Vitamin D deficiency & conceiving

[peaches' mom]

I found out this week that I have a vitamin D deficiency. In retrospect, it shouldn't have surprised me - I live in Canada, am nursing my 22 mnth old and am vegan (and not good at all about drinking fortified beverages). We are trying to conceive, but not pregnant right now.

Does anyone have any information about the length of time it'll take to boost my vitamin D? Specifically, how soon would it be safe for me to conceive? (I'm assuming it is not a good idea to go into a pregnancy with low vit D...?) I started taking about 5000 IU of pills/day, getting lots of sun (the weather has been perfect for this lately), and trying to drink fortified milks.

Any insight you can give me is much appreciated. TIA!

[scarletjane]

The medical community does not come to a consensus as to the levels which constitute a deficiency. Do you know what your numbers were? I only mention this because I just had my levels tested and did some reading of the current literature out there.. and was interested to learn of the disparity. I know that doesn't answer your question at all, but just thought I would mention it.

[hollytheteacher]

@scarlet jane...My son's dr. recently told me that in her practice over the course of several years of ALL the vit D tests they've done on people almost NOone had optimal levels. There might be a discrepency on what is considered "deficient" but most likely the OP is not at optimal levels. We live in VT, OP so I know what you mean about it sometimes being hard to get any sunlight. Recently we've had TONS but during the fall/winter/early spring sometimes there is none.

We are trying to find a Vit D supplement for my DS but all the ones I can find at the store are made by formula companies (ick). Not to hijack the thread but if anyone can find me a good source for toddlers that isn't made by formula companies let me know!

[MommyMatsumoto]

I don't know how long it will take to build up your levels, but I think taking 5,000 IUs is a great start! My hubby and I take 5,000 IUs and I give my daughter a Gummy Vites supplement with 800 IUs, I believe. If you want lots of good information about vitamin D, check out Dr. Mercola's website.

[Ammaarah]

You may need more than 5K a day to get your levels up. I was in the 20s and took about 4K a day for a year and it didn't budge. I had to take 50K a week plus around 2K in my calcium and fortified milk to get mine to the 40s. Ask your doc about a prescription for the 50K weekly dosage and get a recheck after 12 or so weeks.

The new recommendation for pregnant women is 4K IUs a day, I read recently, but there is no consensus. It's awfully hard to OD on D and it doesn't appear to be teratogenic, so I say take what you need.