Vitamin D - how much?

[softlips]

I took 50,000 iu of vitamin D3, combined with K2 and magnesium over 3 days to fight off a chest infection. It worked after the second night. Vitamin C in huge amounts is also quite effective in powdered pharmaceutical grade quality, the only down side being that you have to take it to bowel tolerance. Wise to check with your doc if taking massive doses of supplements to ensure that they reconcile with any medications taken.

How do you know it worked? The chest infection could well have cleared up without taking all those chemicals.

Was going to post the same

[Oldjohnw]

It used to be said that a treated cold takes two weeks and an untreated one takes a fortnight.

Substantially true, I think, although a condition like bronchitis is a little different and can lead to all sorts of deeper consequences. Antibiotics are the usual route if bacterial in origin. And, in my experience, work.

[windmiller]

I took 50,000 iu of vitamin D3, combined with K2 and magnesium over 3 days to fight off a chest infection. It worked after the second night. Vitamin C in huge amounts is also quite effective in powdered pharmaceutical grade quality, the only down side being that you have to take it to bowel tolerance. Wise to check with your doc if taking massive doses of supplements to ensure that they reconcile with any medications taken.

How do you know it worked? The chest infection could well have cleared up without taking all those chemicals.

Was going to post the same

The infection most probably viral in origin was in full bloom after nearly 5 weeks, two rounds of antibiotics and steroids had failed to knock it out. I was not prepared to wait any longer for it to develop into pneumonia which when you have asthma is an experience I don't want to repeat. Not saying this is a good practise for everyone. I don't take any medications or supplements for minor ailments like colds etc, which I seem to avoid more than most people.

[windmiller]

I would strongly advise against taking "huge" or "massive" or any amount of substances for which there is no evidence of efficacy.

Jonathan

I agree

[softlips]

How do you know it worked? The chest infection could well have cleared up without taking all those chemicals.

Was going to post the same

The infection most probably viral in origin was in full bloom after nearly 5 weeks, two rounds of antibiotics and steroids had failed to knock it out. I was not prepared to wait any longer for it to develop into pneumonia which when you have asthma is an experience I don't want to repeat. Not saying this is a good practise for everyone. I don't take any medications or supplements for minor ailments like colds etc, which I seem to avoid more than most people.

It was probably viral yes, antibiotics should not have been prescribed.

[fullupandslowingdown]

I hear you bout antibiotics, more trouble than they're worth often. Decades ago I had some sort of chest infection, doc eventually put me on antibiotics, it didn't work and I had to continue wheezing and sniffling for another few weeks after, till it faded away. I don't normally suffer colds for over 3 days start to finish by reference. I don't seem to get flu much, though last christmas I ended up bedridden for 2 days with a fever, made me wonder if I'm actually patient zero....

I like to hang out on a few medical boards it's surprising what studies are done on what. I read about one for vitamin D which came to rather confused conclusions. The bit I remember is that they thought that a mega does taken immediately after getting serious sunburn can help the skin recover in half the normal time. They actually burnt subjects using a sunray lamp on their arm But they were uncertain what the actual mechanism was. One theory is that vitamin D is made by the skin precisely to repair the skin, but then are the other uses of vitamin D supplemental, did we eat much more bones in out Palaeolithic diet so didn't need as much D to help absorb calcium.

I've read a lot about vitamin C. It's touted for many conditions including some cancers. Studies have included administrating mega doses in the 5 to 10 gram (sic) range, via IV drip to get around bowel intolerance which for most people starts to kick in at around 2 grams a day. The main advantage of C over D is that it is water soluble so excess gets flushed out assuming your kidneys and liver are working well. Vitamin D however can build up over time.

[Jdsk]

One theory is that vitamin D is made by the skin precisely to repair the skin, but then are the other uses of vitamin D supplemental, did we eat much more bones in out Palaeolithic diet so didn't need as much D to help absorb calcium.

No. We lived nearer to the Equator and could make enough because there was enough sunlight. Then we migrated north where there isn't. (That's probably why pale skin evolved.)

I've read a lot about vitamin C. It's touted for many conditions including some cancers.

It may be. But well-performed studies don't show that it's effective.

The main advantage of C over D is that it is water soluble so excess gets flushed out assuming your kidneys and liver are working well. Vitamin D however can build up over time.

Main advantage? For what purpose? They have completely different actions.

