Vitamin D supp??

[DanielleT]

Ok so i've been doing some research on the advantages of increasing your vitamin D during fall/winter seasons...but what i can't find is an standard amount pregnant women should take?

How much if any other than the amount in your prenatals are you taking? And i guess it would be benificial to know if you live somewhere that has cold snowy winters like i do here...

[Jodie8]

5000IU daily if you live in the north

[homemademom]

My mw is having me take 4000 IU daily.

[WifeofAnt]

I've been doing 2400 IU (400 in prenatal, 2000 separate) since the first day of fall but I'm in Texas. I might up it some when I move back to Michigan.

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

I take 1000ius of d3. That is what I feel comfortable taking and no one has told me to do so.

[mangosink0]

my prenatal has 2000 IUs

[Weevil]

My levels are low (and last I checked were dropping like crazy with pregnancy) and my midwife said I could take as much as 6000IU a day.

[hollytheteacher]

I am going to start taking more. My dr. was saying they recently did a survey of people all over the U.S and more than 65% were deficient in vitamin D and almost no one was at optimal levels.


There is also a lot of research that shows being up on Vitamin D is a better protector against getting the flu than the flu vax (imagine that ).

[karika]

I live in nw and little sun in summer, been here for almost 9 years now. came from a sunny locale. I didn't realize how important vitamin d was until last year or year before... The sun is still out for now, so I take 5000 IU daily or any day I remember. I am nursing and she still nurses a lot. When it gets dark again, I will up that to 7000 IU - 10000 IU for the winter. The rule of thumb I have heard is 35 IU per pound for maintaining, but more than that if you feel a germ in you or you are deficient, or nursing. you can go here to do a labcorp test,
http://drtenpenny.com/VitaminD.aspx or maybe even jus tgo to a labsorp and do the test without a dr order... not sure how it works.
or if you use an MD, you can request a test there. It is common to get this checked nowadays.

my fave catch all article on vit d
http://blog.fitnesstown.ca/2009/12/3...erri-tenpenny/

yeah, is also imp to know if your supp is d2 or d3.... d2 is not natural in the sense it is not the d we need. we need d3. i use now brand from super supplements nak sry typos

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Originally Posted by karika

my fave catch all article on vit d
http://blog.fitnesstown.ca/2009/12/3...erri-tenpenny/

yeah, is also imp to know if your supp is d2 or d3.... d2 is not natural in the sense it is not the d we need. we need d3. i use now brand from super supplements nak sry typos

interesting article, thanks, i know my prenatal has 400iu's but it is D2 not D3, which is why i take an extra 1000iu's of D3. I may consider upping that to 2000iu's now that the fall is here.

[julesmama]

Anyone know what I should be taking? I'm nursing my 21 month old frequently and 5 weeks pregnant. I've been taking 5000IU plus whatever is in my prenatals (not much, maybe 400 or 500) since before I got pregnant and am assuming this is enough, but I've been meaning to ask. I am not giving my toddler anything separate right now, but I do have half a bottle of the carlson drops so I can start again for the fall/winter if necessary.

[HRJ]

I have a D deficiency. I'd have yours tested before taking a large amt. At first my acupuncturist said 2000 was the limit in pregnancy (and that was the info I found online too). MY OB/Gyn said the limit is 4000 and when I told my acupuncturist that, she said that is a brand new study out that is very reputable. I won't go over 4000 even w/ my deficiency b/c there is such a thing is vitamin D toxicity esp for a developing fetus.

ETA: My dr that deals w/ my defiency feels it is very unlikely that people in Florida need to supplement. It all has to do wtih location, location, location. Some areas of the US are more prone to deficiencies b/c of the location they are in in relation to the sun and the angle as well. There are certain multiple schlerosis 'belts' in the US. Florida is not in the belt, and according to his map, doesn't have a lot of deficiencies. I forget where the MS belt is. But I am in OH and I am more at risk for deficiency than someone in Florida - according to my dr.

[Lady Lilya]

The RDA is ridiculously low. It is based on only preventing rickets. Since they came up with that recommendation, they discovered over 200 more functions of vitamin D in your body.

Alternative sources seem to pretty much agree that the average person's body uses 1000IUs per 25 lbs of body weight per day. So for me at around 125 lbs, I need 5000IUs per day.

If I get sun, I don't worry about the supplement.

I've been tested, and my levels were in normal range. If they were low, I would happily take much higher doses to get it up.

---

HRJ, sometimes people who live in sunny places stay indoors more than people who live in more moderate places. If it is hot, they cling to the air conditioning. So I think it is really so personal about whether or not you need to supplement and how much.

[WifeofAnt]

Originally Posted by Lady Lilya

HRJ, sometimes people who live in sunny places stay indoors more than people who live in more moderate places. If it is hot, they cling to the air conditioning. So I think it is really so personal about whether or not you need to supplement and how much.

It was up to 115 with the heat index all summer here in Texas. I would have gotten plenty of vitamin D... but I couldn't tolerate being outside! Now its starting to cool down and I'm slowly coming out of my air conditioned shell.

[MrsBone]

I took 5000 IU before getting PG and am still taking that much.

[DanielleT]

wow, thanks ladies! this has been very helpful, and thanks for the articles i enjoyed reading them...It amazes me that there's so much reseach out there that states that Vitamin D is so good for you and baby but so many "professionals" still recemmend the 400..I run a small dayhome and one of my parents is s RN and i asked her this morning what her thoughts were and she said she takes 1000 cause she gets SAD but they suggest only 400 and she doesn't think anything more than 1000 would even be benifical as it wouldn't have anything to bind too so it would just be stored...

[WifeofAnt]

So...? Then we have extra vitamin D stored in our fat cells. Its not like you pee it all out if you take too much.

[lillymonster]

Originally Posted by DanielleT

I run a small dayhome and one of my parents is s RN and i asked her this morning what her thoughts were and she said she takes 1000 cause she gets SAD but they suggest only 400 and she doesn't think anything more than 1000 would even be benifical as it wouldn't have anything to bind too so it would just be stored...

I thought the point of Vit D was that it was stored until you needed it? I may be misunderstanding though.

[DanielleT]

Originally Posted by lillymonster

I thought the point of Vit D was that it was stored until you needed it? I may be misunderstanding though.

well it's definitely fat-soluable and it sounds like that's how toxicity happens people take vit d in large amounts and over time it just accummulates...

but really i'm having trouble finding any real information on that whole process

[WetMntMomma]

Well it seems the amounts are all over the place! I have been trying to get a safe range for a few months now, my prenatal has 1000 IU D3, and worked great for my first pregnancy. We live in Colorado at 6400 ft, so we are getting plenty of sunshine, I am just worried about too much of a good thing before I start supplementing more? I do still need to read Dr Tenpenny's article tho, maybe the answer lies within!