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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 23 of 23. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 7:15:48
Hi all,
the summer is over where i live and my mood has taken a dive. Need to start taking D3 again.
How much D3 daily? I had another thread but it disappeared.
THX
Posted by herpills on September 20, 2015, at 12:07:52
In reply to Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 7:15:48
2000IU is a good maintenance dose.
BUT have you actually had your blood level of vit D checked recently? If it's too low, you would need a higher amount such as 4000IU for awhile and then switch to 2000IU for maintenance.
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 12:24:40
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage » Lamdage22, posted by herpills on September 20, 2015, at 12:07:52
i had it measured last year during the winter. It was way too low
Posted by linkadge on September 20, 2015, at 13:31:37
In reply to Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 7:15:48
I currently take between 200-400 IU. If I take more, I get sensitivity to light, headaches and more anxiety.
I get the drops and mix it in with my coffee in the morning.
Linkadge
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 13:55:45
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by linkadge on September 20, 2015, at 13:31:37
I took 60,000 IU today as a kickstart.
I will get blood drawn soon to determine. In the meanwhile, i will take 2,000 or 3,000 IU daily.
Posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 14:42:43
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by linkadge on September 20, 2015, at 13:31:37
My doctor has me taking 5000 IU of D3. My levels were towards the low side. Interestingly, my fingernails are less brittle.
- Scott
Posted by linkadge on September 20, 2015, at 19:38:35
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 14:42:43
I would not take 60,000 without some kind of medical supervision. There are risks to mega doses. Vitamin D can actually increase the risk of certain cancers when taken in mega doses.
Not to mention that d3 is a hormone that could affect other hormone levels favorably or unfavorably.
Linkadge
Posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 20:41:05
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by linkadge on September 20, 2015, at 19:38:35
> I would not take 60,000 without some kind of medical supervision. There are risks to mega doses. Vitamin D can actually increase the risk of certain cancers when taken in mega doses.
>
> Not to mention that d3 is a hormone that could affect other hormone levels favorably or unfavorably.
>
> LinkadgeThanks. I'll look into it.
- Scott
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 21, 2015, at 8:22:44
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage » linkadge, posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 20:41:05
I dont know whats going on. My elbow dictates that i take a break. Is it all a lack of sports and therefore activity?
Is it that Effexor is pooping out (further)? Is it a lack of D3?
I have no idea.
I just dont like it.
Posted by Linkadge on September 21, 2015, at 19:44:28
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on September 21, 2015, at 8:22:44
You are taking a lot of antipsychotic. Have you ever tried trazodone?
60,000 iu is 60 pills a day. That's like almost a bottle a day.
Linkadge
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 22, 2015, at 4:18:09
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Linkadge on September 21, 2015, at 19:44:28
Yes i tried trazodone.
I dont take 60,000 a day, i took 60,000 ONCE.
Posted by linkadge on September 22, 2015, at 20:26:01
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on September 22, 2015, at 4:18:09
OK. Its still a lot. :)
I would start low and increase slowly. Getting blood tests can help.
Does d3 require fat to be absorbed? You might try taking it with a fattier meal for better absorption.
Have you ever tried a sedating antidepressant in the place of an antipsychotic?
For instance, could you try replacing some Seroquel with amitriptyline? These two would feel very similar minus the dopamine antagonism of Seroquel.
I would try to nail down whether you need antipsychotics, or are you benefitting from serotonin / histamine antagonism.
Linkadge
Posted by Lamdage22 on September 24, 2015, at 15:36:23
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by linkadge on September 22, 2015, at 20:26:01
Linkadge,
the thinking is that my APs already put stress on the heart and a tricyclic would further stress it.
Im certainly not a cardiologist.
Posted by Zyprexa on September 25, 2015, at 18:23:20
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 14:42:43
My doc has me also taking 5000 iu a day too.
Posted by PeterMartin on September 26, 2015, at 0:53:48
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by SLS on September 20, 2015, at 14:42:43
I tend to get odd reactions to vitamins but vitamin D3 supplementation made me feel crappy (tired & depressed). Just throwing that out there for anyone who may have the same experience but think it can't be so.....
My levels were slightly low prior to supplementing last year.....
Posted by hello321 on September 29, 2015, at 1:05:30
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Linkadge on September 21, 2015, at 19:44:28
Here's an interesting article on Vitamin D Supplementation:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/02/23/oral-vitamin-d-mistake.aspxI've currently been taking this brand of fermented cod liver oil/butter oil http://www.greenpasture.org/public/Products/ButterCodLiverBlend/index.cfm
It is supposed to be a very good source of Vitamin D (along with other vitamins) that has a high bioavailability in the body. But I've read during fermentation, the oil supposively goes rancid/bad. Not sure how true that is, I figured I'd give the supplement a try.
Posted by bleauberry on October 2, 2015, at 14:33:23
In reply to Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on September 20, 2015, at 7:15:48
I haven't read all the other responders.
