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Posted 12/10/2009 6:11 PM (GMT -5)
Okay after reading some posts on here I had my general practioner check my levels.  My mag  is perfectly normal... of course I eat the spinach a couple times a week.  I did notice significant results when I added this to my diet...   I am in remission now because of it... at least partly if not wholly.

But my vitamin d level is 19.8.  The doc says its supposed to be 34 to 100.  I guess I'm really low.  Only problem is they made no recomendation on how to get it up.  about 6 weeks before the test I started myself on a daily vitamin D supplement.  2000 IU.  Now what's really scary is how low was my level before I started the supplement?   If 6 weeks of the supplement only brought it up to 19.8.  Well guys... in your experience how do I get it up?  Can I  OD on it? (lol)  Do I have to bring it up "slowly".  Whats your recomendations? 

Pills?  how many IU's?   Will artificial sunlight ( tanning bed ) bring it up?  Oh and I can't do it with milk cause my system won't tolerate it..... 

k... Any ideas?

Posted 12/10/2009 6:53 PM (GMT -5)
Hi, My GP doctor told me to take vitamin D3 5000IU in winter time. Other time 2000IU. I have not check my D level yet. I found an interesting article on overdosing on vitamin d.
http://www.cforyourself.com/Blog/2008/12/overdosing-on-vitamin-d-side-effects.html
Jin
Posted 12/10/2009 7:30 PM (GMT -5)
okay.... from what little I have read so far ( and I'm done for tonight ) This idea of lack of vitamin D goes along with Cfromutah's magnesium from spinach and sunflowerseeds. Seems Low mag and low D go together. And vitamin D and Mag fix some of the same things? Oh well more research tomorrow.
Posted 12/10/2009 7:35 PM (GMT -5)
I do 5,000 IU most days of the week, usually do 10,000 IU twice week. Being that low I would do 10,000 IU for a few months and re-check to see if its changing. No telling how much we actually absorb.
Posted 12/10/2009 8:47 PM (GMT -5)

If you're D is at 19.8 you need an RX of D and I am surprised your doctor didn't prescribe it.  My levels are at 25 and I got a 50,000IU to be taken weekly.  I would call your doctor and check.  I don't think you can supplement on your own and get to the levels you need without a prescription dose.

Sue

Posted 12/10/2009 9:21 PM (GMT -5)
Doc will probably call me tomorrow. The nurse called with with my results late this afternoon and the doc had already left for the day. My doc hasn't seen the test results yet. I guess another day or two won't kill me.... It just seems weird...
I'm not really good at research, Has anyone done any online research on this? And on this and magnesium? I just googled vitamin D and Magnesium and found quite a few hits on these two and how they help auto immune diseases. Also my sister is in cancer research/patient co-ordinator at a local hospital and I asked her the other day about low vitamin D levels and cancer... and she said yes. That they found they were low in alot of cancer patients and prescribed supplements along with their other treatments. Just curious..... How much like cancer is our disease? I know they are both auto immune diseases..... Oh well I will attempt to search more online tomorrow. Like I said though I'm not real good at research so if any of you have done this searching let me know....
Posted 12/10/2009 11:08 PM (GMT -5)
Bubba, I think that Bookworm21 posted about a month ago that her level tested at 19 & the doc put her on the regimen Suebear described above. It sounds like Drisdol to me-- 50,000 unit translucent pill weekly for 4 weeks to start. The active ingredient is Calcitriol, which turned out to be an allergen for me. The problem with vit D is that if you overdose or have an allergic reaction to the supplement, it takes a while to rid your body of the stuff. It really made me sick-- ugh! Maybe your doc will take a different approach to supplements, anyway. See what he advises ... / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
Posted 12/11/2009 6:17 AM (GMT -5)
I started taking 5000 IU of Vitamin D3 on February 5th and had my level tested on April 13th. It was 38 ng/mL. I just had it checked again on October 27th and it was 58 ng/mL.

grassrootshealth.net has a fair amount of information about Vitamin D deficiency.

I don't know if it had any effect on my UC since I have flared twice since I started taking it. It is the last supplement or medicine that I would give up though. It has dramatically helped my emotional well being.
Posted 12/11/2009 8:59 AM (GMT -5)
Oh, and remember that Vitamin D is reponsible for the absorption of calcium so if you are deficient in D you are not getting all your calcium either. This is very critical if you are either a woman age 35 or above or a prednisone patient.

It's very hard to reach toxicity levels of D if you are low and working to replenish. That said it's probably not wise to take high levels of D without your doctor's input.

Sue
Posted 12/11/2009 9:41 AM (GMT -5)
I am almost convinced vitamin D can help my UC. When I first started reading the forum when I was diagnosed a month and a half ago, there was a thread talking about fall being a tough time for lots of people here. When I did my initial research I also found that UC is more prevelant in northern areas of the world.
I started having symptoms in 10.2007 and diagnosed after they worsened in 10.2009. I know this isn't a huge body of evidence, but it has me counting the days till late Feburary, when you can get some goods rays in North Carolina! cool
Posted 12/11/2009 9:51 PM (GMT -5)
Exposure to gentle sunshine CAN help UC. While I was taking Dipentum in the mid-late 1990s, I noticed that the med seemed to work better during the summer when I spent some quality time at the beach. The med alone did not firm up bms, but sun exposure definitely seemed to help with that. Back then doctors were not testing vit D levels, but I suspect mine were raised in the summertime. Where I live it's generally hard, if not impossible, to bask in the sun consistently between November to March! Sometimes now I wonder whether an answer would be to resume manufacture/sale of sun lamps for personal use-- provided that the harmful UVs could be screened out-- to assist the body's vit D production in bleak climes. (Tanning beds are considered dangerous by medical authorities.) / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC ... [etc.])
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