I could swear I saw an article or video by the famous Dr. Mark Scholz somewhere where he was recommending to his patients a target serum Vitamin D of at least 50 and more optimally an even higher level of 70. But I can't seem to find it. Does anyone know of any sources of information on target Vitamin D levels related to Prostate Cancer?
One example of some research supporting that:
You could take a look at Michael F. Holick references in pubmed.
As for the dosage, it depends what measurement you're using. I personally would aim for around 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L). Others may disagree.
This can only be measured in your bloodwork. Note that the response curve is not linear. So someone taking 5-10KIUs will likely have a different blood concentration to the next man taking the same amount. That's why its a must to measure the blood.
IMO, the thing to be aware of is the calcium levels resulting from the D3 - especially if supplementing calcium. It increases it's absorption significantly.
So I tested a year ago and was at 25 which was not surprising as I have lived most all my life in Seattle and I had been taking Vit D supplements off and on prior to PCa diagnosis no more than 5000 iu total a week. I did some more research on Vit D supplements and optimal levels prior to PCa as frankly I think low levels were contributing to moderate depression in the Winter. And the latest research said the RDA was WAY too low and that you could take a lot more Vit D safely. In fact you can megadose it, like 100,000 to 200,000 IU once a month. I prefer to take it daily or at least weekly.
After the PCa diagnosis, especially after learning low Vit D is a risk factor (so I'm pretty sure it was probably one of many factors that contributed to my PCa development), I took a more serious attitude and had my levels checked. So in the Fall (about 7 months ago) I started taking 5000 IU 6 days a week. So 30,000 IU total a week or about 130,000 IU a month. Also took K1 + K2 (MK7) supplement every other day (as MK7 has a super long half life) and eating a good diet with mostly vegetables I'm pretty sure I wasn't deficient in Vit K but taking all that Vit D and wanted to make sure I had plenty of Vit K.
Well, my result just came back. 35! I was expecting at least 50 taking 30,000 total IU a week. I saw another older discussion here about how Vit D absorption can vary greatly from person to person. I am a case in point for that!
The good news is a few months a go I for the first time in my life moved to a new city that gets 100 more days of sun a year than Seattle (Reno.) I was going to go down to 5,000 IU a week from May to Sep but now knowing my levels are still lower than optimal I may keep taking at the same dose year-round.
At least I know I am no where at risk of my levels being too high. I think keeping the same dosing and with more sun in the Summer I should get closer to that 50-70 range I'm aiming for. I believe I read 120 is the cutoff for being too high, anything below that and you don't have to worry about hypercalcemia but anything above 70 I believe has really no additional benefit.
the response curve isn’t linear, more like an s-shape. If you’re at the bottom end, you need a lot to get over that lower plateau. You’ll be no where near the upper limit IMO. But you should still get the bloodwork done when adjusting it.
For me 10k for years has had no I’ll effects. I’ve even done higher. If I were you I’d wait and get some sunlight in the summer along with your 5K and see where you are after that.
Some quick digging and I shouldn't be surprised with my result I realize now also based on what you said. There are a lot of Vit D studies, one of the first ones I came across was a small study group of runners but they took about half what I'm taking total per week and their levels went up by 5, so makes sense mine went up by 10. So you are obviously right at the S shape response as it takes more to get over that 35 hump. I'd estimate probably to get up to at least 50 I need to increase my dosage by 75-100% maintain it year-round and strive to get more sun but that's not good for your skin so I prefer to supplement and most of the time wear sunscreen. I doubt I'll exceed 70 but I of course will recheck maybe early Winter this year.
The first thing that you should notice is that there are two D3 analyses and hence values. The long term depot that spans months and from where off the body takes to process the one for daily use. The important is the first one, the second has such a day by day variation that doesn't mean much. My doc, when left unguided, has made the mistake of prescribing the second over the first one a number of times, as this one appears first on the electronic prescription list when searching for "D3". Dosage wise, I take 4x10k per week and I am always in the bracket of 40-50. Without suplementation I was just under 30 and it took me a very long time to see the 40.
Calcium supplement with vitamin D
VITAL trial result for vitamin D
