Supplementing Vit D

[regentrude]

Knowledgeable Hive: please talk to me about supplementing vitamin D for a person with diagnosed deficiency.
Best supplements? Do I need to combine it with something else for best absorption?
 

[Bambam]

I would ask the doctor. 
Mine wasn't super low. I take 5,000IUs daily - NOW brand D3. I take NOW brand K-2 to help absorb. I've been doing this for 3+ years - before that I took 4,000IUs daily for probably 7+ years (not available any more). Sometimes in the spring if I'm going to be outside a lot I might take a 2,000IU, but that isn't often.  

I get my levels checked yearly. They go up about 5 (whatever units!) each year. I'm sitting about 68-73 last time I checked. 

Edited April 9, 2022 by Bambam

[Terabith]

Honestly, as long as the formulation is D3 WITH K2, I haven't found that brand seems to matter, but I guess anything is possible.  I would start with a pretty high dose, like 10,000 IU a day and then drop down to 5,000 IU once I'm in a good range.  You could take them separately, but I get a form that combines them both to save on pills and also to avoid having to figure out how much K2 is necessary, since I can never remember the ratio.  

[chocolate-chip chooky]

I think that this is a question for a doctor.

My daughter and husband both had Vit D deficiencies, and their treatments were different. So there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.

[itsheresomewhere]

1 hour ago, Bambam said:

I would ask the doctor. 
Mine wasn't super low. I take 5,000IUs daily - NOW brand D3. I take NOW brand K-2 to help absorb. I've been doing this for 3+ years - before that I took 4,000IUs daily for probably 7+ years (not available any more). Sometimes in the spring if I'm going to be outside a lot I might take a 2,000IU, but that isn't often.  

I get my levels checked yearly. They go up about 5 (whatever units!) each year. I'm sitting about 68-73 last time I checked. 

We also use the Now brand drops.  I add it to my water. It made a massive difference to my d levels ( 16 to a 30 in a short time.  Much higher now). 

[Corraleno]

DS and I both have a genetic mutation that leads to extremely low D levels no matter how much sun we get — we were in the range of 10-12 ng/mL (severe deficiency) even while living in the NM desert and getting hours of strong sun every day. We take 5000 IU of D3 combined with K2. My levels were up to 78 ng/mL when they were last tested. Adding the K2 seems to have made a big difference, because when I was only taking D3 it was hard to get my levels much above 30.