I just had to share. This is a fantastic article that came out in Sept. 2008 on Vitamin D deficiency and how to treat it. Two things stood out to me. First, the vitamin D dosage and its therapeutic effect is dependent on your weight. Second, taking 1,000 IU a day over 3-4 months will usually get your number up by 10 ng/ml. Thus, if you had an initial level of 10 you would have to take 3,000 IU a day for several months to get to the level of 40. (but it's not linear)

Anyhow, there is lots of other good stuff in here.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/PDFs/...deficiency.pdf

Great article Natalie, thanks for posting.

I have tried to type this three times, and my computer keeps locking up (my daughter added something last night that threw my comp into a tailspin ), so I'll try to keep this short . . .

For anyone considering increasing their dosage through supplementation of Vitamin D, above 200IU -400IU per day (current recommended daily requirement), please BE SURE TO BE MONITORED by your doc:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind.asp

Myths about Vitamin D:

http://bacteriality.com/2007/09/15/vitamind/

Higher levels of vitamin D CAN be toxic for any one of us as individuals, so always discuss your plans with your doc, and be monitored regularly if you want to go higher then 400 IU per day.

Cherie

Didn't have time to read the article yet, but my neuro and GP told me "1000 IU of D3 daily".

My neuro does monthly blood work for Copaxone (Mr. Thorough) which includes testing thyroid and CBC (kinda glad he does this!), but I'm wondering, what can too much Vitamin D do to a person?

Edit: reading now. I am sitting here with my mouth open, reading “The active form of vitamin D, [1,25-D] is a potent immunomodulatory seco-steroid” meaning that it is a steroid-like molecule which is able to control the activity of the immune system.”

Vitamin D supplements = steroid? What? LOL!! Cherie halp!

Laura, I'm really not so concerned when a person's vitamin D (liver function, etc.) are being evaluated on a regular basis, AND if their doctor KNOWS what they are doing. However, vitamin D is available over the counter just about anywhere . . . and there are people running around the net recommending anywhere from 5,000 IU and 50,000 IU per day (in fact saying people are "iidiots" not to take that level ), yet not recommending that people be tested or monitored at that level. That scares me.

A funny story . . .

On one forum I have been going to for years, there have been two particular posters who have implied and argued that the cause of MS is vitamin D deficiency, and that all the information that is currently out there about "vitamin D toxity" and "vitamin D overdose" is inaccurate or over-stated. This discussion has become very heated at times, as you can well imagine . . .

A few months ago, one of them finally admitted that he tried to go on (I think) 1,000 IU, after arguing with his doc that 400 IU would be insufficient for a PwMS, "according to new research". His doc finally gave in.

His doc monitored his liver while he went up and down in dosage a few times, to test the results of that level of supplement. Every time he went back up to 1,000 IU, his liver numbers went out of whack.

Eventually they came to realize that 1,000 IU, through supplementation, was TOO much for HIM . . . yet he had no problem increasing his levels through sunshine and diet alone. To be honest, I was surprised he admitted that on the forum, after all his arguing about this over the years.

Anyway, I don't do dairy and haven't done in years. I can't recall if it is a protein or calcium that causes me so much problem, but I was taken off all dairy about 25 yrs ago (I cheat a little, but pay for it).

My only point is ... if a person wants to take more then the recommended daily requirement, please get your levels checked when you start, and continue to be monitored. It's not like we will grow a third arm by taking too much, but how else would a person know (with all the other weird stuff that goes on in our bodies and from the drugs we take) that we are causing ourselves harm if we are not monitored?

And, while I might agree that most people can handle much more then 400 IU, not everyone can that's for sure!

As far as it's "steroid" effect, some argue that's a good thing for PwMS.

Look up reputable sources of information on the net about "Vit D Toxicity" and "Vit D overdose" if you want more info on that . . .

Cherie

Thanks Cherie!

You don't do 'dairy' you said... you mean, you avoid dairy like the plague as I do?

My only 'cheat' (and it's arguable how much dairy is actually in them) are those processed cheese slices (fat free). I have 1 a day max. Sometimes I don't even eat them.

