It’s one of the B vitamins....I read on here but forgot when you take Vitamin D for proper absorption and to stop the build up of calcium.....something like that. It was either B6 or B2 I’m not sure now, I forgot but I’ve read on the forum.
Can someone help me out.
If I’m taking 5000iu daily what strength of the other B Vitamin do I need to take ?
Thanks in advance.
Edit : (What is the B Complex for ?).....Do I need to take that also.....
I inject B12 once every 2 weeks.
I cannot find anything about Vitamin D needing any B vitamin for absorption. Indeed, because Vitamin D is lipophilic and fairly small it should be absorbed passively and not need any help.
You are probably thinking of Vitamin K which helps Vitamin D distribute calcium to the right parts of the body. Several studies show that people with very high levels of Vitamin D and low levels of Vitamin K can have problems. My thought is that it's better not to take too much Vitamin D.
The NHS recommends that people at risk of a Vitamin D deficiency take 10 mcg a day and definitely not more than 100 mcg a day. 10 mcg is 400 IU, so you are taking more than the maximum recommended amount. nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-...
It's very unlikely that you need a B-complex. If you have PA then you may have problems absorbing folate from your food, so taking 400 mcg a day of folic acid may be a good idea.
fbirder & Ryaan
After being discovered to be deficient in Vit D many years ago, so prescribed high dose course, I've taken 125mcg (5,000iu) daily but this has only maintained my Vit D level in the bottom 1/4 of the recommended range.
Last year, I doubled the dose - was over top of range so 125mcg/250mcg alternate days and still over range. Now am taking 125mcg daily to allow levels to drop but then will try 125mcg daily plus extra 125mcg twice weekly to see if that will maintain a mid-range level. It might take some time to find the correct dose for me, I suspect.
I also take 1 x multivit tablet daily 
Seems quite difficult to find the correct dose to maintain a reasonable level, for me, anyway. I don't get out in the sun too much, I have to admit.
Hi Fbirder
Yes I do take the Folic Acid.
I’ve had chronic lower back pain for over 20 years but last year as the D was in the lower range I started taking 2000iu of D due to other bone pain in my hips and I also felt low mood.
That didn’t make much difference and I upped it to 4000iu for a few months and noticed improvement so I upped a little more to 5000iu for a while now which made a big difference.
I don’t feel much back pain now and my pain in hips has almost totally gone as before walking wasn’t too bad but I couldn’t stand in one place for more than 10-15mins before the pain really kicked in.
I was almost limited to certain activities which involve lower back use like riding a bike, gardening etc so I’m glad it’s made such a huge difference although I haven’t tried riding a bike and other activities but pain used to be there all the time without doing anything which has greatly improved so I wish to continue taking the 5000iu. (It’s actually 5x 1000iu of Holland and Barrett’s Vitamin D) in a yellow bottle, I don’t know if other brands would do the same.
I’m glad the pain has almost gone at least when I’m not doing anything. I’m guessing it was a long term Vitamin D deficiency but didn’t know as GP never pointed out that it’s on the lower end in blood tests.
I’m due for my annual blood test so I’ll see what the numbers are this time. I suspect it will be closer to the higher end but not over.
I’ve written this incase anyone else reading may have the same issue so might be of some help to them.
Thanks very much for your reply.
I always thought Vitamin K was Potassium ? (Which I’ve never supplemented with)
There’s also K1 and K2 so which am I supposed to be taking ?....and do you think Vitamin K is a must if I’m taking 5000iu ?
I was actually talking about the build up of calcium in your arteries when supplementing with high Vitamin D.
Are you able to clarify the above as I’m slightly confused and don’t know much about Vitamin K.
Thankyou again for your reply, I hope you can clarify this please.
On various vitamin d groups they state k2mk7, magnesium and boron as cofactors. I'm not a chemist or medically trained.
Vitamin D 10,000 IU along with vitamin K2 100mg (not k1) .
You could just take folate without taking B complex but I find that I’m generally better On the B complex.
That’s my experience ,you could try and see how it works for you try taking folate for a couple weeks on its own and then try a B complex obviously with the same form folate in it .
My Folate levels are now fine, was previously low so was given 5mg Folic Acid by Gp.
I still continue to take 400ug Folic Acid daily due to not eating greens in my diet.
As others have stated, for proper calcium balance, MK7/K2 should be taken along with D3. Although this site sells supplements, they offer supporting documentation for their recommendations in the following article:
articles.mercola.com/sites/...
There are many other articles out there but this is where I first learned of the potential issues of taking D3 alone.
Because the processes of cell repair, nerve function and energy release that use B12 also need lots of other vitamins and minerals to make them work properly it is better to take a broad spectrum multivitamin and mineral supplement rather than a B-Complex as the multivitamin and mineral supplement will have all the B-Complex ingredients in it but lots of other things that are just as important too.
Because you can have too much of some of the B vitamins it is important that you don't take both.
You may need extra folate, potassium, magnesium and maybe iron and vitamin D3 + K2 (unless you are taking anticoagulants).
From my understanding the co-factors with vit D isn't really about helping absorption of the vit D it's to help the vit D get to the areas of the body it's needed and prevent calcium build-up in the wrong places.
As others have said, magnesium is commonly recommended with vit D (this is to aid transport to the places int he body it's needed) and K2 helps get calcium to the bones etc and helps prevent build-up in places you don't want it. I've also seen B2 recommended as a cofactor (that's part of the Coimbra Protocol).
I'd definitely recommend you do some reading and research on vit d - if I'd blindly followed the advice from my GP, I'd still be really poorly right now. From my reading I think vit D dose recommendations are pretty out of proportion - if you bear in mind our body would create 10,000IU or more in less than 30 mins in the sun, the GP doses of 400-800IU that are supposed to a correct deficiency sound totally out of proportion ... I took 1,000IU for 7 months after being recommended 800IU by my GP and felt little difference in my symptoms - private re-test revealed my levels had barely gone up while taking this. I'm now taking 6,000IU a day (and have been for around 5 months), I can definitely feel the difference now.
You may find these sites interesting reading -
I’m not an expert but if you’re low on magnesium you don’t metabolise Vit d well. I believe you need to take Vit k2 (or make sure you eat plenty green leafy veg) with Vit d and magnesium. That should help you convert the Vit d and in turn get the calcium to go into the bones. (That just what I’ve learnt)
Seen a few posts about MK7 and K2 here. Very important to note that these should not be taken with warfarin and other blood thinners as effectiveness can be reduced 👌
Need help, don't know what to do. 
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