Is my doctor right about vitamin D3?
 

Hey there,

I'm really not an expert in this at all, but I think getting levels of vitamin D might be a good idea. So many people above the sun belt are deficient in America (not that Europeans do any better!) that it's worth finding out where you're at.

That said I also think 4000 IU of D3 is a good maintainance dose and if I'm not mistaken, a dose that has been shown to have very little if any adverse effects. That said vitamin d supplementation can sometimes (not always!) raise calcium levels, but that's not something to fear as it can be easily detected by a simple blood test around 2-3 months after you start taking vitamin D.

My vitamin D level was 2 noml/L and I after about 20000 IU a day for a couple of months went up at 15 noml/L (which is still low) so now I'm at 15000 IU a day. I've had no side-effects from the D3 and normal calcium levels. My mum's level, and she spends quite a bit of time outdoors, came back at 11 noml/L so she's been on 10000 IU a day for the past 3-4 months now with absolutely no issues. That said her internist did check her calcium levels about a month ago and they were well within the normal range. :rolleyes:

Ziggy

You really have to look at the videos I posted and read the links.

Hypercalcemia is a risk, but a very very small one.
There has been a cardiologist who is recommending patients NOT take high calcium doses in supplements when using Vit D to raise their levels. His recommendation? No more than 600mg a day.

There have been studies on volunteers 10,000 units a day showing no hypercalcemia!

Later on I'll look for more on the hypercalcemia for you.

But to give you an example... I tested at 43, which is pretty good. But my doctor wants me at 70! It is when we reach 70 or so, that the anti-cancer benefits kick in.

I notice that I don't get colds or bronchitis any more since I started Vit D. And I confess I did so slowly too.
First I took, 1000 IU, then I raised to 2000 IU the next year.
Then 4,000 then 5,000, then tested at 43. I typically am outside alot in summer sunny months and get a nice tan, and feel great, then I would sink into misery by October. Now I don't sink into that misery.

Low Vit D is found in many sick people! The levels reported here on the various boards are alarming! The lowest I have seen is 3.

Why is my doctor gung ho with Vit D ? She got breast cancer!
Now when she sees the studies that Vit D prevents breast cancer she is taking it herself to prevent reoccurrance!
Ask yourself why young women are getting breast cancer today...25yr olds. A colleague in my hubby's office, his daughter who was 28 died from breast cancer.

Here is the Vit D thread: with links to new information:

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

I really like AAFP websites. I often refer to the B12 one and the Hip pain one. Those are both good too.

Here is the one you should look at. You CAN have your blood calcium measured, while doing the D supplements to see if you are absorbing too much calcium from your food or any supplements.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0501/p1959.html

I personally don't think a person needs much supplemental calcium if they eat well...foods high in calcium etc. ... while taking Vit D3.

Some of the above article is complicated but I find the chart in the beginning easily understandable for most people reading here. You can give this medical site to your doctor too, since that is the real target for the link. Written by doctors for doctors.

Here is what the vitaminDcouncil says about toxicity potential:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about...in-d-toxicity/

So I think you can appease your doctor by having testing done, at the time you test your D and other things.

IMO the difference between 1000 IU and 2000 IU is tiny in the scheme of things. 2000IU is what is now recommended for people NOT tested yet, in fact.

Thank you both for all the great info. I will be getting my blood calcium checked, and in the meantime I will continue Vit. D at about 3000.

Mrs. D, I also sent for the red laser pen to try for my neuropathy pain and hubby's sciatic. If anything it will be fun to play with......thanks again!

Yes, I am quite surprised how it is working for my ankle.

When my cat is outside I can do it more efficiently.. as she has some proprietary ownership of it! LOL She knows the "click" it makes and will come running if she is within earshot!

I do where my pain and swelling appear. That is the front of the ankle and my scar where some of the birthmark hemangioma remain. I also do my ball of the foot and big toe where I had my gout attack years ago.

Doesn't take long either, but must be refreshed each day. I went 5 days without and the swelling returned. Now it is back down, even when I did a SuperWalMart yesterday in the terrible heat. So walking and heat do not negate the improvements.
The little toy laser pointer for animals to play with is not as strong and only gave minor improvements. The strong one is much much better. (and not really expensive).

Some day I will find out WHY it works, but so far nada.

Look at this!

http://www.zeropointhealthstore.com/...-laser-pointer

Same size etc....but totally different PRICE!

Red Laser Pointer
 

I went on Amazon and the black one looks exactly like mine.

