Vitamin d3

[Redders]

I have been taking 4000iu vitamin D3 & K2-MK-7 for a few months now and just noticed it says do not take if on anti coagulants. Does anyone know why this would be? I am in permanent AF at the moment but I thought that was because I broke my wrist and went into shock. Could it be the vitamin D ??

[BobD Volunteer]

All google references say no problem with warfarin or any DOAC.

[Redders in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob I’ll go back to taking 1000iu. I read somewhere that you need to take a K2 with D3

[Tangalle in reply to Redders]

Hi, K2 is definitely needed if taking high does of D3. I was told 2000iu and above would necessitate the need for K2 but there are varying views on this. I take 1000 daily in the winter months but only very occasionally when there are sunnier days.

[Auriculaire in reply to Redders]

There is no problem in taking K2 with DOACs. Some people even take it with Warfarin and report it helps with stability.

[mav7]

I have taken 1-2K IU of Vitamin D for many years including after being diagnosed with afib 1.5 years ago. No restrictions by doctor.

Your 4K IU regiment seems very high unless you have a critical depletion. Too much Vitamin D can cause issues.

Best to check with your doctor and be tested for level of Vitamin D to insure proper dosage.

Vitamin D is very important, especially as we age.

[Redders in reply to mav7]

Thank you mav7 I’ll go back to taking 1000iu

[mav7 in reply to Redders]

But do ask your doctor for a blood test to determine your level of Vitamin D and the correct, needed dosage.

Best to you in managing your health.

[CDreamer]

I was warned against taking very high levels of VitD by my neurologist who said that it can cause kidney stones so maybe that’s why? Kidneys help clear all drugs from body so could be fear of overloading kidneys? I did get kidney stones when taking high dose so nowadays I take x2 daily rather than in one hit & limit to 2000iu & have a few days a week not taking any. That seems to have worked for me.

[jeanjeannie50]

There have been a few bad reports lately about taking a too higher dose of D3. Now it's summer we can get more of that vitamin from the sun, so I think your idea of reducing to 1,000IU's is a good one. I'm going to do the same and also copy CD's idea of missing a few doses each week.

Jean

[Auriculaire in reply to jeanjeannie50]

The best thing is to get your level tested. The absorption of vit D varies so widely between individuals that 4000iu would be too much for some but not even get others into the normal range. On 3000iu a day along with sunbathing and eating oily fish several times a week I could not get into the normal range and on the same dose my husband's level was more than twice mine! Also remember that a seventy year old's skin makes only one third the amount of vit D compared to a twenty year old's.

[Ppiman]

Take care. I had a moment of severe back pain when I took high dose Vit D and my GP said it can cause kidney stones.

Steve

[jwsonoma]

I took 5000 iu a day of D for several months and developed arrhythmias the lasted several days per episode. It took me a lot while to figure out the cause. As D is fat soluble it took a month for it to get out of my system and the arrhythmias to stop. Vitamin K reduces INR so as long as you test frequently or are stable you should be ok. In my non doctorly opinion.

[sleeksheep]

I have been taking 5000ui D3 and 100mcg K2mk7 for a few years now and my last blood test in January was 124 nmol/L ( reference is 50 - 150nmol/L ).

I only take soft gels never take the tablet form which has added calcium and from memory its D3 with calcium which can be associated with kidney stones.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[MarkS]

It's the Vit K2 that causes the warning on the pack. It can lower INR if on warfarin. However K2 does stabilise your INR. So I take K2 (90mcg p.d.) with my warfarin. I have to take slightly more warfarin as a result (8mg rather than 7) but I get a very stable INR which is in the 2-3 range about 98% of the time. If you're on DOACs then it makes no difference.

[Redders in reply to MarkS]

I am on a DOAC so that’s good. Thank you MarkS

[RoyMacDonald]

I've been taking 1000 iu daily together with a K2 tablet ever since the pandemic started as a way of increasing my COVID protection. So about 2 years. No difference to the AF. On Apixaban since my stroke 3 years ago.

All the best.