But to just dive in....my journeys suggest the best dose is 5000I.U. per day.
You can test blood level easily.
Vitamin D is a huge issue in psychiatry, except it is usually underestimated or ignored completely. It ties in with...immune system...which strongly impacts mood.
You cannot rely on the sun because that assumes that all of your bodily processes are working perfectly and will convert the D as instructed and use it as instructed. Instructions may very well be messed up, and that's related to the psych symptoms are there in the first place.
The primary cause of low vitamin D, according my MDs and my own experience, is an unsuspected infection. Lyme is the primary suspect but there are a dozen other common ones.
As an interesting side note, when those infections are treated, despite not officially diagnosing them or proving them, it is very common that longstanding psychiatric symptoms abate and even totally disappear.
Posted by Lamdage22 on October 2, 2015, at 15:09:34
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by bleauberry on October 2, 2015, at 14:33:23
why cant the infections be proven??
Posted by bleauberry on October 3, 2015, at 6:41:51
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by Lamdage22 on October 2, 2015, at 15:09:34
> why cant the infections be proven??
Because accurate tests do not exist.
For example, let's pretend you get a tick bite. You go to the doctor to get tested for Lyme. The test comes back negative which means you didn't get Lyme from the tick. But in fact, the test if often wrong, and you could be very sick despite the test.
That test...which is really common....and the primary test all MDs use...is only about 50% accurate...
So this story happens to millions of people and I am unfortunately one of them. The doctor says no infection, go home and get some rest, it's probably just stress. (if you hear that statement, the translation is....we don't know what's wrong with you). Then for the next 20 years there is incredible suffering, both physically and mentally, but no one knows why. The test was negative, remember? So nobody considers Lyme. They already ruled it out. They test for a few other things, and they are negative too. Lots and lots of testing....nothing wrong.
But then the patient starts an antibiotic for some other unrelated reason, and bingo, guess what? They get better! Or, maybe a doctor or nurse suspects the test was wrong and wants to try antibiotics just to see what happens. That is actually the only true way to test and diagnose a suspected infection....treat it as if it was confirmed and see what happens....the same drugs used to do that are given to teenagers for acne for months and months, so the safety is not a concern.
Complicated. I have a book which literally takes an entire chapter describing how some infection bugs evade testing.
Another common one is Candida, a gut yeast. There is no accurate test for that. Why? No idea. There is a simple home test that can be done with just a glass of water and some spit. But medically, they really don't have the tools we need. Simple as that.
Here's why. The tests we have depend upon antibodies. The test don't actually find the bad guys, they find the antibodies fighting the bad guys. But in some infections, such as Lyme, the bad guys shut down parts of the human immune system with enzymes, or other things happen that prevent antibodies from happening. So when the blood test is taken, and they find no antibodies, you are considered safe, when in fact you could have a raging infection.
The science of infection detection is not great. Some bugs can be detected easily and accurately. Some cannot. It takes a book to explain the details and intricacies as to why that is. Even then, we really don't know. That's why in medicine they call it "practice".
The two mentioned here....Lyme and Candida....both have as primary symptoms everything we see in what psychiatry calls depression. MDs who spend most of their days treating Lyme patients will tell you that most of them came from other MDs who had been unsuccessful, most of them have longstanding psychiatric issues not being well managed, and most of them got nearly 100% better on antibiotics but not on psychiatric meds.
Psych meds are useful as stepping stones or symptom managers, but will never be a cure. Unfortunately, our medical system does not aim for cures. They simply aim to bandage your symptoms.
Posted by Lamdage22 on October 3, 2015, at 8:50:48
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by bleauberry on October 3, 2015, at 6:41:51
There is no way for me to know wether it is true what you said.
I know that alternative health comes up with all kinds of questionable theories.
Posted by Lamdage22 on October 5, 2015, at 11:47:46
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by bleauberry on October 3, 2015, at 6:41:51
Posted by Lamdage22 on October 6, 2015, at 4:57:47
In reply to @bleauberry, id be interested in your response (nm), posted by Lamdage22 on October 5, 2015, at 11:47:46
i dont discard what you said.. i am just sceptical.
Posted by Zatar on October 15, 2015, at 8:52:15
In reply to Re: Vitamin D Maintenance dosage, posted by bleauberry on October 2, 2015, at 14:33:23
I was put on high dose D2 (10,000 iu) for two months, but my level barely budged.
Vit. D3 at 5,000 iu for six months brought my level up. Maintenance of 2,000 iu daily of D3 was not enough and my levels dropped again.
I currently take D3 4,000 iu daily with some fatty food (to increase absorption) and need to repeat lab testing.
Everyone is different. An endocrinologist at Mayo Jacksonville told me that he takes 2,000 iu daily and most people need more than the recommended daily allowance.
Dose will depend on sun exposure and genetics and food intake as well as other factors.
Zatar
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