Blood tests for A and D levels?

[ChristieB]

What blood tests should I ask for to find my levels of vits. A and D?

TIA

[WildIris]

The test you want for Vit D is "25-Hydroxy" or "25(OH)D."

Sorry, I don't know about Vit A testing.

Iris

[newcastlemama]

From what I read, there is not really a good test for vitamin A levels at this point. Someone tell me if I am wrong though!

I just assumed I was deficient since according to WAPF the average daily intake of A for primitive people was 50,000 iu a day!

Jen

[Taedareth]

FWIW, we had DH's vit D levels tested recently and the test cost about $150. So if you're paying out of pocket, it's not exactly cheap.

[ChristieB]

Thank you everyone! I had heard/read what the vit. D test was, but couldn't remember it.

As for the vit. A, I posted on another board and got an answer from Chris Masterjohn. Thought I'd share, since you all are interested.

For vitamin A, there isn't a good test, but serum retinol will have to
do. If you're interested in making sure you're not deficient, get
serum retinol. If it's below the reference range you know you're
deficient, but if it's not, you don't necessarily know you don't need
more it seems. If you're interested in toxicity, get serum retinol
and serum retinyl esters. Add up both figures, and make sure that the
esters are below 10% of the total. Above 10% indicates probable
toxicity.

Originally Posted by newcastlemama

From what I read, there is not really a good test for vitamin A levels at this point. Someone tell me if I am wrong though!

I just assumed I was deficient since according to WAPF the average daily intake of A for primitive people was 50,000 iu a day!

Jen

I'm actually not worried about being deficient, but about having some toxicity. I feel really stupid. I must have been very tired when I figured the quantity of CLO I should take to get 6000 IU/day (I'm nursing, and I read that's what I'd need to have enough in my breastmilk). Well, I figured wrong, and didn't realize until I was reading something you wrote on another thread about how much CLO you would need to take along with a D supp. to get a certain amount. The amounts you were mentioning didn't make sense to me, so I did the math again, and come to find out I was taking 105,000 IU of A/day. Then I looked up the symptoms of toxicity, and I was having some of them. Needless to say, I stopped taking CLO for awhile. I'm interested to know how bad it was, and also if I should start taking the CLO again (in smaller quantities, of course) or wait awhile still.

I really can't believe I did this. Lately I really haven't been feeling like much of a college graduate, and this just makes me feel even more like a dunce.

The good news is that ds seems to be fine. None of the dry, itchy skin or the hair falling out. Those are getting better for me, too (I stopped CLO just over 3 wks. ago). I'm sure they could have been caused by something else, but the timing is suspicious.

So, all of that to say, I can't just assume I'm deficient.

Originally Posted by Taedareth

FWIW, we had DH's vit D levels tested recently and the test cost about $150. So if you're paying out of pocket, it's not exactly cheap.

Fortunately, my dr. is ordering the tests, so insurance should pay. She agreed with me that we ought to find out more. She's really wonderful. : Not just because of this.