Vitamin A and D

I recently asked my surgeon's office to run lab tests to check my Vit A and Vit D levels.  The NP called me and my Vit A is low and out of range and my D is within normal range but at the low end.  She faxed me a paper about Vit A and it said that you can go blind if it isn't corrected.  So I have to increase my Vit A and retest in 3 months.  I am also going to increase my D.  I would advise everyone to get their A and D checked.  I take dry Vit A and dry Vit D since we absorb that kind better.

and where do you get dry A & D? And can you overdose on these to vit?

I would not take A or D without consulting with your doctor or getting a blood test to check your levels.  I think you can get too much.  I buy my dry A and D from the Vitamin Shoppe.  Whole Foods also sells it and vitalady.com.  I also take dry Vit E.

You COULD overdose on these eventually. But we do malabsorb these and as long as someone is testing fairly frequently til you find your personal formula, just touching a high level is not the same as toxicity. Toxic is holding way too high levels for a long time.

My doc launches his proximals on 50,000 of A and 10,000 of vit D.

It's so much easier to cut those in half (which drops the levels in about a week) than it is to try to restore sight or bones or teeth by allowing the levels to be too low.

When he swtiched to this about a year ago, I thought it was very daring, but it's been interesting to watch the lab levels. His distals and DS start on 100K of each! And it takes about a year to hit the high end of the range, but notmany actually go over the top, even on those mega doses.

Amazing, when you think of it, since most surgeons don't recommend ANY until the damage is done.

I have heard ppl say that 50K of D a day is way too much. Well, it's not if you're only absorbing a tiny bit of it. And testing will soon straighten out if you need more or less. If we COULD get it from sun or our food, we'd BE getting it.

What are the actual numbers?

If you're taking the A&D (one pill), you might want to swtich to the A-25 and the D3-5.

The A&D is:
A = 10,000
D = 400

A25 = 25,000
D5 = 5,000

I have been looking at other boards here and saw recommendations for no more than 400 IU of supplemental D because (in theory) we can absorb what we need from the sun and food. I'm not sure how ancient that study is, but the one Ijust read in Oct 07 "Today's Dietitian" talks about not being able to get enough D from the sun without risking skin cancer, for one thing. The 30 minutes of direct sunlight on head and shoudlers is fine, IF you are northern European (in which case you would never spend that much time in the sun), fair skinned AND in a place where you get direct sun. So, if you caught that, you really cannot get enough vit D from the sun. It doesn't convert as readily to the D3 form, even if you risk your skin.

We can't get it from dietary sources because it's a fat soluble vite and we don't absorb any reliableamount from fats & oils AND whatever form we put in our mouth must convert to D3 to be useful to the body. And our converters are bypassed!

And something eelse to consider is that if we COULD get it from dietary sources, we would not BE low in those levels.

So, if dietary and sun are out, that only leaves supplements. Add to that the fact that you probably went INTO surgery deficient and you're now trying to backfill a big hole! Prescription vit D is D2, in oil, so two strikes against it for us.

We use the dry form D3 because it stands the best chance of being absorbed. That said, we still won't absorb all that we ingest. So, if I take the 50,000 pill, I certainly will not actually NET 50k of vit D.

I am, however, DELIGHTED that they will retest. So many will say, "take a pill and it's fixed" without retesting to see if you fixed it good enough or too good!

So, you'll have to take your best guess as to how to bring the numbers up into the range between middle and high, or that's where I want to put mine. So, basically, if you got them both to 70-75, you'd be in good shape, according to recent studies.

Of course, that can change tomorrow. I think I get a new vit D article every other day!

Yes, A = eyes, specifically night blindness, and it supports your immune system. A is one of the antioxidant vites

D = bones, teeth, mood, joints, helps with autoimmune disorders, MS and is starting to be considered an antioxidant in some studies.

Vitamin A was 34 (38-98) Vitamin D, 25-OH, total was 38 (20-100) Vitamin D, 25-OH, D3 was 25 Vitamin D, 25-Oh D2 was 13 I take Twin Lab Vit A & D.  I am going to increase the A and D.  How much A can you take at one time?  I am going to buy individual A and D.  Thanks.

Be sure the A is retinol and the D is D3.

So, you can prolly do the a at 25,000 and that'd nudge you up to mid range and then the D3 in two 5,000 (capsules) or a sublingual 10,000. As long as someone is going to test again soon, those are still small doses.