Vitamin D - Dry or Oil base - Help again please.

Once again please, I am struggling with very low vitamin D levels and the neurological & physical symptoms are taking a lot out of me, I have posted before that Vitamin D gives me lots of anxiety and I have tried numerous ways to supplement without luck, but my question again is Dry or Oil base?

various groups in Facebook suggest oil to carry the vitamin throughout the body with co factors of Vit K2 and magnesium.

I had RYN in 2008, I struggle with low ferritin, B12 and now Vitamin D of 14, my question is who here uses oil base capsules and it works to raise it, I have been taking dry alone for some time and its dropping..

Help please. Thank you!

I use dry. My surgeon said if I used the oil based that I needed to ***** them with a pin before taking them. Because we don't have enough acid in our pouch to dissolve them.

Thank you, that is what one of the members in the facebook group suggested, I have dry now but willing to try oil in hopes to get better.

I have used both the dry and oil. I like the oil better and also oil is easier to swallow. I have an issue swallowing pills. I gag like crazy.

You should be able to use either; the DS folks specifically malabsorb fats, so they need to use the dry form. Now, the normal fat soluble form doesn't necessarily come in an oil capsule - they can be a tablet as well, even though they aren't the "dry" or water soluble form, but if what you get is a capsule, then poking them with a pin as White Dove suggests would be a good idea with your RNY.

What dosage are you trying or using? You can get up to 50,000 IU in OTC products and some DS folks take them daily (and some weekly, twice a week, or whatever they need to be stable.) We were just discussing this in our support group this evening, and some people were going with injections if one or two of the 50k pills was not doing the job for them, so there are likely still more options for you to try if needed.

Fun fact - 10-20 years ago, your 14 would have been fine, as the Quest "normal" range was 10-20; today, "normal" is usually 30-100, with 60-90 often sited as "preferred" for us WLS folks.

Oh wow did not know there were injections for vitamin D, but I was taking 5K a day of the dry form, but the hematologists prescribed the 50K yesterday, but she only gave me 4 capsules and said once a week is fine and then continue with 5K a day after that, not sure if that will do a dent on the levels but I took my first one yesterday, maybe I can buy over the counter 5K dry and try it, Thank you for the suggestion of poking the oil base one I am also leaning to doing that.

If you have any malabsorption at all, you need dry vitamins. I had a DS so I only take dry form of ADEK. I take 50K of dry D3 three times a day and my D is in the low normal range.

Most people (whether or not they had WLS) have low Vitamin D unless you live in warmer climates because you get natural D from the sun. You may need to up the amount.

you will need to take more than the average person. I take 50,000 IU a day every day. Dry.

And please get out into the sun ! People forget that Vitamin D not only needs to get EATEN it needs to get ABSORBED and USED ... and the body does that with the help of the sun.

I honestly can't think of ONE healthy person I know who stays indoors.

Its something VERY easy to justify particularly for the exercise-averse and because of COVID ( favorite excuses used to be work or depression too ) ... I can't tell you the variety of excuses I've heard from people who's health's OBVIOUSLY failing and yet ... they refuse to go out .

And the longer they're in... the more it seems spending time outside getting sun on their skin becomes an unattainable option- at least in their minds.

Technically I believe I remember reading that Vitamin A can also get converted into D with the help of the sun ... so taking huge levels isn't always necessary ( and you must keep in mind that these are oil-based vitamins unlike C and the Bs where excess levels get peed out every day ) - D and A and E build up in the body and excess levels can have negative effects too.

Personally if I had this issue I'd be stripping down to shorts and sitting outside at least two hours a day ( with strong sunscreen on my face, neck, décolletage and hands but nowhere else ) .

Healthy human Beings CRAVE the sun - in New York City and Budapest and Moscow people LITERALLY strip down to their underwear ( well its a custom in Moscow parks anyway ) at the first glimpse of the warm spring sun ... in NYC you see picnic blankets and folks in shorts and swimsuits on the Central Park lawns around noon even in the cold spring.

People who exercise naturally get the sun- ten years post RNY I find 3-4 gummy children's Flintstone vitamins are enough to keep my levels perfect - but I do get a LOT of sun here in Florida particularly since I swim an hour every other morning.

(((()))) Good Luck ... its a TERRIBLE feeling to be out of balance vitamin -wise . You CAN fix this !! hugs and Happy Thanksgiving

Thank you for the thread here! As for me, I take some oil based ones, and I think they are really great. I would like to recommend that you have a look at those from Canadian Pharmacy, for example. I am sure that you will find some really good ones there, good luck!