Roy

[ILowe]

How high is high? I have noticed a trend to accept higher levels.Ten years ago I was told, with references, that I should not take more than 2000IU per day, or risk upsetting electrolytes, Calcium, etc. Now even the NHS site acknowledges that 4000IU is safe. nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-...

The NHS site is probably behind the times on the efficacy of the tiny suggested doses.

What matters is blood level, not dose. Which means getting it tested. Simple fingerprick test kits are cheaply available, but the ones I have seen only tell you if you are at very low levels or not. (below 75nmol/L = 30ng/ml). I use a professional lab for a home test kit vitamindtest.org.uk and they will phone you if your level is too high. They say the risk of toxicity is above 220nmol/L = 88ng/ml. Much current advice I have seen is to aim for 50+ ng/ml.

Sunlight is a great help, but is rarely enough in Britain. I lived in a Mediterranean country for over 30 years, and even there was deficient.

I think you will find the kidney stones problem is now regarded as a myth.

[Ducky2003]

I have taken Accrete D3 and Apixban together for 5 years and never heard if them being contraindicated.

[BlueINR]

I've never heard of such a thing and I have taken vitamin D supplement when labs show low vitamin D. Ask your doc, but if you need the vitamin D, you probably should be taking it. You could also ask pharmacist about any possible interaction.

[SuziElley]

I’m on Apixaban and have been put on 40000 units, yes 40000, by my GP as my vitamin D levels have been found to be severely depleted. I’m on this high dose, once a week for seven weeks then onto a maintenance dose. Why are my levels this low? Nobody knows…… But, no problems with taking it along with Apixaban

[bantam12 in reply to SuziElley]

Have you had calcium and parathyroid tested ? if Vitd is very deficient it can be caused by hyperparathyroidism. If that is the cause then taking high doses of Vitd is not the right treatment.

My Vitd was 12 and my calcium and parathyroid were both high, I had a parathyroid tumour.

[SuziElley in reply to bantam12]

Everything else, including thyroid etc. as normal. Calcium, thyroid, parathyroid, the lot, all normal. Just the vitamin D out....

[ozziebob in reply to SuziElley]

Suzi, Your loading dose of 40,000iu for 7 weeks = 280,000iu over 7 weeks is exactly the dose recommended by NICE, and which recent research indicates is somewhat out of date.

My GP prescribed 20,000iu per day for 30 days = 600,000iu. Double the units in half the time. Doh! If I survive you should be OK.

Naturally I wanted to restest my Vitamin D levels after 3 months to ensure my high loading dose wasn't dangerous, but my GP said I had to wait 6 months, presumably a rule of my local CCG. Scarey! You can't make this stuff up!

Fortunately this last week I had my first ever meeting with anyone about my AF, a Specialist Clinical Arrythmia Nurse, and she helpfully organised to test my Vitamin D level. Seems like a win to me. I'm now waiting for those results.

Then there's Dr Campbell's YouTube videos and his Vitamin D recommendations, along with his friend Dr Cohen's recommendations found here ...

telaviv-doctor.com/suppleme...

I was hoping my Vitamin D deficiency was part of the cause of my AF, but I don't yet have the answer to that. With Steven Carr in Australia, Vitamin D and Calcium levels were vital in curing his AF. See here ...

carrafibdietinfo.com/

Hope some of this helps someone somewhere,

Bob.

[SuziElley in reply to ozziebob]

Thanks for the links Bob. Rather than AF I have atrial tachycardia along with ventricular and supraventricular ectopics. It all mimics symptoms of AF so was initially diagnosed with this. I’m on Flecainide, Diltiazem and Apixaban along with the vitamin D and all seems to be well under control. Just hoping the vitamin D levels sort themselves out…….

[Coco51]

Some D3 comes in gels with fish oil. Fish oil is an anticoagulant of sorts, so there could be a danger of o/d perhaps? High doses can be tricky. I have a friend who developed symptoms of MS when taking high dose Vitamin D3. After many tests she was told it was not MS and was advised to reduce the D3 dose. The symptoms went. That said I take 1000 iu daily and have been ok.