THE MIRACULOUS RESULTS OF EXTREMELY HIGH DOSES OF THE SUNSHINE HORMONE VITAMIN D3 MY EXPERIMENT WITH HUGE DOSES OF D3 FROM 25,000 to 50,000 to 100,000 IU A Day OVER A 1 YEAR PERIOD by Jeff T. Bowles.
Just bought for Kindle delivery. Haven't read it yet.
If you have read it, what did you think?
Excess vitamin D can be dangerous.
Some people simply cannot take low dose supplementation, let alone medium to high doses.
So we need take this advice:
"Let's be careful out there".
Risks of the ‘Sunshine pill’ – a case of hypervitaminosis D
Sebastien Ellis, acute medicine consultant,A Georgios Tsiopanis, CT1 anaesthetics,B and Tanuj Lad, acute medicine and critical care consultantC
A University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK
B Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Dorset, UK
C Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Hampshire, UK
ABSTRACT
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin essential for calcium homeostasis and bone health. Vitamin D toxicity or hypervitaminosis D is extremely rare. We describe the case of a 73-year-old man who presented with life-threatening hypervitaminosis D and hypercalcaemia resulting from self-medicated doses of vitamin D supplements. This case, alongside other global case reports, highlights the potential dangers of unlicensed vitamin D replacement. We discuss the evidence for vitamin D replacement and remind readers of the current guidance on daily intake and supplementation.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
You may notice that Bowles is referenced from this paper.
This is an interesting discussion.
I was recently told by my Fracture Liaison nurse when being prescribed calcium and vitamin D that ‘you can’t overdose on vitamin D.’ I’ve just double checked with my husband who was with me that that was definitely what I was told.
It could be because my vitamin D was good - 119 classed as ‘adequate’ - I have supplemented in and off for years depending on what the results of home blood tests are - so perhaps the nurse thought I might be worried that the prescribed vitamin D might be too much when my vitamin D was already quite high, I don’t know.
I’m now being prescribed 1500mg calcium carbonate (which I’m not keen on) plus 400iu vitamin D.
Now I can’t work out where 400iu vitamin D fits in with the 3000ug vitamin D and 75ug K2(MK7) that I’ve been taking all along.
Is it less and if it is will taking it every single day give me as much as taking 3000ug for periods of time then having a ‘holiday’ from it for a while? Failing that is it worth topping up with a lower strength vitamin D capsule?
I'm a bit confused there!
One microgram of vitamin D is 40 International Units. 3000 microrgams sounds a pretty enormous dose.
Think I’ve made a mistake - here’s what I was taking, I was previously taking a capsule of a similar strength of D and K2
DLux+ Vitamin D+K2 Oral Spray
3000IU (75μg) of vitamin D3 + 75μg of vitamin K2
What were the results of the blood test of calcium?
I would not be surprised if you answered, "Calcium wasn't tested."
In general, any bad effects from large doses of Vitamin D come from hypercalcemia. Too much calcium in the blood. When taking higher doses of Vitamin D (over 5,000 IU) it is very important also to take Vitamin K2-MK7, which helps to guide your dietary calcium to the places it is needed --bones and teeth. The K also prevents the calcium from being deposited into soft tissues such as kidneys, blood vessels, and breasts.
It boggles my mind that practice guidelines don't require docs to test blood levels of both calcium and Vitamin D before prescribing to treat or prevent osteoporosis, and also
* to refrain from prescribing calcium if levels are already adequate
* to prescribe Vitamin K2-MK7 when specifying high doses of Vitamin D.
No it was tested, as was vitamin D and a lot of other things that could have caused the osteoporosis.
These are the only results that mention calcium. Don’t know the difference between the two only that it looks as if I’m fairly high within the range.p which makes me think that my calcium is adequate but I don’t know. I do feel very wary of taking too much calcium though.
Calcium2.54 mmol/L2.08-2.65 mmol/L
Adjusted Calcium2.57 mmol/L2.20-2.60 mmol/L
The main consequence of vitamin D toxicity is a buildup of calcium in your blood (hypercalcemia), which can cause nausea and vomiting, weakness, and frequent urination. Symptoms might progress to bone pain and kidney problems, such as the formation of calcium stones.
Would taking Vitamin K2-MK7 along with it obviate this problem?
No it would not stop the problems arising from calcification.
Research on
Vitamin K2 as a Promoter of Bone and Cardiovascular Health
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Calcium Supplementation and the Role of Vitamin K
"We propose therapeutic strategies with vitamin K2 treatment to prevent or hold progression of vascular calcification as a consequence of excessive calcium intake."
As one of those not able to take D3 in any form it sounds very dangerous to me, if I took a massive dose I would be seriously ill !!
Dr Coimbra has been using massive doses of vitamin D for 20 years to treat MS and other autoimmune disorders; I have not read of any nasty side-effects.
Even in a passage on a very pro-Coimbra site, there is acknowledgement of the possibility of nasty side-effects:
It is 100% true that, under certain very specific conditions, the Coimbra Protocol can create a state of hypercalcaemia - excess of calcium in the blood. From the moment this state is created, a thousand and problems arise. From renal calcification to cardiovascular and endocrine disorders. It is, in fact, a fair criticism. But there is a "but . " And it's a big "but":this state of hypercalcaemia is totally preventable and its development depends literally on the will of the person to create it . It can be totally avoidable , following the specific indications of food alteration and water reinforcement necessary.
vitamindwiki.com/Multiple+S...
At the same time, it does claim that such side-effects can be avoided.
The other problem is that no-one ever explains why some people are unable to take even very low doses of vitamin D as a supplement.
