d and iron up to low end of normal but still slightly anemic

Retested after my last labs and upping my D3 (I now take about 4,000 units a day) and Iron (3x ferrix forte pills a day w/ c and a folate at the same time) and my labs are finally showing some improvement.  

Good news for a change.

Patrick

Curiosity question - Are you splitting the 4,000 units up during the day? 

I am taking in just under 4,000 units of D3 but it is split up over the day into four doses.  My doctor started me out with three months on a prescription super strength D3 that really helped and now I just maintain that level with what I am taking now.  D3 seems to be all the rage right now with the medical establishment. 

You say that your doctor prescribed D3, but my understanding (from here and from my surgeon) is that no such thing (prescription D3) exists and that what you got was likely D2 (which is not as useful to us)... but maybe there now IS a prescription D3...?

I personally take 50,000 units (yes, 50,000) twice a week. According to my PCP, there is no problem with taking large doses (even THAT large a dose) in one sitting.

Lora

You are right on both the prescription and the distinction between D2 and D3.  I did double check the prescription and it was 50,000 units of D2.  I started the D2 presurgery actually.  My labs dramatically improved on the D2 and continued in the normal range at my 6 month appt. with the 4,000 units of D3.  I am going in for my one year labs soon so I am interested to see what this continued level does for me. 

I found this journal article on the the topic very interesting - http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/89/11/5387  

  I took those "super strength" 50K IU vitamab D for 6 months and had 3 sets of labs. First post op labs showed an 8 for my D and then I started those script D. I took them once per week for 6 months, and had 3 sets of labs.  BEST SCORE of the 3 labs was a 14 for my D levels. BTW, prescription D is not D3 but D2.  Spend the money and get the 50K dry d3 from someone like vitalady.com.  Dave

Glad to hear it!

Lora

I had D issues as a post op, that I briefly spoke about in a post below.  FYI current data seems to indicate D3 levels of 80-90 are optimium for long range health. 4K per day will never get you to these levels. I took 4 of the 50K IU dry D3 per week for a year. Than I had labs in Oct., 10. D3 levels were at a 65. I now take a 50K IU daily in hopes of attaining the recommended levels from studies.  I'd suggest you start at a 50K 3 or 4 times a week.  Then check next labs and adjust accordingly.  The majority of RNY post ops tend to have deficeint D levels.  The dry D3 I take from vitalady.com are small capsules, and they do not upset my pouch at all. DAVE

I take a 3000 unit dry D3 with my morning batch of calcium.  I have a 2nd brand it is either 1 or 2K that I take in the afternoon with my afternoon batch. 

I've been meaning to order some from Vitlady after I use up my current supply.

I wonder why dry versus oil?  I am taking dry too but I have also read that for Vitamin D the oil based is better since Vitamin D is fat soluble and needs to be taken with fat to be properly absorbed.  I also read that 60-80 ng/ml is the ideal blood level when measuring vitamin D levels.

The Vitamin D Council suggests that you take 1,000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight. A person who weighs 150 pounds, for instance, would take 6,000 IU per day as a starting dose (150/25 = 6. 1,000 x 6 = 6,000). They say that there are so many indiviudal unique factors that you should test after 8 weeks at this amount and then increase your amounts until you reach the optimum levels.  They estimate that each 1,000 IU increase in supplemental vitamin D3 will generally produce a 10 ng/ml increase in the vitamin D blood level.

So much too learn and as with all supplements you can have negative side effects if you overdose too.  Thankfully with Vitamin D3 you would need to be over your limits for several months before experiencing problems.
 

 I was told oil based vitamins are harder for RNY patients to absorb.

When I first was low and my dr said to take 1000 and I did 2000 on my own.  Then after reading and finding some higher dose dry I added a 3000 iu pill and kept taking the 2000 as my 2nd dose.  1st time I ever saw a recommendation based on weight vs people just saying I take the 50000 iu dose someone sells just because they have it.  Thanks for that info.