So I found out recently my vitamin D level is 8.6, which is apparently really low. Kinda explains, at least in part, why I’m so tired all the time (not that being a workaholic and significantly overweight doesn’t contribute to that, too). For the past couple of months I’ve also noticed some memory problems - not enough to interfere with my daily life, just mostly word finding problems (I’m only 33).
So my doc put me on vitamins, both OTC and prescription.
Too early to tell a difference, since it’s only been a few days, but I’m wondering when I’ll notice a difference. So to those of you who have done this before - how long before you felt better? Did you feel better at all? What were your initial symptoms?
Purely anecdotal, but I started my own Vit D therapy without being tested first (live in Chicago, avoid sun like the plague, work nights - didn’t really need a test to know it was near zero). I started in April of last year, taking 8,000 IU of D3 daily. It took about 6 weeks to start feeling better. I really do think it lifted my mood a bit. When I had a checkup in November, we did a full panel with some add-ons, including vit. D. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was right in the middle of the normal range (something like 52), and differentiated between D2 (natural) and D3 (supplement). The natural level is still nearly nothing, like 4.
I still take the supplement, I bumped it up to 10,000 IU a day, I found high-potency gels, they’re tiny, and they’re 5,000 IU each.
I wasn’t even deficient in D when I decided to start supplementing (only for the months where I can’t get adequate sunlight on a good area of my skin). Quest tested me at 40 (at the end of summer), which is decent, but my doctor recommended I should still supplement when I didn’t get sun, and in light of the research I have read, I agree.
I always get mild seasonal depression during the winter, but have been supplementing since October and have no signs of it this year. Yay!
In my physical last year my doctor recommended that I start taking some vitamin D supplements based on my lab tests. So I followed orders by popping another little pill every day. In my next visit about four months later the lab results showed a 50% increase in my vitamin D reading and within the “normal” range. But through it all I never felt any different, not one bit.
I’m an overweight computer geek with mobility problems and lactose intolerance. Last year my blood test came back with a Vitamin D level of 5 or 6, and the doc said it should be at least 30. I was put on 50k IU/week for a month or so, and I’ve been taking 1k IU/day since then.
Can’t honestly say I’ve felt any different one way or another.
