Testing For Vitamin A?

DesertRat

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Mar 10, 2014
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Is there any reliable way to test Vitamin A levels? Would serum or plasma levels be meaningful without knowing Vitamin D levels and those of other fat solubles?

I seem to have a high need for Vitamin A, and when I take fairly high doses I get relief of psoriasis but I haven't gotten relief from dry eye or allergies. I eat liver about once a week; I have a hard time with leftover liver and reheated liver, and it doesn't keep well, so most of my intake is through Health Natura's Simply A, and topical. Reading Masterjohn's blog, it seems that too much D creates a greater need for A, and maybe that could be driving my need, which increased in the summer... for the past 203 years I've been taking about 5000 iu of D most days except in summer.

I mentioned the high need to my doctor who now wants to run tests for A to see if it could be hurting my liver. But after looking at all the posts on here about vitamin A toxicity, I am even more curious about what could be going on. But I don't want to spend the money on lab tests if she'll just tell me to cut down without figuring out why it seems to relieve some immune issues. Maybe I have enough but am not using it properly, so where can I find out more about these interactions?
 
OP
D

DesertRat

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Mar 10, 2014
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I forgot to add that the Simply A drops are, I think about 2400 iu each so I take 10 drops on my itchy elbows.

I also have terrible vision issues -- need a lot of light to see, more than normal, and this has been going on for many years and keeps getting worse.
 

Dotdash

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Jun 25, 2013
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I forgot to add that the Simply A drops are, I think about 2400 iu each so I take 10 drops on my itchy elbows.

I also have terrible vision issues -- need a lot of light to see, more than normal, and this has been going on for many years and keeps getting worse.

You may want to read the Grant Generaux data and perhaps the thread on this forum concerning his concepts.
 

Elie

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A reply to an old post

Retinyl Ester as a percentage of total vitamin A in the serum is correlated to liver stores, so it can be used to assess vitamin A toxicity.
toxicity, according this paper, is established when serum tetinyl ester is at 7.5% of total vitamin A.

 

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