Yogurt would have been my secondary 'cheat', but then I found soy yogurt!

I use it in my coffee, but that's pretty much it.

You know those cysts? . . . apparently caused by that calcium or protein found in dairy. That was one reason I had to quit (but I had several reasons).

Cherie

Wow, really? No I did not know this!

I'm just lactose intolerant, period. It made my stomach terrible. I couldn't even drink my mother's milk when I was a child (I say lactose intolerant... but maybe allergy too?). I think she gave me goat's milk or soy, I can't honestly remember.

1: Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):842-56. Links

Comment in:
Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 May;69(5):825-6.
Am J Clin Nutr. 2001 Dec;74(6):862-4.
Vitamin D supplementation, 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations, and safety.Vieth R.
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, Ontario, Canada. rvieth@mtsinai.on.ca

For adults, the 5-microg (200 IU) vitamin D recommended dietary allowance may prevent osteomalacia in the absence of sunlight, but more is needed to help prevent osteoporosis and secondary hyperparathyroidism. Other benefits of vitamin D supplementation are implicated epidemiologically: prevention of some cancers, osteoarthritis progression, multiple sclerosis, and hypertension. Total-body sun exposure easily provides the equivalent of 250 microg (10000 IU) vitamin D/d, suggesting that this is a physiologic limit. Sailors in US submarines are deprived of environmentally acquired vitamin D equivalent to 20-50 microg (800-2000 IU)/d. The assembled data from many vitamin D supplementation studies reveal a curve for vitamin D dose versus serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] response that is surprisingly flat up to 250 microg (10000 IU) vitamin D/d. To ensure that serum 25(OH)D concentrations exceed 100 nmol/L, a total vitamin D supply of 100 microg (4000 IU)/d is required. Except in those with conditions causing hypersensitivity, there is no evidence of adverse effects with serum 25(OH)D concentrations <140 nmol/L, which require a total vitamin D supply of 250 microg (10000 IU)/d to attain. Published cases of vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia, for which the 25(OH)D concentration and vitamin D dose are known, all involve intake of > or = 1000 microg (40000 IU)/d. Because vitamin D is potentially toxic, intake of >25 microg (1000 IU)/d has been avoided even though the weight of evidence shows that the currently accepted, no observed adverse effect limit of 50 microg (2000 IU)/d is too low by at least 5-fold.

PMID: 10232622 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


1: Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jan;85(1):6-18. Links
Risk assessment for vitamin D.Hathcock JN, Shao A, Vieth R, Heaney R.
Council for Responsible Nutrition, Washington, DC 20036-5114, USA.

The objective of this review was to apply the risk assessment methodology used by the Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) to derive a revised safe Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin D. New data continue to emerge regarding the health benefits of vitamin D beyond its role in bone. The intakes associated with those benefits suggest a need for levels of supplementation, food fortification, or both that are higher than current levels. A prevailing concern exists, however, regarding the potential for toxicity related to excessive vitamin D intakes. The UL established by the FNB for vitamin D (50 microg, or 2000 IU) is not based on current evidence and is viewed by many as being too restrictive, thus curtailing research, commercial development, and optimization of nutritional policy. Human clinical trial data published subsequent to the establishment of the FNB vitamin D UL published in 1997 support a significantly higher UL.

We present a risk assessment based on relevant, well-designed human clinical trials of vitamin D. Collectively, the absence of toxicity in trials conducted in healthy adults that used vitamin D dose > or = 250 microg/d (10,000 IU vitamin D3) supports the confident selection of this value as the UL.

PMID: 17209171 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

you have to be very careful when taking any supplements, vitamins or minerals in doses higher than a multivit. please talk to your drs.

vitamin D is what's known as a fat soluble vitamin. that means in higher than normal doses it can attach to the fat in your body and not be washed out of your body by your kidneys.

that can lean to overdosing sx's.

water soluble vitamins get flushed out of the body easier thru the kidneys but it's not wise to take large doses of anything without your dr's recommendation.