Vitamin D - HELP!!

I just had my one yr check up with Dr. Kim.  The nurse called to tell me about my labs.  Now I take (2) multi-vitamins, (2) B-12 and (3) Chewable Calcium Caltrate.........all of these are BA.   When I went in for my 6 month check up my Vitamin D levels were low so they put me on prescription for a month to get my levels back up.  Well the nurse said my Vitamin D was still low and I needed 2000 iu a day.  Can you tell me a good vitamin to take and where to get it?  They are going to check my levels again in 2 months. 

My zinc was a little low too but he wasnt worried since I am taking all my other vitamins but I might get some extra zinc too.

Thanks in advance.  Hugs B~

Becky, you are talking my language this morning, lol.  I don't know if you saw my post on the Train but I'm dealing with a drop in Vitamin D and I take 15,000 iu a day.  I was concerned it was to much because D can be toxic, however, when I lowered it my shins hurt BAD.  Based on my labs this amount is necessary or actually I need more per day.  I'm upping mine to 20,000 iu a day for 3 months to see what happens.

The first link below is what I take, each tablet is 5,000 iu, so I was taking 3, now 4 per day.  You may even want to buy both of the blow, the 50,000 iu to take for a month and retest your D3 25 Hydroxy to see where you are then go to the 5,000 iu a day depending on what your labs dictate.

I am seeing so many RNYer dealing with Vitamin D deficiency lately, it's become another concern for us.  Good luck.  I'd also suggest an extra zinc a day for you.

If you want a good place to research lab results, what the test mean, what deficiencies mean, go to www.labtestonline.org. 



http://www.vitalady.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&k ey=1067

http://www.vitalady.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&k ey=1070

Edited to add:  You don't want a fat soluable vitamin D, if that is what they prescribed for you previously that is the reason you haven't seen improvements.  Fat soluable vitamins aren't good for us since we malabsorp fat to a degree.

Thanks for the info.  I want my labs to be normal, so I am very good about my vitamins (too many people on here scared me.......so I take them!!) LOL!!!

Hugs B~

 It might be a bit of overkill in your case, but a lot of us DSers take the Dry Vit. D-3 capsules from Vitalady.  They come in 5,000 and 50,000 IUs ..   I take 2 of the 50Ks a day (some DSers take 3 of them a day!) ..     

  Also, are you sure you are taking calcium citrate, and not carbonate?   Citrate is much more "usable" by the body ..   I chew 8 of those Bariatric Advantage calcium citrate chewable tabs a day ..  (Vitalady has the flavored ones on sale right now, cheaper than B.A.'s price   ) ..  

  btw, sunlight on the skin is also important for Vit. D. manufacture ..  Try to go sleeveless as much as possible in the sun (be careful of sunburn though) .. 

I really think that because so many of us local people are dealing with low D levels...........we haven't had much SUN in the DFW area for the past month or so..................what do you all think.

I take 2 BA vits a day and 1 b-12 a day..............1  b-12 shot per month
My other levels are okay per doc..................so not too worried...but my PCP did put me on a month's worth of 50,000 pills...............1 a week........................they didn't say one darn thing about D-3.......................not sure what is the difference..............I asked my PCP and they said "what I have in RX is fine".........................I said  - OKAY !! 

During the time I am taking this RX..............do I need to start up my regular supplement that I SHOULD have been taking ?????in addition ?? 

I think the difference in the dry D3 and other D is that the Dry version has a capsule that dissolves very quickly.  If my fingers are damp the capsule gets sticky before I even put it in my mouth.  Some capsules just don't disolve in us and we don't get their contents into our bodies.  I too had a very low level of D.  I took 50,000 of the Dry D3 I got from Vita-Lady.  I think the brand is bio-tech.  I took one a day for a month and rechecked my levels and they were ok.  My doctor said to take 1000 IU a day to maintain.  I think that is too low but since D can be toxic and no one know how much is toxic I am not quite sure  what to do.  I think I will order the 5,000 and take every other day and retest in a month or two.  But again the important thing is to take a form that we can actually absorb.  I now take everything in a liquid or chewable.  I found a liquid calcium citrate ( Bluebonnet is the brand)  I take the blueberry flavor.  I only take half a dose since a dose is 1200 mg and the body can't absorb that much at a time.  The 1/2 dose is more than I will absorb so I am wasting a little but at least I know I will absorb the liquid form.  Good luck.  This journey is quite a learning curve.