I was recently advised that my levels are too high, but I am reluctant to lower my dose as Vit D is the one thing that I credit for feeling good now after years of struggling.
My levels were 82.20 ng/ml (range 20-100) which seems OK to me - but I'm no expert!
I take 9000iu per day and have read online that many people take more than that without any ill effects, so just wondering what others make of my results?
Thanks 😊
Yes, it is a little bit over the 50 ng/ml that is recommended.
Further, 9000 a day is a lot.
But - although D is fat soluble and therefore “toxic” at high levels, studies have been very vague about just how high and for how long you need to be for that to happen.
That being said… I’d ask. What is your history with D supplements and the corresponding levels that resulted?
What was your D when you felt bad and what was it when you remember attributing feeling better to it?
Are there other key thyroid or vitamin levels that changed that you also attribute feeling better to over that time?
How frequently do you get blood tests and what do they include?
Depending on your answers, I could see you trying to reduce by a small amount weekly… for example, take 8000 one day a week, or an few days a week, and check how that looks in your next test?
For me - I’ve compared 2500 a day vs 5000 a day … one put me slightly under 50 and the other slightly over … so I switched to 2500 a day and then on Monday, Wed and Friday I add another 2500 to that. Latest result was 58… so here I’ll stay!
Are you also taking vitamin k (ideally mk-7) with it?
Thanks for that. I'm going out soon so will give a proper answer tomorrow 🙂
I've gone back over my results but only have two showing vit D. One from 2018 showing 36.5 (30-100) and another in 2022 = 68.5 (30-100). Sometime after that I must have read about taking large doses and I think I gradually started feeling better and eventually I put it down to the Vit D as I hadn't changed anything else. I live in Spain and have private heath care but my Hashimoto's is a pre-existing condition so I'm not covered for it, therefore I only get my thyroid bloods done when I feel there's been a hiccup somewhere.
Yes I have always taken K2 MK7 with it too.
One thing I can't get my head round is, why are my levels considered a bit high when they're in range?
If you are at a level where you feel good it would be wise to work on what a maintenance dose would be. 9000 is very high and if you continue on that dose your level will continue to rise.
I recently hit optimal and have reduced from 4000 daily to taking it every other day. Will be retesting mid march (which is two months) to see if that dose needs tweaking.
50 ng/ml is equivalent to 125 nmol/l. The general recommendations are to supplement to more than 75nmol/l with ideal levels between 100 and 150 nmol/l - so you would fall into that category.
As others have mentioned, I don't think that you are overmedicated, but it might be good to think about a maintenance dose to keep the levels between 100 and 150nmol/l ( which would be 40 - 60ng/ml).
9000IU per day is a lot and also, are you taking Vitamin K2 with that high dose as well? Vitamin K2 directs your dietary calcium to your bones and not into your arteries, which is important for cardiovascular health. High doses of Vitamin D without Vit K2 can lead to hypercalcaemia (high calcium levels) and can actually draw calcium out of your bones, hence the K2 component is important. You can buy supplements that have Vitamin D3 and K2.
Also, do you take a magnesium supplement with your Vitamin D intake? As mentioned, 9000IU is a lot and I am wondering if magnesium could help your absorption, so you could actually reduce your dose and absorb enough Vitamin D3 with a lower dose? Worth exploring.
Yes I have always taken K2 as well, and take magnesium every night before bed. I have read about people taking lots more than 9000iu so thought my dosage was quite conservative 😅 I have lowered it to 7000 and will get tested again in 6 weeks so I'll take it from there.
What dose are your individual supplements? Like, each individual pill?
I take drops and the recommended dose is 1 drop = 1000 iu
The replies you’re getting have a common theme that very few of us take 9000 daily. “Most” of us do 2-3k a day with outliers. (That’s an unscientific observation!) You can also think of it like a weekly dose - I settled in 25,000 a week. Where 17,000 was too low and 35000 was too high.
9,000 a day is 63,000 a week. 7,000 is 49,000 a week.
Whatever you do you may yo yo til you get it just right. And that’s the way we do it!
Many of us do loading doses, and follow this calculator:
grassrootshealth.net/projec...
I think I took 10k or more daily for a week or so, but then dropped to find a maintenance dose.
But I have to say - for me anyway - little changes do have a big impact.
We are all individual, but if you need that much to maintain, then that’s ok!
And It’s not that your level is at all dangerously high, at all! But it could drift to 50 and you’d also be good.
If I were you, I would drop the dose a few days a week to 8000. My guess (but what do I know) is that 7000 a day will be too much of a drop. And you do not need to bring it down by a lot.
For me the difference between a little too high and a little too low was 7500 a week.
You’re in a safe zone anyway, so no reason not to take it slow.
Thanks, that's very helpful. As I said originally, it has made such a difference to the way I feel I'm a bit reluctant to change. I do have the odd day where I don't take any so I think I might just do 8000 to 9000 per day and see what happens at my next test.
~Just to add that I take 5000IU with K2 at breakfast and same at night. My Rheumatologist has always been in agreeance with this - I can not be in the sun for longer than 10 to 15 mins max.
Overall this dose keeps me well especially respiratory wise.
As mentioned I do not think a safe dose has been stated.
Best wishes~
Interesting. Can I ask why you can't be in the sun too much? I know not everyone absorbs D from sunlight properly but I would have thought sunlight would be better than supplements? I live in Spain but being ginger and freckly I am a sun dodger!
~I am blonde with fair skin - been on steroids 11 years so skin now somewhat thinned and more skin lesions being cut out.
I do sit in sun which is rather fierce these days but very short duration as mentioned with SPF30 on face/arms/lower legs.
Vit D Levels
low Vit D
Rx Vit D Ergocalciferol and K2 MK7
Vit d results
