Doc told me to take Vitamin D like 5-6 years ago? He said 60-70% need a supplement - shoot - he takes Vitamin D.
Somebody wifey knows is randomly sick so she says we need double amount now. I forgot how much Doc said to take.
How much you take? 1000 something? 5000? 10,000?
Helps? Can you tell?
400-1000IU per day depending on age, children and seniors should stick closer to 400. Once you go over 4000 per day bad things will start to happen:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/05/health/vitamin-d-toxicity-wellness/index.html
My Doc recommended Vit D but stated that too much D alone is bad and requires Vit K to offset the bad affect. (I can remember the specifics.)
What I take via Amazon
If you can, and with the days shorter and colder it's difficult, try to get some direct sun exposure. Nothing crazy, but 15-20 minutes of direct sunlight will help with vitamin D deficiency.
My doc said I was woefully under on D on my last blood test and recommended 5000iu daily. Been doing that for years. Probably time to get another blood teat
Some of the docs around here start patients on a high loading dose for 5-7 days, then reduce to a smaller daily dosage. I don't remember specifics.
Last time I saw my doc he just told me to take a quality multi-vitamin.
Apparently if you like to end the day with a few drinks, alcohol does a very good job of stripping B vitamins from your blood.
Your Dr. should do a blood test to check your levels and recommend a dosage.
During wintery months, I take 50mcg (2000 IU) daily. This is the amount my Dr. recommended after my physical last december.
I notice a substantial impact on my mood during the winter. Got a coworker who does too. Don't think I would double my dosage unless specifically directed by my physician. I stop with it in summer months when I get to drive around with the top down.
I take Vitamin D on the recommendation of my doctor but the amount I take won't necessarily apply to you. Talk to your doctor, they can do a simple blood test to find out if you need it and how much. As mentioned above too much can be bad for you.
Outlier here, I struggled with headaches and joint pain from about age 22 and was given all kinds of diagnoses. On an off chance a Dr when I was 26 tested vitamin d and found nothing or however it's measured. Since then I've been on 50,000 units weekly and don't have those issues any longer. My body doesn't fully accept sunlight so that's a non-starter.
I'm taking 5000 a day. Blood test without it is almost off the chart low. I'm almost up to mid range with the 5K a day.
My doctor told me 50,000 IU weekly for 2 months, then drop it to 15,000 IU after that.
Don't forget to add in whatever is in your multivitamin to your totals.
The "load up cause someone is sick" thing is mostly bullE36 M3, especially with Vitamin D. Too late. Needed to be doing it weeks in advance.
I almost wrote something snarky about listening to health advice given by someone who isn't a doctor, hasn't evaluated you properly, and is "randomly sick" but it's Monday morning. So I'm going to skip that and join with the others who suggested you speak to your doctor before making any serious changes.
Maybe a cheap multivitamin that has some amount of Vitamin D in it would be nice in parallel with talking to your doc as part of an annual checkup.
I'd avoid taking too much of any fat soluble vitamin (A, D, E, & K) as your body can't flush excesses away like it can with the water soluble vitamins (B, C, Etc).
I asked my doctor once about Vitamin D, and he said studies seem mixed about how important it is, and kind of hinted that it's "overrated" by those in media.
NIH confirms that: Vitamin D - Health Professional Fact Sheet (nih.gov)
However, I'll add that your doctor knows your entire situation best - and you can't focus on just one part of a body. Everything works together, as with a race car.
If you doubt your doctor's advice, don't hesitate to ask for second opinion. It's well worth it. Doctors are people - they're not perfect and they're certainly subject to their own biases.
I'm not a doctor, but I'm going to say that you should ask yours for the specifics. I know a guy who, based on his blood work and doctor's orders, has varied his vitamin D intake over the years and felt the results. (Plus the bloodwork backed that up.)
The recommendation to get blood work makes a lot of sense. It is easy to monitor changes. There are studies out there about the different dosages and how blood levels change in response. The gist of the studies was that you can take anywhere from a little extra every day to one MASSIVE dose every several months and get a measurable blood level rise.
David S. Wallens said:I'm not a doctor, but I'm going to say that you should ask yours for the specifics. I know a guy who, based on his blood work and doctor's orders, has varied his vitamin D intake over the years and felt the results. (Plus the bloodwork backed that up.)
There you go, see a real doctor
I'm 62 and take Vitamin D per Dr's recommendation. Using 5,000 IU's daily. Keep in mind that Vitamin D levels to not jump up like some other vitamins. It takes a few weeks for it to climb. A friend on mine said it took a year to go from 24 to above 50. So stick with it!
I'm in the same boat as several others here. Doc tested my D levels and they were way low. I'm taking 5000/day except in the summer. My levels are in range now, and as a bonus I don't get whatever is going around in November anymore. I almost always got sick before Thanksgiving and maybe correlation != causation but I rarely get anything now that does more than make me feel a bit off for a day.
I saw the doctor yesterday and ran this past her.
She laughed.
Um, yeah, blood work, she said. (She commented that my blood work shows that mine is perfect, though. 
)
I wonder if doctors ask questions about cars on their forums.
In reply to David S. Wallens :
Benefit of living in Florida?
stuart in mn said:I wonder if doctors ask questions about cars on their forums.
"Do you have your Porsche serviced at the dealer? Or do you have an independent mechanic you recommend?"
I remember learning that any where north of latitude 37 the sun was too indirect to generate vitamin D during the winter. Also keyed to complexion and age, the more melanin you have and the older you are, the more you need to supplement.
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