I'm knocking on 50 and my vitamin D levels are next to nothing. I've taken supplements but not really seen levels increase. I think the recommended dosage for boosting it is 5,000 IU daily.

I say my doc for an annual checkup yesterday and he suggested trying a Rx for 3 months of a single dose taken once weekly. It's 50,000 IU. Seems extreme but generally speaking my doc is fairly conservative.

Anyone gone this route or know of anyone that did?

Yes, I didn't go exactly that route but I started taking "high" dosages. I get blood work done every 6 months and you can see from the picture below that I was at 43. During that time I was taking 5,000iu/day.



I then started taking 30,000iu/day and my levels jumped up to 102 and then 120. My cardiologist said he wanted it below 100 so I dropped down to 20,000iu/day. Now it fluctuates between 90 and 100.

I read several books regarding Vitamin D megadosing (this was also when Covid was going on so higher levels of Vitamin D were being recognized as a good defense) but the book below had the biggest impact on me because the author is also a doctor and recommends 30,000iu/day.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Optimal-Dose-audiobook/dp/B07KBF2W9Q/ref=sr_1_10?keywords=vitamin+d+book&sr=8-10

Now, with taking higher dosages of Vitamin D what I've found and read is that you will need to supplement with Magnesium because vitamin D pulls from your magnesium stores which can cause issues if you get too low. If you search my posts on here you will see one where I talk about Magnesium supplementation and why I recommend that everyone take it because it has so many positive benefits for your body and the typical American diet struggles to get enough.

You may also want to consider supplementing with Vitamin K2 (MK7 form) because it's job is to put calcium in your bones and not let it get stuck in your blood. If you have higher levels of vitamin D then you can run the risk of having more calcium in your blood which is why you want Vitamin K2 to ensure it is deposing the calcium from your blood into your bones.

I did exactly that 3 years ago and it really helped. I went to OTC supplementation after a couple of months of taking the prescription and have been able to keep my level within the normal range.

My level was just a hair below the low end of normal when I started.

That's a pretty common dosing regimen for those that are deficient. And if you're having 5k units daily, you're already at 35k a week. Vitamin D is fat soluble, so best to have it with a fatty meal to enhance absorption.

As someone mentioned, excess vitamin D can actually cause weaker bones. It activates cells that help remodel bone, and if they're over activated, they can increase blood calcium by eating into your bones.

I couldn't tell you what the optimal daily amount is. We spend so much time indoors we all probably need some.

Best vitamin d you can get is from sunlight. My wife uses an app to track her exposure at different times of the day to make sure she gets enough. Helps with anxiety.

10andBOUNCE said:

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Best vitamin d you can get is from sunlight. My wife uses an app to track her exposure at different times of the day to make sure she gets enough. Helps with anxiety.

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My sleep is also so much better when I've been outside and gotten a lot of sun during the day.

My wife's doc had her add a calcium supplement for her levels. We live in CO and winter time is tough to get natural vitamin D. Even if you are outside you will have sleeves on at least so not a lot of surface area

Yes, 50,000 IU once/week is normal to get your numbers up. My vitamin D level was 12.8. I took 5,000 IU/day for months and got it up in the 70s. Once I stopped, it started falling off a cliff again. Doctor gave me the script for 50,000 IU and it got back up to where we need it. Now I'm just on a maintenance dose.

Oh, and should look into taking a K2 supplement with it for your bones.

10andBOUNCE said:

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Best vitamin d you can get is from sunlight. My wife uses an app to track her exposure at different times of the day to make sure she gets enough. Helps with anxiety.

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Know the name of the app by chance?

"D Minder Pro"

I got mine tested this week and it came back at 64. I take 5,000ius every day and am wondering if there is any provable benefit to trying to get it closer to 100. Thoughts?

For what it's worth I get 2,000 from a multivitamin and 3,000 from drops I put in water.

Unless you're truly significantly deficient, benefit of supplementation is debatable. Doesn't mean there isn't benefit, just research hasn't identified it yet.

I'm sure you can probably find other studies that show benefits. I'm no expert on the topic. I think the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. If you're on the extreme low level, probably supplement. Otherwise, probably not a ton of definitive benefits.

Was on the crazy low side. With the 50k weekly dose energy levels do seem to have improved.

My son is 8. His blood test showed a very low Vitamin D level though he takes 1,000 every day. I bought the prescribed pills at the Canadian Pharmacy and now he will take 40,000 for two months. Then he will do another blood test. I hope for a good result.

The range on the test is 30-100 so I'm smack dab in the middle. I'll try probably leave the dose alone as I feel good generally.

Back pre-Covid, I had fractures in my feet from over training and the Doc put me on the 50,000 once a week. I did that for about 2 months, now I maintain it with regular vitamin D.

Had blood work done recently and they were pleasantly surprised at how high my count was.