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How much Vitamin D3 and B12 do I need?

I got my results in from a blood test awhile back, never got around posting it.

My test results say I am vitamin D insufficiency, the test was done by Shiel Medical laboratory.

Reference value is 30-100 ng/ml

my test showed L 11.

This is how they broke it down

Deficiency.......<10 ng/ml
Insufficiency...... 10-30 ng/ml
Sufficiency......30-100 ng/ml
Toxicity......>100 ng/ml

For B12 reference value is 211-911 pg/ml

I am at 315 so within in the range but I should get this higher?

Doctor advise get more sun and drink more milk, so doctor didnt tell me how much supplement I should take. Would love advice from people here.
 

Gianni

Moderator
SUN SUN SUN SUN!!

Yes go outside and soak up those extremely healthy rays for at least 15 mins a day! Vitamin D supplements won't give you nearly the same high quality or healthy D that sunlight does.

As for drinking milk... I don't believe much b12 is found in milk unless it is fortified with b12. I explain my reasoning behind this here (click that)

I think it's just better to supplement in my humble opinion when it comes to b12. Also I don't like all of the things modern milk has in it now. But that's just me.

Gianni
 

kiny

Well-known member
Doctor advise get more sun and drink more milk, so doctor didnt tell me how much supplement I should take. Would love advice from people here.
I would get some sun like said, and use some vitamin D3, I also wouldn't do the milk thing, I'm pretty surprised he actually said that. People with crohn's disease are more lactose intolerant, milk fat is very bad for crohn since it can promote dysbiosis and some people with crohn have MAP, milk tends to be bacteria-rich, a good way to promote intestinal inflammation (any fecal stream with bacteria will promote inflammation). Avoid milk at all cost.
 
I don't get enough sun, because of the crazy hours I work...Is there an IU amount that can be recommened? Same with B12?
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
SidS milk is not going to kill you. If you're not lactose intolerant then by all means drink it but you don't really have to drink more of it. B12 is found in milk along with other proteins like meat, cheese and eggs (well falls under meat :p). Sure going out in the sun is great and all but many of us take medications where we really can't be in the sun for very long (just to name a few http://www.medicinenet.com/sun-sens...tm#what_are_some_common_sun-sensitizing_drugs). Sounds to me that you do want to try supplements after reading your posts and that's great! Let's go from there now.

When I started supplementing B12 I started by taking the regular pills you swallow that are 1,000mcg. It did nothing. I tried the ones you let dissolve under your tongue at 1,000mcg, again, nothing. Upped it to 2,000mcg. Nothing again. Each time I say that nothing happened it means that after a month of supplementing I'd have my B12 tested again so yes this can take many months. Since there was no change at all for me I get B12 shots every other month and I was also on the low end of 300 just like you.

Now for the Vit D3 I refer you to this thread of mine a while back: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=36631 Basically I've been taking 5,000IU in liquid form and apparently 1,000IU in my multivitamin daily. My numbers have gone up a lot and I'm now within the normal range. Once I find my lab paper I'll share my last test results. :) If you want to try less than 6,000IU a day then by all means. I hear people mention that they don't supplement everyday and take about half the amount I do if not less (I guess I was just letting you know that I haven't died by taking what sounds like a lot).

Basically you can start small with both and work your way up just remember to have your levels tested after about a month to see if its enough. Good luck and keep us posted! :D
 
SidS milk is not going to kill you. If you're not lactose intolerant then by all means drink it but you don't really have to drink more of it. B12 is found in milk along with other proteins like meat, cheese and eggs (well falls under meat :p). Sure going out in the sun is great and all but many of us take medications where we really can't be in the sun for very long (just to name a few http://www.medicinenet.com/sun-sens...tm#what_are_some_common_sun-sensitizing_drugs). Sounds to me that you do want to try supplements after reading your posts and that's great! Let's go from there now.

When I started supplementing B12 I started by taking the regular pills you swallow that are 1,000mcg. It did nothing. I tried the ones you let dissolve under your tongue at 1,000mcg, again, nothing. Upped it to 2,000mcg. Nothing again. Each time I say that nothing happened it means that after a month of supplementing I'd have my B12 tested again so yes this can take many months. Since there was no change at all for me I get B12 shots every other month and I was also on the low end of 300 just like you.

Now for the Vit D3 I refer you to this thread of mine a while back: http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=36631 Basically I've been taking 5,000IU in liquid form and apparently 1,000IU in my multivitamin daily. My numbers have gone up a lot and I'm now within the normal range. Once I find my lab paper I'll share my last test results. :) If you want to try less than 6,000IU a day then by all means. I hear people mention that they don't supplement everyday and take about half the amount I do if not less (I guess I was just letting you know that I haven't died by taking what sounds like a lot).

Basically you can start small with both and work your way up just remember to have your levels tested after about a month to see if its enough. Good luck and keep us posted! :D
Amazing post thank you for posting. Could you please share what liquid form Vitamin D3 you use. Do i just pour some into water and drink it?
 

Jennifer

Adminstrator
Staff member
Location
SLO
I picked up the liquid vit D3 at The Vitamin Shoppe (dunno if there's one in your area but you can order it online at their site or like Amazon etc). Its just the store brand and says The Vitamin Shoppe on top, 5,000IU. When I'm taking my meds I have a little drink left (less than half a glass usually) and put 5 drops into it (there's a dropper in the bottle) and just drink it (you can mix it with any liquid although juices seem to kill the flavor the best). I've gotten used to the taste now. My mom also uses it and says she puts a few drops in her hand and just licks it. :p Doesn't taste good enough to do that for me.

Here's an image although this one is 2,000IU (makes sense to buy the higher dose and just take less of it since each drop has 1,000IU so the bottle below will say to take 2 drops where mine says to take 5 and was cheaper, saves you money)
 
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