes to Vitamin D). He had no arguments whatsoever to hold against Georgi:

The Great Vitamin D Debate with Georgi Dinkov, Danny Roddy, Kate Deering & Matt Blackburn - Weight Loss For Women: eat more, train less, get results

Last week I caught up with Kate Deering, Matt Blackburn, Danny Roddy and Georgi Dinkov to chat about vitamin D supplementation.In this podcast we will address both sides of the supplemental Vitamin D debate.A few notes for the listening audience.V...

www.winatlifepodcast.com.au

And from the same Podcast there is another great Vitamin D interview with Dr. Peat and Kate Deering:

Vitamin D, Calcium and mineral metabolism with Dr Ray Peat and Kate Deering - Weight Loss For Women: eat more, train less, get results

We’ve had Dr. Peat on the podcast before, and it actually ended up being our most downloaded WinAtLife podcast. So, we brought him back again to discuss vitamin D, calcium and mineral metabolism. There’s so much good information in this one! Dr. P...

www.winatlifepodcast.com.au

How do you take your vitamin D3? Orally topically etc?

 

[Orome]

@Orome what is your blood calcium level?

Did not test it this time. Only the D3.
I bought a couple of do-it-yourself test-kits some time ago. So I can do the test at home, send in the probe and have the result 2-3 days later. I am trying to avoid the crowded doctor's offices and the labs with all the covid hypochondriacs as much as possible .
Last time I checked it was in the upper end of the normal range.

 

[Orome]

Thank you. I’ve been taking 10,000 iu of vitamin D3, along with K2 and magnesium, but I get serious bone pain. You obviously do not, based on your previous comments. I will consider the addition of zinc, in the random chance that that could help.

Yes, no issues with bone pain on my side. I have some issues with my knees (I guess from long distance running when I was young) which got a lot better recently. I think in the book it's mentioned that this kind of pain can be a sign of healing triggered by the high Vitamin D. But I think this is more of an Anti-Peat theory.

 

[Orome]

How do you take your vitamin D3? Orally topically etc?

Orally. 30.000 IU capsules.
In addition I have it in liquid form (5000 IU per drop). But this I do not take in parallel to the capsules. From time to time I apply it on my scalp and on some old scar tissue though. Try to see if it can help with fibrosis.

 

[PaRa]

did you have had one week of no D3 before testing ?

 

[Orome]

did you have had one week of no D3 before testing ?

I stopped for 3 days before doing the test. According to Dr. Peat that's enough.

 

[Peatness]

Did not test it this time. Only the D3.
I bought a couple of do-it-yourself test-kits some time ago. So I can do the test at home, send in the probe and have the result 2-3 days later. I am trying to avoid the crowded doctor's offices and the labs with all the covid hypochondriacs as much as possible .
Last time I checked it was in the upper end of the normal range.

Interesting. My serum calcium is now inthe upper end of normal too. I've always been a bit low - middle range. I drink milk and supplement D in the winter. Only time will tell if this is a good thing.

 

[sweetpeat]

Thank you for sharing. I feel like I could have written this post. I've been struggling to raise D levels as well. Taking up to 10k IU orally only gets me into the 30s. I've been hesitant to raise it more than that, but this past year I've been sick multiple times so I'm ready to try a more aggressive approach, inspired by your experience. I've already been taking 20k the last ten days because I was sick again(!), so I'm going to stay at that dose for the rest of the month and get tested after the first of the year, pausing the supps for a few days before testing as youngsinatra advises.

Update:

Beginning of December 2021 started taking 20,000iu. Did this for 12 days. Had planned to do it longer, but chickened out.

Dropped dose to 8k-10k for rest of December, all of January 2022 and half of February (about 2 months total). Missed a day here and there, but I would say I averaged 9,000iu for that time period.

Reduced dose on Feb 12th & 13th to half, then no vitamin D on 14th. Got new labs February 15. Result: 40.1
I had hoped to get closer to 50. Maybe it's just a matter of more time?

 

[Mossy]

Update:

Beginning of December 2021 started taking 20,000iu. Did this for 12 days. Had planned to do it longer, but chickened out.

