Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
I was wondering if anyone has any information to share on the best brand and dose of Vitamin D3. I realize dosages vary based on a person's levels. I have been using Biotics Bio emulsion forte.
I recently went to my doctor and she suggested Vitamin D medication, instead. I should have done my research first, but up researching the topic, I realize that the medications are D2, not D3, and many articles say it is not as good as D3 and it is a foreign substance to the body.
There does not seem to be a consensus on whether or not D2 (the medication) is really effective.
I was curious if there are brands and doses of D3 that anyone has had success with or would recommend or even what your doctors are recommending.
Many thanks.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
Any one? Moving this up.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
Go for a D3 product, either gel or liquid that contains some fats. I'd avoid D2 products or D3 in dry capsule form.
It's probably not a bad idea to take D3 with a meal or other fats as well, such as if you take fish oil.
As for best brands, pick reliable ones, such as Jarrow, Carlson, etc, and I'd expect they'd be more or less the same. The one you are using looks good to me.
One other thing about D3 is it's long half-life. So for those taking it in pill form, you may be able to save some money taking a larger dose, such as 5000IU, but EOD, or every 3 days, instead of 2000IU daily.
Posts: 584 | From NY | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
You might herx on it... if you do, go down in strength and go back up gradual.
I got mine at Target... little gel tabs. Works great.
-------------------- Lyme, Babs, Fry Bug..... Whatever it is, may a treatment be discovered to make us all whole again! Posts: 941 | From AZ-MT | Registered: Oct 2004
| IP: Logged |
Remember to Smile
Unregistered
posted
My LLMD says Vit D3, too, and best results come from taking it with your largest meal of the day.
Dosing based upon blood work, aiming for the upper end of within normal limits. Often kick-start with a much higher dose, then scale back and take blood sample. Test again after several months.
I now take 7,000 IU via three caps (by Pure Encapsulations, Inc. of MA) with dinner daily.
Intrigued by Lemon-Lyme's suggestion to take every other day to save $$ and will ask about that on next visit.
posted
Vitacost has Vit D3 drops. 1 drop = 2000iu. I just put a couple drops on the back of my hand and get it from there. Easy and no pill.
Posts: 383 | From Ar | Registered: May 2007
| IP: Logged |
You can put them in a drink or straight on the tongue.
My level only increased on drops, not liquid gels or pills.
Posts: 819 | From East Coast | Registered: Apr 2009
| IP: Logged |
Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
Thanks everyone for confirming what I thought. I'm going to stick with what I have been using. I put the drops right on my tongue and since Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, I take it with a meal that contains some fat.
I asked this new doctor who supposedly is integrative if the medication had any bad fillers in it, or what have you, as opposed to the supplement form and she said it was fine. Then I find out that my insurance doesn't pay for it, it's a horrible deep green gel cap (I just can image the artificial dyes in it) and it's Vitamin D2 and not 3.
Taking it only once a week did sound appealing but I just dumped the pills in the garbage.
Thanks again for your input.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
I was wondering what the deal was with the liquid. So it's more easily absorbed?
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
| IP: Logged |
Abxnomore
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 18936
posted
Yes that's exactly it. It's more bio-available.
The pills are the least bio-available. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. The vitamin D drops are in a oil base making it more bio-available.
Posts: 5191 | From Lyme Zone | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
posted
As others have stated, D3 is the best form and it is a fat soluble vitamin/hormone. Most of us supplementing need over 1000 IU per day all the way up to 10,000 or more depending. I urge that anyone supplementing beyond 2000 IU daily (A safe amount that will counteract the fact that most of us don't spent a lot of time outside in direct sunlight.
Even most generally healthy people in latitudes far from the equator or those that spend less than 30 minutes in direct sunlight per day with significant body exposure can benefit from supplementation, new data is illustrating) receive a comprehensive hormonal and Vitamin D workup from the LLMD.
As for the best product, I suggest any sort of liquid without additives and preservatives. Swanson Vitamins for instance has D3 drops in an olive oil base. Just ensure there aren't artificial colors and preservatives and the base is safe - like an organic oil of some sort.
You may have difficulty finding high concentration D3 in certain markets, so if you need 10,000-50,000 or something like that see if your doctor can recommend it.
Personally, I feel that many of the "We only sell our supplements to physicians so they can sell them to their patients" product lines are often overpriced and not much better than what a savvy patient can find shopping iHerb, VitaCost, SwansonVitamins, and other online vendors - but this is one area I've seen them excel. Of course, it may be cheaper to buy several bottles of a lower IU per drop, and just take more drops.
Hope this helps.
Posts: 691 | From East coast, USA | Registered: Jun 2006
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic