Subjectively (1 of 1), I take 20k IU/day of D3 (and K2/mk7) and feel both happier and healthier, from about a week after I started supplementing. Was very low levels of vitamin D before, and symptoms of astigmatism, etc., and all of this improved (blood D levels are in the very high range of normal now).
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20,000 IU/day is a lot of vitamin D, about 20x the RDA for both the U.S. and the UK [1]. Is this safe, and if so would a doctor ever recommend to do this every day?
[1]: https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind-healthprofessiona...
If any one else is really taking upwards of 20,000 IU of vitamin D per day for an extended period, please see your doctor about it to test your blood and to consult you on if this really is the right choice for your health longer term. Too much vitamin D can have negative impacts on your bones and joints. Depending on your personal health situation, this may be considered a worthwhile choice or it may be a really not great thing, but you shouldn't choose to consume that much vitamin D without some medical advice.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/too-much-vita...
> Is this safe,
Maybe?
> and if so would a doctor ever recommend to do this every day?
Most definitely not, but then again, Doctors err on the side of caution for obvious reasons
>Most definitely not, but then again, Doctors err on the side of caution for obvious reasons
Let me rephrase this slightly: Doctors err on the side of caution in terms of the liability of performing a medical intervention (Such as advising to take a supplement). There are many cases where the advice from an MD minimizes their liability and risk but doesn't optimize health for the most number of people.
It's much harder to sue over a lack of an intervention than it is to sue over an intervention that produced a negative outcome. Both happen for sure, but there's a systemic bias in the process. In general, this is probably a good thing, but it's nuanced.
> There are many cases where the advice from an MD minimizes their liability and risk but doesn't optimize health for the most number of people.
That may be true in general, but is there any evidence that regularly taking 20,000 IU/day if vitamin D is optimal for health? I see a lot of articles making an affirmative recommendation not to take more than 4,000 IU/day.
Ex: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/too-much-vita...
Oh, I only mean for it to apply in general.
With regard to vitamin D, I think there are more people that would benefit from Vitamin D than there are MD's willing to recommend they take it and get the requisite blood work done to confirm appropriate supplementation rate.
However, in general, 20,000IU/day every day is quite high and should be done cautiously if at all.
Doctor's 100% will prescribe much larger megadoses for people with very low Vitamin D. My family has terrible vitamin D levels because we are bad genetic stock and because we live in the frozen hellscape. My dad has been prescribed 50k IU for a time period, but megadosing always comes from a place of "you have a lot of headroom to go with your vitamin D levels" and "come back and get another blood test in a few months so we can make sure you won't overdo it and so you can stop taking expensive supplements"
Don't be so sure. My wife was prescribed 20k/day for a few weeks, by her doctor. Tested again, and then put on a 10k/day that she's been on for nearly 5 years now. Annual physicals put her right around the middle of the 'normal' range.
I was 6 ng/mL. I'm 81 ng/mL now (well, November). Ref range is 30-100 ng/mL.
(Bioavailability of oral D3 supplements is pretty low, generally. I'm sure most of what I'm taking is being wasted, but it's like $10/mo for the supplement, which is below the line for me to optimize.)
Yep, she was around 2-3 at the start, and registered 75 at her last annual physical.
I hope you're adding K2 as well...
Yes, and magnesium, etc. All the normal things.
https://vers.substack.com/p/doctors-are-idiots-vitamin-d-meg...
According to the evidence provided here, 20000 IU/day is safe.
Why does this random persons ranting blog seem like a reliable source of this kind of info to you?
That's a totally fair point.
What if instead of posting a link to a blog of a "random person" that summarizes a number of studies, I post the study directly: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30611908/
Title: Daily oral dosing of vitamin D3 using 5000 TO 50,000 international units a day in long-term hospitalized patients: Insights from a seven year experience
> During this time, we have admitted over 4700 patients, the vast majority of whom agreed to supplementation with either 5000 or 10,000 IUs/day. Due to disease concerns, a few agreed to larger amounts, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day. There have been no cases of vitamin D3 induced hypercalcemia or any adverse events attributable to vitamin D3 supplementation in any patient.
What would you say to this here?
> 5000 TO 50,000 international units a day in long-term hospitalized patients
Is an extremely different claim from "20k units a day is safe"
> the vast majority of whom agreed to supplementation with either 5000 or 10,000 IUs/day. A few agreed to larger amounts, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 IUs/day.
This study is mostly about << 20,000 IU/day.
Also, abstract doesn't say precisely how "long-term" they were supplemented for -- was it weeks or years?
Medium term (~1w) loading doses are probably fine given that U.S. president was treated with this for COVID. But we're talking about 20,000 IU/day, every day, for months and years, which is why the study's vagueness about "long-term" matters here.
According to the top quality evidence provided here at https://vers.substack.com/p/doctors-are-idiots-vitamin-d-meg...
> Doctors Are Idiots: Vitamin D Megadose. This Is Not Medical Advice, But I'm Correct
> You should be taking somewhere between 10,000-50,000 IU per day of vitamin D3. The optimal dose seems to be about 30,000 IUs as noted by a few people in my research but results will vary.
> Do not sue me if something goes wrong. I am poor and you will get nothing but my manga collection out of the lawsuit.
Lol.
I'm sorry, but am I reading this correctly that after you started supplementing your Vit D that your astigmatism went away? I have some rather expensive glasses that I didn't think were affected by diet...
Yes. My ophthalmologist said it was specifically due to reduced plasticity in the retina, which caused variable astigmatism. He's a top researcher/published on this specific thing.
(Obviously this is not the majority of astigmatism causes in the broader world, but was for me. Another interesting cause is parasites in eyelids, treatable with ivermectin, lol.)
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6075645/
(Dr. McMillan is probably the best medical doctor of any specialty I've ever interacted with in any context, and I worked in hospitals for years.)