I only compared my new cheap one to the small cat toy one.
The little cat toy one is similar to others I've seen on key rings, and also for children to play with. I don't think it has much power because it takes a little button battery, and may be accidentally misused more often.

I think these black 5mw ones can be compared to that lame site that sells the same thing for $159 was AMAZING.

When I showed my son this pointer, he remarked that when laser pointers came out, they DID cost around $150 and they were large with a large attached power source. The pointer was on a long cord attached.

I did a laser treatment twice yesterday, while watching a little TV, morning and afternoon. I think it is amazing that I went from pain in that ankle all day and night driving me nuts, to no pain at all! It is obviously helping with circulation, because my pain seemed linked to the swelling around that incision site.
Why it is hurting so much now, decades after that surgery is a mystery to me. I was worried the tumor was growing back.

I do it for 10-15minutes once a day. Yesterday I did it twice a day.

I hold it about 12 in from the skin. I move it around several places. I don't think it is strong enough to damage anything...except your eyes if you look into it directly.

I've even done my fungus big toe nail, and it is now 50% better.
Not gone yet, but maybe by the fall?

My ankle which was swollen and throbbing all year, is gone. But if I don't do the pointer for a few days, the swelling returns.
It is obviously doing something...either to the circulation or the inflammatory process. I haven't figured it out yet. But magnets work on me too for various other things...but they were not helping this ankle foot thing.

My scar especially seems better. It is a huge long S-shaped scar on the top of my foot. There is a small bit of the hemangioma left on the spot where one would tie a shoelace. But it no longer bleeds like it did. It looks rather like a stigmata in fact! It is right over a major tendon. The plastic surgeon couldn't get it all back then, it had roots going in between the tendons, and there was no laser back then. I do recall both doctors I saw then tell me very sternly... DO NOT OPERATE ON THIS FOOT AGAIN---there is too much scar tissue under the skin and it won't heal back up.
So I am terrified to do anything with it. The laser pointer really helps this. But I don't know "how" it is working.

I showed it to my doctor last time I was there 3 months ago...and she was totally clueless-- like my podiatrist. It is very aggravating now, with shoes. Hard to find anything that won't irritate it etc. But since the pointer, it is better. I have a very vague ache in it, if I think about it at night, but not like the stabbing pain I had before the pointer.

How is it working? Have you started yet. Seems to me it took about 3 days to get rolling. For deeper tissues it might take a bit longer. The areas on the feet are closer to the skin where I use it.

I am leaving for vacation next weekend (not sure which day yet).
So I'd like to know how you are doing before then.;)

Try working also the top of the foot. You may have a compression there or at the ankle.

I do my ankle and scar first, and then the ball of the foot, and finally the toes. (If my cat doesn't discover me doing it...which then I discontinue, play with her a bit, and then go back to it).

I just put a link up to Tinel's sign... on the PN board.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarsal_tunnel_syndrome

If you tap your top of the foot with a spoon or hard object gently, do you get zings in your toes? This is a sign of compression at the tarsal ligament.

I did that with a large wooden spoon, and there were no zings in my toes. It only made the top of my foot hurt somewhat. :)

I also checked out that link, and it seems the only symptom I have in common with TTS is the burning. I am able to walk a good distance with no pain as long as I have my Birkies on. My feet feel so much better when I'm standing or walking. They seem to bother me more at night once I blob out on the couch with my feet up. I use my lotion that I add some pure peppermint oil to, and that seems to quiet them down for me to able to sleep. I have accepted this way of life. The only thing that worries me is that it will probably get worse.

how long on your toe? and twice daily or once?
thanks, happy vaca

For a while I did once a day only. Then I started with twice a day briefly just recently.

I packed the laser, getting ready for vacation...since it is easy to leave things behind--5wks without would be painful. So I haven't used it in 2 days, and my pain is coming back already! I don't know how it is working, but it does. And the effect wears off too. So it is pallative only.

I think the batteries are running down too...so I will put new ones in.

lol, since i have multiple toes involved......5 minutes per toe? 10?
and where did you get it? staples maybe?

I got my laser at Ebay.... but Amazon has it too for very low prices.

http://www.amazon.com/Laser-Pointer-...1504941&sr=8-4

I've reading this blog and there's a new post re vitamin D and autoimmune diseases if anyone is interested

*edit*

I make sure my partner and I both take vitamin D daily.

update---from vacation
 

Just a quick update.... I haven't had much swelling or issues with my left ankle up here at all. Haven't needed the laser either.

Must be the lack of stairs or some other issue? Perhaps the foot cannot handle the stairs? (we have many and live on a hill besides).

I expect the problem will return when I return home :rolleyes: