B12 and D3

[Guest guest]

Carolyn,

If you're low in D, you absolutely need to be taking it. Your doctor

isn't trying to harm you by making you take a " toxic " dose; that's just

about impossible with D. He's on top of it, and did the right thing,

thank goodness! You're leaving yourself open for a lot of diseases

including some cancers if you ignore this. And getting your D up to the

right level can increase your energy and help you feel better in

general. Low D can mimic fibromyalgia symptoms, too, and makes you feel

run down. The D that the doc prescribed is probably D2, which isn't

absorbed nearly as well as D3. There is a new prescription form of D3,

but I'll bet your doc prescribed D2 - a little blue capsule. It's just

about impossible to take too much since it takes several months for you

to absorb enough to get the level up to normal. The prescription

strength will get the level up faster than taking it by drinking milk.

There isn't enough D in milk to do any good for anyone, especially if

you have been diagnosed with a deficiency. And it's something that's

been added, and it's probably D2 as well, which is poorly absorbed.

Please read about this - look this up:

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

Dr. Cannell has been researching D for years and his website has a lot

of well documented information. My level was very low (30) and my doc

put me on the prescription D2, and the level came up a bit, very slowly;

but it wasn't until I tossed that stuff and went to the health food

store and got some D3 that it came up to where it needs to be. (she knew

I was doing this) Once the level came up to around 80, my doctor told me

5,000 IU per day and 25,000 IU twice a week for maintenance, and that's

keeping it around 80-88. You could take the D3 in the same dose as the

D2 that you already have been prescribed. You need to get the level

checked every 3 months or so while you're getting it up, just so you and

your doc know where it is. It takes months to absorb enough to get it up

to a good level. D is a fat soluble vitamin, and it's stored in your

body fat, to be used in times when there isn't enough sunlight (winter),

or if you can't eat enough liver for a while (yuck). I don't know what

your test result was, or what your doctor thinks " normal " is; but I do

know that we don't start storing it in our fat until the level reaches

50. So " normal " is somewhere north of 50, and some docs are

recommending 80-100 as an ideal level. And as you age, you don't absorb

much by staying in the sun, either, even if you're in a southern

climate, like I am. My level was only 30, extremely low, considering I

spend a lot of time in the sun and don't use a sunscreen. People up

north can forget it, they'll never get enough D that way. There's a lot

of research that backs this up. I get mine at Whole Foods, their house

brand.

Taking B12 wont' even come close to doing what D3 will do; they are

totally unrelated and don't do the same thing. Have you had your level

tested? You know you have a D deficiency already, how about getting the

B12 tested, too? The symptoms you have that you think are B12 may be

from a low D, since you already know you have a deficiency in that. And

if you're swallowing the B12, you are getting virtually zero into your

system. Even less as you get older. The B12 receptors that absorb it

into your body are at the end of the large colon (the last stop before

it leaves your body) and almost none of it makes it that far, and you

lose some of those receptors as you age. If you want to get enough B12

to feel it, you have to get injections. Most doctors don't do that any

more unless testing shows that you have a low level or have some form of

anemia that requires it. Sublingual is the next best thing. I use

Jarrow's Methyl B-12, which is Methylcobalamin, one of the best-absorbed

forms of B-12. They are 1,000 mcg tablets and I use a pill splitter and

cut them into quarters and take one every other day. I get it at Whole

Foods Market also.

Neither of these is toxic, even at high levels. Most vitamins aren't

toxic unless you take extremely high amounts for a long time; but then

there's no reason to take large doses of most of them unless tests show

you have a low level, and in that case the doctor will tell you how to

safely take the amount you need (like your doctor has done with the D).

With most vitamins, including B12 and D, you'll only absorb what you

need and the rest will leave your body when you go to the bathroom.

I had nutrition in college and studied vitamins and minerals; but still,

I don't know a lot about some vitamins but these are two that I've

studied quite a bit because of problems I've had. I take a multiple

vitamin/mineral tablet about twice a week, low amount of a complete, and

let my healthy eating take care of the rest of it (except for the D and

B12, of course).

H.