Just got my vitamin D level tested:
I’m taking 5000IU gel tablets 3-4 times per week because I was concerned I might be getting too much vitamin D. I guess I need to take it more often.
I know when I was looking at my genetics, there was part of it that said I’d have a hard time with vitamin D. I can’t remember why, though. I’ll have to look at that.
Do you know what your vitamin D level is?
Bob
I highly recommend taking calcifidiol, the active form of VitD… this stuff works within hours of taking it, whereas normal D3 takes 2 weeks to start working.
In answer to your question, no I don’t know what my current level is, but the last time I got it checked in Feb23 it was 77. But I spend a lot of time in the garden in the sun, I run in the sun a lot, I actively take time to sit in the sun (with no sunscreen) when it is warm enough, and I take calcifidiol regularly… not every day, but 2-3 times per week, and whenever I feel any kind of sickness coming on eg high temperature. VitD is central to our immune system. A good VitD level is vital in fighting anything off that’s attacking your system.
Bob, I can get it here in Aus under the Swisse brand. I think that brand is global, so you might find it where you are.
Cheers
Alec
Thanks again, Alec. I seem to remember that this was hard to find in the US for some reason. This is the only one I can find:
Hello, my serum Vitamin D levels are around ~110 ng/mL. I take 20,000 I.U.s of Vitamin D everyday.
15 minutes of sun exposure approximately provides your body with 15,000 I.U.s of Vitamin D, this means that you should not held back from taking it daily. Just make sure you are taking enough Vitamin K2 with it. There is no strong evidence of any harm of Vitamin D as long as you supplement it along with Vitamin K2.
Do your research on above topics, this is not a medical advice.
Have a nice one.
@Alecmcq That’s interesting, as yours is daily. I did buy the one I linked to, but it’s weekly. I may take it every 2 weeks since it’s so pricey, and keep using the D3/K2 I have also. Then, I’ll test later again.
@tnatdXAlPi_UUQvFwbqO The current tablets I use have both D3 and K2, and I’m also eating my own natto, which has a ton of K2 in it. I’d love to get into the sun, but never do.
Since you ask… my wife and I have both typically tested at just under 100 ng/mL for past 4-5 years (tests done in the winter). We take 5000IU daily, but also daily separate K2 supplement plus we get a good bit of sun during 3 seasons of the year.
Not sure what this info does to address your situation. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend checking out Holick’s works, the highly respected researcher who blazed trails in Vitamin D research. Well worth reading…
I doubt it ever was tested so no, I have no idea about my level… And I don’t take supplements in general. But I eat much good food (and some not so good but I can handle it) and while I do my comfortable best to avoid the sun in summer, it’s quite impossible so I don’t think it’s a problem. Winter is quite sunny too and I gladly go out then though my unclothed area is a bit smaller than in summer.
If I would worry about some vitamin, it wouldn’t be D for sure. But I am aware not everyone has enough, to put it lightly.
I googled vitamin K2 in food, I don’t worry about that either.
I found my genetics.
When I originally read this, I thought this meant I was poor at using/assimilating Vitamin D. Way more info below, but nothing tells me what is happening with my particular genetic pattern, other than bad things CAN happen:
This type of stuff is always so difficult. This was a study using twins, and they found that 2000 IU per day of Vitamin D resulted in reduced body fat and increased lean mass:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-69128-2
Anyway, I may have to get the Holick book, and I’m going to have to see how I can up my level. I thought 5000 IU 3-4 or 4-5 times per week would work, but it hasn’t gotten Vitamin D high enough. I THINK my genetics interferes with this (or least did think so some time ago, when I initially looked into this), but the sites I’m seeing aren’t great at explaining why or what is happening.
Whether your personal genetic profile makes it difficult to utilize Vit D (or not) may remain unclear, but note that when we talk about our “Vit D levels” it’s the serum levels … i.e., the amount circulating in our bloodstream.
This metric may have little to do with how much is actually being absorbed and thereby utilized at the tissue level - which is likely where any health consequences ultimately occur.
Generally speaking, the best we can often do is to provide our bodies with what they need to function, and hope that they will take it from there. 
Good point, Joey.
By the way, when you take vitamin D, do you take it on an empty stomach or after eating? I was using liquid drops, and for those, I added them to my coffee in the morning, which has a small amount of cream in it. Is that okay?
For the “pills” I’m using now, I take them after I eat. That has to be okay.
But for the new ones I ordered, should I take them only after eating? Or could I take them in the morning with coffee? (I don’t eat until 10am to noon most days, and when I go to work not until dinner around 7pm.)
My wife has a Vitamin D test kit, similar to the one I used, where you put blood on it then send it in. She told me I can use hers. So, I’ll see what happens in a few weeks to a month.
Mine will look like yours if I don’t take at least 10k/day. When I get down that low I take 50k IU a day for a week, then drop back down to the 10k. 5k for most won’t do much in any acceptable amount of time.
I get plenty of sun, I’m also olive skinned so not sure how much that impacts it.
I think the important thing is that your are taking D3 and not D2. Dosing seems to vary a lot from person to person, but I think it’s pretty hard to overdose on D3–I’ve seen some comments by people taking 20,000 u/day.
K2 does also seem to be important. But I’ve seen some people say that it’s better to take them separately as the amount of K2 included with the D3 might not be enough. If you take the usual dose of D3 you might not get enough K2, and if you take enough pills to get enough K2 you might get too much D3.
And lastly, if you don’t like taking D3 daily, you can take a big dose once a week.
I spend a fair amount of time outside in the summer and just had a level of 50; I usually supplement 5000 daily (or 35000 weekly) from October-March/April.
