Hello all,

In December of last year, I went to a rheumatologist because my GP felt I had symptoms of an autoimmune disorder (chronic low grade temp, high sed rate and crp) and when I went to him he ran a bunch of blood tests including vitamin D - everything came out basically normal except that my Vitamin D was 14 ng/mL so they put me on 50,000 iU D2 once per week for 12 weeks. I just had my levels rechecked and they are now 12 ng/mL, so my gp's solution (I am not set to see the rheumatologist again until mid June) was to prescribe me 5 more weeks worth of D2. I don't understand why my levels are so low considering that I spend several hours a day outside and am fair skinned and fairly forgetful about using sunblock as judiciously as it should be used. Should I try a D3 supplement, or am I just...I don't know, broken in some way? =P

D2 (RX ergocalciferol 50,000 units) doesn't work. It is not active in humans. (research shows this). Doctors continue to prescribe it, and sadly that is just
useless, and time consuming.


It is best to use D3 OTC... 1000IU for every 10 pts you need to raise,daily. This is very inexpensive.

Use a goal of 50 total.

This is explained on this thread, and many others here on
this forum, if you use the search function.

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...holecalciferol

I have read that D2 doesn't work, but everything I read also indicated that if you spent some time outside it would also fix the problem, which doesn't seem to be the case for me. Is that unusual, or have I just been reading the wrong info?

There are people who fail at outdoor sun exposure and formation of Vit D. The basic building block to this sequence is based on cholesterol. If you have a genetic lack (low cholesterol) or take statins to artificially lower it, you might not convert sunlight very well.

Some of the research implies that the older people become, this chemistry may fail. So it may fail also for some genetic reason.

You need Vitamin D3 from the sun, 20 min a day with 40% skin exposure will give you about 10,000 IU depending on weight and other factors. Take a look at this *edit*, I have posted from several different sources about D3. Do your research on the deficiency of Vitamin D3 and B12. Most Doctors are not up to date on the new study's about Vitamin D3

Many foods are fortified with Vitamin D3. You can read it on the labels.

Thanks, I am going to grab some D3 and try that. I do spend a lot of time outside - I would say 30% exposure for at least an hour a day right now, and my levels are still low. The docs also think I may have Crohn's disease on top of everything else so I wonder if I can even absorb vitamin D if I do take it, but I will give the D3 a shot and see if it works.

Have you been thoroughly tested for celiac disease?
and your sun exposure, try not to was any of that exposed skin for a few hours after.....no real proof on this, but one study of surfers, who obviously had the sun exposure, should them low in D.....good luck

Not everyone is able to be exposed to the sun for 20 min a day due to health conditions.

I was D3 deficient (16 ng/ml) and cannot tolerate nor for medical reasons be in the sun/heat for very long.

I used an over-the-counter D3 to increase my D level. Works great for me

pabb - I have not been tested for celiac, but I did go on a gluten free diet for 6 months with no improvement of my symptoms. Also, thus far, it has been fairly overcast here in NH this year, so though I have been outside for long periods of time, I have only had enough sun exposure to get a slight burn on my face so far this year, and not much on the rest of my body. Once we have enough sun that I am worried about burning, I will start putting on sunblock =)

Also, I don't know if it is less expensive in other areas, but D3 5000iU tablets here are $20 for 100, which does not seem terribly inexpensive to me. Is there anywhere that sells greater than 5000 iU's? I was unable to find anything that seemed legitimate, even online.