Jonathan

[fullupandslowingdown]

When we all used to live near the equator we had dark skins which don't produce as much D, but we were also a lot hairer (I am still ) I was posing the hypothesis that maybe we didn't need as much D

Yes, pale skin is an adaption to less sunlight. Likewise, people with dark skin have in studies been shown to have lower than healthy vitamin D levels when living in the northern countries, and not getting as much natural sunlight, this is believed by a growing number of medical researchers to be why people of black African ethnicity have greater instances of developing diseases like diabetes. Previously it was assumed that it was simply the change in diet from a nutritionally balanced, if slightly low on calories, compared to our decadent western diet which has excess calories particularly from carbohydrates, whilst lacking other nutrients. Seriously buddy, if all the legs on my bed were to simultaneously break, I could replace them with the books on diet, genetics, farming, various health conditions and psychology and still have a few books left over to read at night with my muffins.

Advantage as in, if it's peeed out quickly, then it has less time to cause ill effects, whereas D isn't peeed out so it can build up to harmful levels, so I'm really sorry about that, as I thought that was reasonably clear. I've been told off before for not making myself clear.

[Jdsk]

I was posing the hypothesis that maybe we didn't need as much D

Where did you pose that? Your suggestion above was about eating more bones.

... if all the legs on my bed were to simultaneously break, I could replace them with the books on diet, genetics, farming, various health conditions and psychology and still have a few books left over to read at night with my muffins.

Any evidence for those "mega doses" having beneficial effects?

Jonathan

[fullupandslowingdown]

touted

addendum:

Touted | Definition of Touted › browse › touted
verb (used with object) to solicit support for importunately. to describe or advertise boastfully; publicize or promote; praise extravagantly:

[Fairweather]

Sunshine (if you can get it) is absolutely the best source for vitamin D. I make it a habit to get away in January when work dies down for at least 3 weeks.

[Jdsk]

Sunshine (if you can get it) is absolutely the best source for vitamin D. I make it a habit to get away in January when work dies down for at least 3 weeks.

Most people in the UK and similar and higher latitudes will not make enough Vitamin D from sunlight alone between *October and early March.

It's effective, simple, cheap and safe to take an oral supplement.

Why do you say that sunlight is "absolutely the best source" compared to eg oral supplementation, please?

Thanks

Jonathan

*My guess is that in a few years time we'll know that that period is actually longer.

[goddardsharon482]

Why do you say that sunlight is "absolutely the best source" compared to eg oral supplementation, please?

I know this wasn't to me - but I find a daily dose of just 10 micrograms (recommended by NHS) gives me bowel problems.

I have tried stopping the supplements, giving my guts time to settle before starting to take them again many times, but it always happens.

I have tried using the oral spray instead of pills because it is supposed to absorb more quickly. The side effects are not as immediately severe but they still happen after a few days and then get worse with continued use.

My husband tried out the pills and it seems to affect him similarly. I have persisted for over a year because taking D3 seems to really help my eczema.

[Tangled Metal]

A skeleton found in caves in the cheddar gorge was determined to have been from one of the earliest inhabitants of what is now called the UK. They also determined that the human was dark skinned. Early humans in northern Europe were likely to be dark complexion like Mediterranean peoples or darker.

If dark skin inhibits vitamin D production in comparison to lighter skin would it not show in the bones of skeletons from that period? By all accounts the skeletons from there were of healthy individuals.

This idea of our bodies not synthesizing enough vitamin D over the winter months. Does that mean we get enough in other months to carry through winter or our health is suffering over winter months?

I'm just curious because surely this winter effect would appear as symptoms in all of us?

[Jdsk]

This idea of our bodies not synthesizing enough vitamin D over the winter months. Does that mean we get enough in other months to carry through winter or our health is suffering over winter months?

I'm just curious because surely this winter effect would appear as symptoms in all of us?

Some of the effects might be sufficiently slow to develop that they time-average across the year.
Classical vitamin D deficiency presents as rickets and osteomalacia. But mild deficiency in adults is probably usually asymptomatic and most patients probably don't know that they have it until a bone breaks.
And then there's a lot of uncertainty about vitamin D and other diseases. There are receptors for the molecule all over the place, and in vitro studies show an enormous number of actions. Low blood concentration is associated with lots of diseases including some cardiovascular and some malignant. But it's very hard to know which way the causation lies. And most assays are problematic.

Shirley