Treating Vitamin D Deficiency

I thought that it is Vitamin D3 that we are all supposed to be taking? Could someone explain the difference?
Thanks.

The 50,000 units made me sick for days...so be careful.

Sitting in the sun got my number up from 11 to 30..so
I try to do that a couple times a week...

Okay. Please explain how D2 can work as well as D3. What is the difference between the two. Aren't the various kinds of vitamin D analogous to the B spectrum?

PEOPLE'S PHARMACY RESPONSE: THE VARIOUS B VITAMINS (B1, B2, B3, B6, B12) ARE ACTUALLY DIFFERENT VITAMINS. D2 IS DERIVED FROM PLANT SOURCES AND D3 FROM ANIMAL SOURCES, BUT THEY ARE JUST SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE SAME VITAMIN.

I was prescribed vitamin D3 for six weeks, and it brought my levels up from 23 to 42. But did anyone else awake at night drenched in sweat? I would have sworn I was starting hot flashes, but I am only 42, and these "hot flashes" started the very night I started the vitamin D prescription. They happened every night for awhile, and finally subsided. I couldn't find anywhere that this was a side effect. Can anyone explain this?

I was taking 2000 IU of D3 that was made from wool. (Who knew that was even possible?) It made me itch like crazy. Can't wear wool either.

I am prescribed 1 ampule (200 000IU) per month for 5 months to cover my acute deficiency. I am also sitting in the sun.

Please let me know for how long each day should I get sun exposure with clothes on.
Thanks.

What's the right dose of Vitamin D3 for me?
I have tested my vitamin 25(OH)D2 and 25(OH)D3 level and it is 28 nmol/l and the normal range is written on the result paper to be 75-200 nmol/L,and 11 ug/L the normal range is 30-80.
another test Vitamin 1,25(OH)2 D3 and the result 103 pmol/l with the normal range 43-148

Is my Vitamin D blood level too low?
My doctor has Prescribed for me 45,000 IU of vitamin d3 drops Vi-De 3 from Novaartis (Oral solution) once a week for 8 weeks. I just started last week.

Is this enough for my case?

I feel tired and dizzy all the time,pain in my muscles and bones, can't sit or stand normally.

By the way I'm 26 years old and weight 125 lb, is it OK to take the 45,000 twice per week for the first 4 weeks then decrease it to 45,000 IU's per week after that?
I'm a afraid to be toxic, could any one tell what is OK and what is not?

I am not sure, but I seem to get night sweats every time I take vitamin D. I going to take 1 unit weekly and see what happens.

I can't imagine that taking such a huge dose could be good for you. Taking 2000-4000 IU a day seems to work for me without any side effects. my vit D level is 50 and my Dr. doesn't want it higher than 70.

I too have terrible hot flashes after taking vitamin D. I have a big initial hot flash about an hour after taking it and then continue to have them on a regular basis. When I stop taking vitamin D, I have very slight hot flashes every few days (I am 5 years postmenopausal). However, when I stop taking the vitamin D, I start running into other troubles like severe foot cramps, joint pains and muscle aches just to name a few (which is why I take it!!). I have a vitamin D insufficiency.

I currently take 1,000 IU per day. I have tried taking it at different times of the day and with or without food with the same results. I have tried taking smaller doses over the course of the day. I have also tried decreasing the amount but then run into foot cramps etc. I have tried differing brands with differing ingredients (I was actually surprised at all the different ingredients in these vitamins!) all with no change in hot flashes.

My doctor suggested taking magnesium with it - no change. She also suggested my feet were due to a potassium deficiency but my blood work was fine and adding that supplement didn't change anything.

These hot flashes are significant because I really sweat bullets, it wakes me at night, they last a long time and they feel like a cloud of gloom and doom is hanging over my head. It's almost like they are causing anxiety attacks (I HATE these hot flashes!!).

I feel like I can't win here. I can be relieved of the hot flashes by not taking vitamin D and run the risk of health issues or I can have severe sweaty hot flashes for the rest of my life and be healthy.

I have been researching this for a long time now and I see that other people also have the same issues but no one has been able to come up with a reasonable answer. And no, vitamin D does not have niacin in it. One suggestion I saw was that vitamin D is a hormone and that might be of significance. However, I would like to take vitamin d without these terrible side affects.

Any other ideas?

Thanks

A couple of quick comments. I don't have time to look up references right now, but I do have useful information that someone else might know the references for; I'll look then up later - just want to post this quickly right now.