Yes, I agree which is why there is such emphasis on being under the supervision of a Coimbra-trained doctor and following the protocol. I have not read of any of Dr Coimbra’s patients having suffered hypercalcemia but if you know of any then please do comment. I keep meaning to e-mail Dr Coimbra to ask why some do not tolerate vitamin D supplementation but at the present time I expect that he has other things to think about. (I have previously had an e-mail from Coimbra about a friend with MS so he does reply.)
Vitamin D dose
before rushing in with high doses it would be best to establish the current status
and the other co factors. Calcium needs the right type of magnesium to be
absorbed properly as well as K2 . And Magnesium and calcium at the same dose.
So for example 500mg s of magnesium citrate with 500mg of calcium citrate
don't take calcium carbonate its badly absorbed.
Yes. Test first. Not just Vitamin D but also calcium levels. My D was 29 ng/mL and the range started at 30. My calcium level was nicely mid range. It's close to criminal that the practice guidelines for treating or even preventing osteoporosis is a set dose of Vitamin D plus calcium. No mention of testing first. No adjusting of dose based on size of deficit.
I used the Grassroots calculator to determine how much D needed to raise my blood level to 50 ng/mL. I don't take any calcium at all.
Make sure you test every 4 weeks especially taking high doses. K2 as MK-7 will help keep calcium from buildup in your arteries and kidneys.
I also read this book along with a few others. I really enjoyed the books and have read alot on this topic. I have been taking atleast 20.000iu per day but no more than 30.000 along with vit d and magnesium and noticed a big difference in body aches and pains. I also had my vit d levels checked and I was deficient. I've not had them retested yet as it's not been 3 months since I've been on the treatment
Unfortunately I recall a storyfrom last year, about a patient in a care home who was accidently given 150,000 IU of vit D per day for a 3 month period (doctors mistake on the prescription pad), and it resulted in the patient dying of kidney failure. I would definitely not recommend taking such high doses on the recommendation of a book, based on this person's experience.
I found the story, and apparently it was 80,000 IU:
independent.co.uk/news/uk/h...
Wow, that's a huge dose.
I'm on an eyebrow-raising maintenance dose of 25,000 IU every two days, but that's with regular testing, to treat severe deficiency.
Ginny_Ickle
I'm on an eyebrow-raising maintenance dose of 25 IU every two days
Have you made a mistake there? 25iu is so low they don't even make a D3 supplement that small. Even 200iu is for children.
Do you mean 25,000iu?
If you have Vit D deficiency the NHS will prescribe loading doses of 300,000iu over a period of weeks for which the NICE Clinical Knowledge Summary suggests "several treatment regimens are available, including 50,000 IU once a week for 6 weeks (300,000 IU in total), 20,000 IU twice a week for 7 weeks (280,000 IU in total), or 4000 IU daily for 10 weeks (280,000 IU in total)."
I had severe deficiency with a level of 15nmol/L although I self treated and now my maintenance dose, to keep within the Vit D Council/Vit D Society recommended level of 100-150nmol/L is 5,000iu D3 daily, plus, of course, D3's important cofactors magnesium and Vit K2-MK7.
Oops, fixed. It's 25k IU every two days (10k one day, 15k the next), to keep my blood level in the 60s.
50k per week didn't get me out of the severely deficient range, so for a few months I ended up on 30k daily.
Is the unit of measurement ng/ml or nmol/L?
That's in ng/ml, sorry ... so, high "normal" but below megadose range ... started tracking it in the US, a decade or so ago, and have kept converting to same units because life is complicated enough.
Ah, OK, so the recommendation of the Vit D Council/Vit D Society I gave above was in nmol/L so ignore that 
You need the co factors as well.
Yes. I take 100 mcg of Vitamin K2-MK7 plus Magnesium, selenium, and Zinc. All taken after my fattiest meal--dinner.
Vitamin d, the term is ambiguous? Does that mean vitaminD3 or the much less effective formD2?
It says D3 in the title.
Also, by far the majority of vitamin D products listed in the British National Formulary are D3.
Looks to me as if D2 is, in general, relatively rare as a supplement. For example, I checked a major retailer's site and a visual scan of products saw D3 in either the description or on the label of almost every product offered.
D2 looks to be most mentioned when some form of non-animal production method is used - e.g. fungi. Even then, at least some fungi produce both D2 and D3.
can't locate the article you are referring to.
Did you see the film' Erin Brocovitch' with Julia Roberts in the lead role?
She was working for a lawyer played by Albert Finney. Numerous residents
in the area had complained of ailments including cancer and had related it
to the water supply. But where was the proof? That was what the lawyer
needed to find to bring a case against the water co. Eventually, after a lot
of snooping about, an unidentified whistleblower told her it was caused
by chromium in the water. Roberts visits a university and asks of the
professor of chemistry. What is chromium and could chromium cause
illness. The professor said there were 7 types but only one was toxic.
I think it was chromium hexavalent. In any case that was the proof and
the lawyer won his case and the payout was $ 330 million.
The point is that without knowing there were seven types and the one
that was toxic there was a one in seven chance of being right and 6 out
of 7 ways of being wrong. Ambiguity abounds. Its especially important
to get the right type of say magnesium and the right dose, out of
approximately 20 varieties! And the most widely used is the cheapest
magnesium oxide and it's uptake is 4% . So a person taking 500mg
of magnesium oxide would only get 20mg at best!! the RDI 450mg(depending on age etc)
Ditto with vitamin D, unless it is specified as D3 it could be
synthetic D2.. Not very likely as helvella has pointed out.,but
possible. But the principle applies to all nouns and all verbs.
Has anyone used 23andme?
Has anyone on here tried Inulin? 
My friend has a ft4 reading of 70.0 and a tsh of 10.7. 
Has anyone tried coconut oil?
has anyone felt not great on T3?
