about vit D

No, they had me on the gel caps, I was taking 50,000 twice a week, plus extra calcium citrate. It never budged. Haven't taken anything in a couple years now as I have no health insurance to pay for any of it. Just one of those terrific post op situations....

Well, the rx ones are D2 in oil. So, it was not enough, not the right kind. The kind you want is not Rx. It's OTC and less than $25 for 100 pills, so even taken daily, they will last more than 3 months. Less than $10/mo to potentially save your bones vs $5/day for a coffee, for example?

It's not hard to stay healthy after these surgeries and doesn't have to be expensive. The stuff we take doesn't have to have a fancy NAME. And it doesn't have to be chewable or liquid or an of those things. It's what it IS that counts. And ultimately, the labs. I realize you can't get labs w/o insurance, but potentially, after taking the right vit D for 1 bottle, you might could just pay for THAT test only?

You should not consign yourself to "spontaneous fracture", which is to suddenly fracture without even a fall! I mean, come on, woman, don't go down without a fight!

actually, my done density that I just had 3 months ago showed improvement, not a lot, but yes improvement, the doc called me in and asked what I was doing differet, I told him lots of exercise via walking and dance. He stated that doing lots of that like I do is sometimes better than drugs....he tried to tell his clients that...but they just want drugs intead of exercise....

Vit D isn't a drug?

You can't get enough of it from food or sun, so the only other way is in a pil.

Exercise helps, tons of calcium help, but if you don't have enough vit D in your soft tissue and blood, your parathyroid (not to be confused with thyroid) will start sucking calcium from your bones to keep the soft tissues going. Its priority is heart, brain, muscle, so if there isn't enough to go around, the bones and teeth have to sacrifice to save the heart. Your PTH, intact level will show as high on labs, D will show low. When you up the D, the PTH comes down (which is what we want).

Vit D is not JUST bones. It's also immune, auto-immune and a big pile of other stuff before it even feeds bones and teeth.

so how much do you suggest I take of the D3? I am very proximal (75cm) and feel that this to has caused me never to reach goals...so, Vit D, 2000 a day?

My very non-medical opnion, based on what you are saying, which is based on labs, albeit older ones, would be 50-100,000 units, with labs to follow in 90 days.

I know you said you don't have insurance, but might check out what it costs to private pay vit D and PTH alone.

The degree of proximal affects your wt and protein (you'll do better on protein than I will), but does not appear to affect iron, calcium or vit D in the long haul.

The main difference is proximals are even more likely to have issues since they will not have been supplementing correctly and may not have been tested for these things.

50,000 - 100,000 per day?

Yes. One pill = 50,000 dry form D3, but it's OTC, not rx. The rx is D2 in oi.

You are in severe trouble, right? You want to raise your levels like yesterday? OK, so my doc launches his distals and BPD/DS on 100,000/day and you know, they eventually get too high, but it doesn't last long and it takes this long to bring them into normal range. MUCH easier to take a dab out to drop a few pts than it is to climb a slippery slope UP.

Yes, I am aware that some will say doses higher than XXXXX or whatever can be toxic. Blood levels have to reach 500 to be toxic, so even if you took 100,000/day, if you only aborb 10,000 and your levels never get beyond 50, you are STILL deficient by newer standards.

I really do try to be proactive when it comes to my health. I just wish that more PCP's had a better understanding of what supplements we need. I wish that 'I' had a better understanding. I have a script for blood work and I will be getting it done soon. I will see how things look this time. I have always been low in iron, zinc, A and D. Those are the worst. I mal-absorb, severely. Sometimes, I can get my levels of various mineral/vitamins levels to normal or close to normal--I can never get them to be in the middle range, ever.  I found a PCP that I like and is willing to listen to me. I'm just not sure that she knows what supplements are best. My vitamin D came back as dangerously deficient and now I'm taking A&D in a combined soft gel twice a day. The A is 5000 I.U and the D is 400 I.U. This is at my doctor's reccomendation.  I, for one, appreciate your input, Michelle. Thank you.

Well, soft gels are about the same as nothing, sadly. Realy, the docs don't know this stuff. THey have to learn 100 new prescriptions per year, the latest studies on their specialty or if they're family docs, then stuff on everyone, babies, the elderly! We cannot reasonably expect them to keep up with every subtle nuance of the vitamin world or even OTC anything. And then there's US and we don't fit the mold anyway, with the mold being: less food + more exercise = no wt issues, which we know is all myth. And then there's malabsorption! I don't fault my PCP for not being where I am in all this. It's really good he knows what to put in my ear or my eye or my foot, you know? I don't mind keeping up with the vites, because I wouldn't know an eye infection from a stye from something serious, right? Glad he does!

So, the standard 10K + 400 is safe for normies. Our proximals go out the door on 50K of vit A (retinol) and 10K of vit D (D3), both are dry. That may not be enough, but it's sure not too much and these are the only absorbed forms.

Don't give up! You can teach him. Mine doesn't really want to learn, tho, as he's satisfied that *I* know.