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Anticipation of a Seasonal Relapse

golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
Okay. You might want to separate the vit D from the minerals, so that you can individualize doses. If you can tolerate 600IU, I would increase to 1000IU but move it to the morning. If that goes well, add another 1000IU after a week or so. And remember the K2, it's very important to take with vit D.

I am surprised my Naturopath has never mentioned K2 to me...

Could you briefly mention why it is important to take this with Vitamin D3? please, anyone...

Its a supplement maze and I am lost! :)
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
I am surprised my Naturopath has never mentioned K2 to me...

Could you briefly mention why it is important to take this with Vitamin D3? please, anyone...

Its a supplement maze and I am lost! :)
Vitamin D will prevent excretion of calcium. This will increase calcium in your blood. You need vitamin K (and magnesium) to get the calcium from the blood into your cells and utilize it. High calcium levels in the blood is not a good thing.
 

golden

Senior Member
Messages
1,831
Vitamin D will prevent excretion of calcium. This will increase calcium in your blood. You need vitamin K (and magnesium) to get the calcium from the blood into your cells and utilize it. High calcium levels in the blood is not a good thing.

Oh thank you! I can't help but wonder this is why people feel bad on vitamin D3 and stop taking it.

I am glad I learned this.
 

Seewell

Senior Member
Messages
234
Forgive me (heads gone)hav'nt read the whole tread,but i take Codliver oil in the winter,i think it helps to build
up my vit D levels,tastes lovely too:p

"SAD sufferers with low levels of vitamin D may benefit from supplementing with cod liver oil, as each teaspoon of this contains about 400 IU of vitamin D. I generally recommend that one or two teaspoons of cod liver oil be taken throughout the winter. Larger doses should be taken under medical supervision. Those preferring to supplement with vitamin D itself should be aware that this nutrient comes in two main forms: cholecalciferol (also known as vitamin D3) and ergocalciferol (vitamin D2). Cholecalciferol is generally taken to be the more potent and preferred form of vitamin D. Ensuring a good intake of this nutrient may help keep those prone to SAD from experiencing a winter of discontent."
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
adreno! Hi, I wanted to understand. Are you saying I shouldn't take what I am taking? It's a bottle of Magnesium/Calcium with Vitamin D in lower quantities by a company called KAL? The reason I like it so much is because it helps my constipation. That is why I started it. My constipation is brutal and this has really helped me. Sorry for TMI. But, I am sure people on here get it.

I did take the 5,000IU this AM. Will let know how I sleep tonight.
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
adreno! Hi, I wanted to understand. Are you saying I shouldn't take what I am taking? It's a bottle of Magnesium/Calcium with Vitamin D in lower quantities by a company called KAL? The reason I like it so much is because it helps my constipation. That is why I started it. My constipation is brutal and this has really helped me. Sorry for TMI. But, I am sure people on here get it.

I did take the 5,000IU this AM. Will let know how I sleep tonight.
You can continue with that and take the vit D separately. I like to take all my supps individually, so I can tailor the doses of each to my liking.
 
Messages
64
Just want to add that Vit D didn't do anything for me. Took 100 000 IU's per week in two doses for two months, as prescribed by an endocrinologist after blood tests showed I was low. I could as well have taken smarties..no effect on symptoms. I didn't even bother to retest after two months. Vit D didn't cause my illness, and looks like it won't cure me either.

I live in the southern hemisphere and although it's "only" my second year with this illness, I'm also feeling a definite increase in severity of symptoms now that it's getting colder and the seasons are changing. Even before getting this chronic illness I had a problem with respiratory illnesses during the switch from late summer to autumn. I'd always be the first one in school to get sick, but then I'd be fine for the rest of the winter.

Seasonal relapses with this illness could be down to a number of factors like increased viral and bacterial load, temp and pressure changes, increased pollution (greenhouse effect is more pronounced in winter, at least where I live) etc. which all places more stress on an already battered body.

Best of luck for everyone who might experience this. Hopefully this winter will bring good news in the form of new research so we can focus on something positive for a change.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Vitamin D is not a cure for everything, but it is good for many things. Sounds like you were taking a prescription, and if I recall correctly, it's the D2 form, not D3. D2 is not as well absorbed by the body as D3, so could be why, did you retest at all?

GG
 

Gypsy

Senior Member
Messages
123
Location
USA
I get worsening of all my symptoms from vit D3 supplements, no matter how many critical co factors I take (for example, magnesium) I wish I could take it, because there is so much positive research surrounding it.

The sun is a different story. I LOVE the sun. My body craves it. I feel like I would be an entirely different person if I lived in a place where it was always 72 degrees and partly sunny. Atleast healthwise.
 
Messages
64
Vitamin D is not a cure for everything, but it is good for many things. Sounds like you were taking a prescription, and if I recall correctly, it's the D2 form, not D3. D2 is not as well absorbed by the body as D3, so could be why, did you retest at all?

GG

I took cholecalciferol which according to wikipedia is the D3 form. I haven't retested, no medical aid so would have to pay out of pocket. I feel even if the supps did raise my levels it didn't make a difference wrt symptoms. If I ever recover one day I'll think about retesting.

I recall reading somewhere that low levels of 0,25 vit D and high levels of 1,25 vit D is common In CFS/ME/"chronic" Lyme blood tests, suggesting the abnormal levels are not due to a lack of exposure to the sun but rather deregulated by the body itself or as a result of infection. Vit D is implicated in the immune system so that might give a clue as to why.

It's probably a good idea to supplement during winter anyway, given the health benefits otherwise reported. I just wonder at times about the price of commercial OTC vit D supps and supps in general; the cholecalciferol I got on prescription was 10x stronger and 10x cheaper than the stuff I see marketed on the web. I guess they can't make OTC vit D too strong because of vit D being fat soluble and possibly dangerous if huge doses are taken, but that doesn't stand in the way of some excessive pricing over here.

Glad if it works for someone else though.
 

Misfit Toy

Senior Member
Messages
4,178
Location
USA
As Sting believes, "Nothing Like The Sun." Great CD and it really is true. Vitamin D3, I am taking. Not sure what it is doing. It's not hurting, so that's good, but there really is nothing like that great big yellow ball in the sky. Not feeling fab now, but the spring has boosted my mood significantly. Would love to move back to Cali.
 
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
As Sting believes, "Nothing Like The Sun." Great CD and it really is true. Vitamin D3, I am taking. Not sure what it is doing. It's not hurting, so that's good, but there really is nothing like that great big yellow ball in the sky. Not feeling fab now, but the spring has boosted my mood significantly. Would love to move back to Cali.
 
Messages
236
Location
Medford NJ
As Sting believes, "Nothing Like The Sun." Great CD and it really is true. Vitamin D3, I am taking. Not sure what it is doing. It's not hurting, so that's good, but there really is nothing like that great big yellow ball in the sky. Not feeling fab now, but the spring has boosted my mood significantly. Would love to move back to Cali.