Dropped dose to 8k-10k for rest of December, all of January 2022 and half of February (about 2 months total). Missed a day here and there, but I would say I averaged 9,000iu for that time period.

Reduced dose on Feb 12th & 13th to half, then no vitamin D on 14th. Got new labs February 15. Result: 40.1
I had hoped to get closer to 50. Maybe it's just a matter of more time?

This is very helpful. Thank you.

So that's quite a bit of vitamin D you took, yet you only gained 10 points (or whatever the proper measure is). I'm not considering this a negative, just making note of the increase you made, relative to a fairly high dose.

Logic would say, you could simply increase that dose a bit and get to the 50 you're looking for.

Do you get any bad effects from vitamin D? Also, it would be helpful to know if you're taking any other supplements to help assimilate and properly utilize the vitamin D.

 

[Orome]

Update:

Beginning of December 2021 started taking 20,000iu. Did this for 12 days. Had planned to do it longer, but chickened out.

Dropped dose to 8k-10k for rest of December, all of January 2022 and half of February (about 2 months total). Missed a day here and there, but I would say I averaged 9,000iu for that time period.

Reduced dose on Feb 12th & 13th to half, then no vitamin D on 14th. Got new labs February 15. Result: 40.1
I had hoped to get closer to 50. Maybe it's just a matter of more time?

That's still a low value. I think Dr. Peats recommends to have it between 50-100.
Also I would not be afraid of the higher amounts. In my opinion the fear of a Vitamin D overdose is mainly a mainstream medicine narrative and not really backed by
science. Especially hypercalcemia is very rare and normally needs massive amounts to be supplemented over a long period of time. And even then there is rarely long-term damage if supplementation is discontinued.

 

[sweetpeat]

Do you get any bad effects from vitamin D? Also, it would be helpful to know if you taking any other supplements to help assimilate and properly utilize the vitamin D.

Good questions. I should have included that info. The only bad effect I may have had was some back twinges that I associated with my kidneys. May not have been related to vitamin D. May not have been related to my kidneys either. But I haven't noticed it since I lowered the dose from 20k to 10k. Again, could be coincidence.

As far as nutrients/supplements go, I get 1200-1500mg calcium from my diet. I use magnesium bicarbonate water, though I'm not sure how much total magnesium I get from this. I also take 1-2mg vit K2 (mk4).

 

[sweetpeat]

That's still a low value. I think Dr. Peats recommends to have it between 50-100.

Agreed. As I mentioned previously, I was sick multiple times last year with low vit D level and would like to get it up to at least 50.

Also I would not be afraid of the higher amounts. In my opinion the fear of a Vitamin D overdose is mainly a mainstream medicine narrative and not really backed by
science. Especially hypercalcemia is very rare and normally needs massive amounts to be supplemented over a long period of time. And even then there is rarely long-term damage if supplementation is discontinued.

Thank you for the encouragement. I am thinking for nudging up the dose a bit more.
Also, spring is on the way here. I'm hoping to have some dates with the sun soon.

 

[Mossy]

Good questions. I should have included that info. The only bad effect I may have had was some back twinges that I associated with my kidneys. May not have been related to vitamin D. May not have been related to my kidneys either. But I haven't noticed it since I lowered the dose from 20k to 10k. Again, could be coincidence.

As far as nutrients/supplements go, I get 1200-1500mg calcium from my diet. I use magnesium bicarbonate water, though I'm not sure how much total magnesium I get from this. I also take 1-2mg vit K2 (mk4).

Thank you. More helpful information.

 

[Orome]

I made an interesting observation recently. This year my skin color as per end of April looks much more it normally would only look like end of August / September.
Very nice brown skin tone as if I would be tanning all the time which I am not doing. In fact the weather was really awful here (central Europe) until mid-April and I am in a quite dark office building Monday-Friday for the most part of the day. So I wonder if this is another side effect of my high Vitamin D supplementation throughout the winter (I only cut back recently from 30.000 IU daily to 2-3x a week).
Because of my high serum level the body darkens the skin to reduce Vitamin D conversion from the sun?