Normalising our vitamin D levels with testing and appropriate doses or safe sun exposure if you live in a warm climate, is one of the things we can do to help ourselves either post chemotherapy or when on watch and wait. It's not a magic bullet, but along with a healthy eating plan,fresh air, enough sleep and appropriate exercise we can improve our quality of life and maintain health as long as possible.
Research
study
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and subsequent risk of total and site specific cancers in Japanese population
What this study adds
( to current knowledge)
"In this population based prospective cohort study of a Japanese population, higher vitamin D concentration was associated with a reduced risk of overall cancer in both men and women
A decreased risk of liver cancer was also associated with a high vitamin D concentration
The results support the hypothesis that vitamin D might have beneficial effects in cancer prevention"
However there is no proof yet, that supplementing with oral Vitamin D3 will change the prognostics. Mayo does have an active trial trying to get that proof, see:
My d level was way low after chemo and probably before too. Not sure anyone checked and I didn't know to check it. I've been on the 50,000 per week, and calcium with d and multivitamin for 3 years. Tested at 30, nurse practitioner said add 1000 per day. Not even a week later I had afib. Now different doc took me off weekly 50,000 and calcium with D as my calcium is high. 6 weeks will check back😉
I was taking 1000 iu's daily for about a year before I decided to get a private test as GP's don't offer a test in my country (unless you have osteoporosis). The test results were 32ng which was "adequate"/low normal. That was the end of January.
I took 4000ius daily for the month of February and since the beginning of March I've been taking 3000 ius daily + 125mg of Magnesium and a daily Vit K2, which are supposed to help with absorption and directing the calcium( released by vitd from the diet) into the bones, teeth etc. as opposed to the blood vessels and organs. I don't take extra calcium as I believe I get enough from my diet. I would not take more than 2000 to 3000ius daily as I am small slim build and I think the dose should be tailored to the individual.
I will have another test at the end of April and if my levels are 50ng I will go on maintenance of 2000 ius and test again in 6 months. I'm due a blood test in May for the oncologist so will be looking out for the calcium level in case it's elevated. The dosage seems to be individual but I'd be cautious about going over 5000 ius daily even if male,larger build or deficient. I'll post the results when I do the test. Look forward to hearing how you get on.
This is a quote from the MS society UK website re dosages:
"How much is too much?
We don’t yet know the best level of vitamin D for people with MS. There are some government recommendations, but these are based on existing safety data and may not reflect a true upper limit.
The NHS recommends that adults should not take more than 1000IU (25 micrograms) vitamin D per day.
The European Food Safety Authority suggest that adults should not exceed 4000 IU (100 micrograms) per day."
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