1. D2 and D3 are NOT "slightly different"... they're very different forms, and have very different effects. It's common in medicine to stupidly group different forms of vitamins together, and the People's Pharmacy should avoid copying the stupid habits of no-nothing doctors. (I'm a doctor, and I work hard to NOT be a no-nothing).

2. The study that showed infrequent large doses of D2 could be as effective as daily D3 in "making up deficiency" that was quoted.... well, maybe, maybe not. As usual, important detail left out: deficiency in what? Did large doses of D2 cause correction of D3 (D-THREEEEE) deficiency, or just raise D2??? And, again, another stupid thing doctors do... would D2 work for ALL people? I doubt it. One of the biggest problems we have in medicine is we tend to treat the 80% that are easy, and ignore the 20% that don't respond. So, does D2 correct D3 in ALL people... or just 80%?

3. The hot flashes with D3 are VERY interesting. I wonder.... if vitamin K2 would correct that, adding K2 to D3? Another thing many doc's don't know: if you're going to take lots of D3 (or lots of D2) you should ALSO take K2. You don't need much K2, just one capsule a day, but it's important. D3 causes calcium absorption... K2, though, puts that calcium into the bones, where it belongs. So, as usual, it's not as simple as ONE vitamin... in the case of D3, it looks like there's at least K2 to also be considered, in combination... and I have this suspicion that K2 in combination with D3 MIGHT stop the hot flashes. Just a wonderment......

CK, Thank you SO MUCH for your response. I am running out ASAP to get some Vitamin K2!!

I will try this for a period of time and report back!

It has been so frustrating for me to have these hot flashes from the vitamin D. I was beginning to wonder if possibly it wasn't healthy for me since it was causing such a bad "reaction".

I appreciate your thoughts and educated guess as to why this might be happening.

But being the curious person that I am, I wonder why they don't add vitamin K to calcium tablets like they do with D. If the D helps causes calcium absorption, where is it being absorbed into? Is it just floating around in there? In my blood? So if I understand, you think the excess calcium is causing hot flashes? What is your theory as to how that happens? Why would calcium cause hot flashes?

I find this chemistry all so interesting but don't understand it well. Sorry for all the questions but I am SO curious. Most of all, I want these hot flashes to stop!

I twice tried to take 50,000IU's for treatment. The first time it was weekly and after six weeks I was suffering with extreme muscle pain, vertigo, tinnitus, and malaise. I fell down while just walking on a flat surface and was bruised quite a lot. About a year later I tried to take it again, every other week. Again within six weeks or so I was having the same side effects. I am still low and a new physician is considering this treatment, but I explained the side effect. I will hear back soon, and hope there is an alternative since I really do not want to go through that again.

I think this 50,000 method is nuts. Typical trying to make it easy on the patient by doing it wrong stuff. I do 5,000 to 20,000 DAILY, along with one K2 capsule, daily - and I do not have any problems. And I don't use the idiotic D2 - it's D3 that you need anyway, not D2, so why the hell would you take a gigantic overdose of D2???? This is just nuts. With D3 daily in combination with K2, I have not any patients have problems with this, except for some post-menopausal women, elderly, who get hot flashes...I don't know why, yet, they get the hot flashes...but backing the D3 dose down usually makes them go away.

However, having said all that, it is a good idea to check renal function before and after starting dosing... in a small minority of people, too high a dose of D3 can cause kidney problems. It might be due to temp overload of calcium. It may be that this is only a danger when not also taking K2. But, checking renal function is just a reasonable precaution.

CK, Does vitamin K2 come in different doses and if so what dose do you take 1 K2 capsule of daily. Also curious, does it matter what time of day the D3 is taken and whether or not it is taken with food? After aching to the bone and having severe joint pain in my feet, shoulders and low back my doctor checked my vitamin D level and it came back as 23.3 (supposedly supposed to be between 32 and 100?). He then placed my on 50,000 IU of vitamin D but did not write what type on the prescription and when the pharmacy filled it they or my insurance company chose to fill it with vitamin D2.

After 4 weeks, I am having absolutely no results and with the days getting shorter and less exposure to sunlight I am becoming miserable with joint and bone pain. Thanks for your reply and for having some intelligence :-).

GK

People's Pharmacy response: When the doctor prescribes vitamin D, the prescription is always filled with vitamin D2. To get vitamin D3, you'll need to buy it over the counter.

We've not seen any research suggesting the time of day matters; it would probably be best absorbed if taken with food that has a little fat--perhaps a handful of nuts, peanut butter on a cracker, or salad with a little dressing.