good morning all, for those of you who might be interested and live in England next Monday 7th September there is a programme called Food Unwrapped on channel 4 at 8.30pm regarding the effects have not having enough VitD, It is a programme worth watching, this week it was does brazil nuts have any radio active in them, their conclusions not enough to kill us you need toeat 25,000 in one sitting first. I love my nuts but thats too many for me.
Just thought you might be interested.
I always thought my vit D levels would be fine but before rheumatologist put me on methotrexate she tested the level.Next thing I got a letter from her saying level was low and the dosage of vitD need to take.Oh joy more tablets-I already take enough for various conditions to rattle if you turn me upside downâș
I hope you have been given high dose vit D to get it up quickly!
50mcg daily for 3months then 25mcg daily thereafter
Hmm - depending on how low it was that's a bit conservative though I imagine it may be to save money! I take that much every day in the winter and often more. 25mcg is 1,000 IU.
Gateshead Healthcare Trust has the following guideline for giving vit D
"Dekristol is no longer being prescribed in primary care.
Where a high-dose product is needed:
1st Line Bio-Vitamin D3 20,000 units 1 three times a week for 10 weeks (or 3 on a single day once a week for 10 weeks)
2nd Line Pro D3 20,000 units 1 three times a week for 10 weeks (or 3 on a single day once a week for 10 weeks) (to be used if a vegan, vegetarian or Kosher product is needed)
However you want to look at it - they are saying 60,000 IU per week for the same time scale of 3 months - not the 14,000 IU she has suggested. The advantage of the high dose stuff is that you don't need to take it every day, just every other day or once a week if you like.
The 25mcg/1,000 IU is little more than you should be taking with calcium/vit D supplements anyway. I hope you aren't on alendronic acid or the like?
Thanks Margaret. I will add it to my planner. You have also reminded me to ask for a blood test to check my vitimin D levels, as they haven't been done for about eighteen months. At that time they were too high because the gp that diagnosed me put me on supplements without checking my bloods first! Consequently, I haven't taken any since. I did have some good news though. My dexa scan came in normal. In fact the technician said for my age, the results were really good. Great relief. So nice to go somewhere and be told I am NOT suffering from something! Hope you have a good day today without tears and pain. Take care, Debbie x
How high did they go Debbie? What was considered too high even just a few years ago is out of date - much higher levels are aimed for now.
Hi Eileen. I actually don't know. I got a phone call from the dr and she said I must not take any more supplements as my levels were too high already. She actually made it sound quite urgent so I am guessing they were too high for comfort! Will definitely ask at my next bloods app. Do you know the no.s we should be aiming for?
Gateshead HC Trust - which was one of the first to recognise that generally UK levels were too low and allowed GPs to prescribe although they have changed it back to consultants now - aims for 75-150 ng/ml. Above that is a bit high, above 200ng/ml is getting to the dangerous level.
By England I assume you actually mean The British Isles, as I'm pretty sure low Vitamin D affects the rest of us too, especially in Northern Scotland where we get even less sun!
My vit D value was 25.9 but she did not say what units it was measured in
It'll be the ones I used in my other posts - ng/ml. That is pretty low - and you need more than 2,000 IU to raise that significantly towards 75 in 3 months! Ask your doctor again.
sorry did not mean to leave you out.