It depends on who you listen to.

That government commission was ultra conservative and many researchers disagreed with it.

The Vitamin D council is a very good resource.

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Without testing, I believe 2000IU D3 a day was the upper limit suggested. Some places say 4000IU.

With testing use 1000IU Vit D3 daily for every 10 points needed to raise. A value of 50 is a good starting point. People with MS are often kept by their doctors at a 100 level.

I don't use supplements in summer when I get alot of sun.

One thing you have to watch out for with vitamin D supplements is if you take the heart medications Diltiazem or Verapamil. There is something about the calcium absorbtion that reduces the effectiveness of these meds.

I take Diltiazem and become D deficient slowly over the year due to lack of sun (that's me, nothing to do with our weather).Under my GP I take D supplement for 3 months at the most while I level out - having interim blood tests for calcium levels. Then I have to stop for the remainder of the year.

Dave.

From what I see on several medical sites, use of calcium channel blockers with CALCIUM and high dose Vit D is not recommended. It is the calcium combos that get sited most often.

I don't see anything to suggest that moderate Vit D3 is a problem... say 2000IU a day or thereabouts. But taking calcium IS a problem. Really, the recommendations about taking high dose calcium has changed for men and women lately irregardless of Vit D intake... The high dose calcium lends to hardening of the arteries according to some new studies.

I took diltiazem for about 2 yrs as an add on for my blood pressure before I discovered magnesium lotion lowered me good enough to eliminate it and use only one agent, instead of 3. I used to get terrible leg cramps from it, and I never really liked it for that reason.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/heart-...l-blocker.aspx
There are several other sites with similar info out there.

That is what I thought, and as I said I have none of these symptoms. It seems that I have Vit D deficiency, with ZERO symptoms, and lots of symptoms of something else?

My Vitamin D was on the lower end but still within range. Strange because I have been supplementing with D3 2000 iu long before all this started.

MrsD,

I'm no expert, obviously, and until I came here I rarely questioned things - I even had no access to the Net before June last year, relying on family to check for contraindications of new meds.

Here is my own 'go to' site - being based in the UK - this is the page for Diltiazem.

http://www.nhs.uk/medicine-guides/pa...ase%20capsules

I know that, personally, taking a combination of the two does something to calcium levels in my blood which cause concern. Before I came here I was mentally unstimulated and took little notice of effects over Good/Bad. Therefore, I cannot even state which way my calcium levels went.

Dave.

Going to a very good drugchecker....

Diltiazem + cholecalciferol == no interactions found

http://www.drugs.com/interactions-ch...st=646-0,890-0

Diltiazem + calcium carbonate == one moderate interaction
diltiazem ↔ calcium carbonate

Applies to: diltiazem, calcium carbonate

http://www.drugs.com/interactions-ch...st=464-0,890-0

Hence it is the calcium part of a combo pill and not the Vit D3 part.

It is confusing, I know. But I hope this clears it up some.

And as I mentioned before, the trend today is not to use so much calcium as a supplement anyway.

Thanks MrsD,

I will remain slightly confused, but I have a follow-up question about the best source of vitamin D, natural sunlight. Here, from webmd:

Just 6 days of casual sunlight exposure without sunscreen can make up for 49 days of no sunlight exposure. Body fat acts like a kind of storage battery for vitamin D. During periods of sunlight, vitamin D is stored in fatty fat and then released when sunlight is gone.

Gives the basic mechanics, but do you know whether the body produces vitamin D if the sunlight is filtered through glass. I know that glass stops uv rays, is uv the trigger for production?

Dave.

No..... glass filters out UV.... which is required for skin manufacture of D3. Also people using statins, will probably not convert in the skin, well or at all. There is some talk about elderly people losing the ability to make D3 in the skin due to age.

For all those on this thread who are new.... there is a D3 thread on our Vitamin forum here. I've been collecting all the newest news about it and treatment options...

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread92116.html

This D thread was made for the neuropathy/chronic pain aspect, but there is much more at the Vitamin forum.
Also there are several D3 threads mixed into the regular index of threads.