vit d

[bikebabe]

I changed my brand of vit d tablets (Tesco ) to the oral version 3000 units with added vit k.

blood results show a level of 87 now rather then 78 from few months back. Not sure what else I can do to bc raise if. I eat well, walk a lot in the light.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

You mean you’re using Better you vitamin D with k2?

So taking 3 sprays per day?

Well you can increase to 4 sprays per day

Retest end of September

Might need higher dose in winter than summer

Are you taking magnesium supplements too

(At least 4 hours away from levothyroxine)

[bikebabe in reply to SlowDragon]

Thank you slow dragon. I am always concerned about changing things too much particularly when taking lifelong calcium supplements and denosumab. I was disappointed to find upping my dose to 3000units daily plus k2 didn’t make much difference but will increase to 4td and see if taking magnesium helps.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

bikebabe

The Vit D Council, the Vit D Society and Grassroots Health all recommend a level of 100-150nmol/L (40-60ng/ml), with a recent blog post on Grassroots Health mentioning a study which recommends over 125nmol/L (50ng/ml).

Your 1,000iu D3 is considered a maintenance dose for someone who already has a decent level.

You might want to check out a recent post that I wrote about Vit D and supplementing:

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

and you can check out the link to how to work out the dose you need to increase your current level to the recommended level.

Your current level of 87nmol/L = 34.8ng/ml

On the Vit D Council's website you would scroll down to the 4th table

My level is between 30-40 ng/ml

So now you look at how much is needed to reach 50ng/ml and you'll see that they suggest 2,500iu per day.

Once you've reached the recommended level then a maintenance dose will be needed to keep it there, which may be 2000iu daily, maybe more or less, maybe less in summer than winter, it's trial and error so it's recommended to retest once or twice a year to keep within the recommended range. This can be done with a private fingerprick blood spot test with an NHS lab which offers this test to the general public:

vitamindtest.org.uk/

Doctors don't know, because they're not taught much about nutrients, but there are important cofactors needed when taking D3. You will have to buy these yourself.

D3 aids absorption of calcium from food and Vit K2-MK7 directs the calcium to bones and teeth where it is needed and away from arteries and soft tissues where it can be deposited and cause problems such as hardening of the arteries, kidney stones, etc. 90-100mcg K2-MK7 is enough for up to 10,000iu D3.

D3 and K2 are fat soluble so should be taken with the fattiest meal of the day, D3 four hours away from thyroid meds if taking D3 as tablets/capsules/softgels, no necessity if using an oral spray.

Not everyone finds the oral spray effective. I have always done very well with Doctor's Best D3 softgels, I raised my severely deficient level of 15nmol/L to 202nmol/L in 2.5 months and I continue to use them for my maintenance dose.

Also, not everyone can make Vit D naturally from the sun, I can't so I need the same maintenance dose all year round.

For Vit K2-MK7 my suggestions are Vitabay, Vegavero or Vitamaze brands which all contain the correct form of K2-MK7 - the "All Trans" form rather than the "Cis" form. The All Trans form is the bioactive form, a bit like methylfolate is the bioactive form of folic acid.

Vitabay and Vegavero are either tablets or capsules.

Vitabay does do an oil based liquid.

Vitamaze is an oil based liquid.

With the oil based liquids the are xx amount of K2-MK7 per drop so you just take the appropriate amount of drops.

They are all imported German brands, you can find them on Amazon although they do go out of stock from time to time. I get what I can when I need to restock. If the tablet or capsule form is only in 200mcg dose at the time I take those on alternate days.

If looking for a combined D3/K2 supplement, this one has 3,000iu D3 and 50mcg K2-MK7. The K2-MK7 is the All-Trans form

natureprovides.com/products...

It may also be available on Amazon.

One member recently gave excellent feedback on this particular product here:

Here is what she said (also read the following replies):

healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Annib1 in reply to SeasideSusie]

Many thanks for this. It is so useful. I did not realise not everyone benefits from the spray. I have used it for a year and my levels are dropping even with all this sunshine. I never got it much above 80 and now it is in the seventies so will try another product.

[bikebabe in reply to SeasideSusie]

Hello susie, My current daily dose of better you oral spray says it’s 3000 units of D3 and 75 of mcg vit k though doesn’t specify if cis or trans form and says it’s better than gel capsules. That’s why I’m surprised it isn’t elevating my blood levels by the 75% suggested. Slow dragon says may need magnesium. Is this your view as way of bringing up levels or just try different forms of d3/vit k? I only have limited means to try different products.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to bikebabe]

bikebabe

The spray is found to be effective for some people, it is absorbed through the mucous membranes in the oral cavity so bypasses the digestive system. However, some people haven't found it effective and do better with other forms. I personally wont use the sprays, they contain too many excipients and I try to keep them to a minimum and avoid them where possible. This is why I like the Doctors Best softgels and they have worked extremely well for me.

As for the K2 it says

BetterYou K2VITAL® is of the highest purity and solubility and is the only protected, microencapsulated vitamin K2. The form of K2 has been derived from flowers and we can guarantee a 98% purity

I think if they've gone to that much trouble to say that, if it was the cis form they would probably say that too but I really don't know which form it is.

Magnesium is needed when taking D3, it helps the body convert D3 into it's usable form.

[bikebabe]

many thanks - i shall try magnesium then the soft gels you suggest when my current spray runs out if not increased. How many days before an effect is noticeable in blood results. Hopefully not as long as 6 wks as for thyroxine!