Vitamin D results page

[FlyNavyWife]

Mostly copied from my response in another thread.


Backstory: I'm pregnant (for what it's worth) and decided to start supplementing with Vitamin D to boost immunity and get all those other nice benefits we know about. So I started taking 8,000 IU / day of D3 (capsule form, not tablet). About a week after I started supplementing, I had a doctor's appointment and asked for a 25-OH serum test to determine what my "baseline" level was.


I just got my D test results back and they are confusing to look at.


At the top, I have a 1,25(OH)2 D test... and my result was 99* pg/mL (picograms / milliliter) . The star means "critical" but it doesn't explain what critical means.


Look at this though:

What blood test should I have to check my vitamin D levels?


The only blood test that can diagnose vitamin D deficiency is a 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25 OH vitamin D). Unfortunately, some doctors are still ordering the wrong test, 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D. In fact a common cause of high 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is a low 25(OH)D or vitamin D deficiency. So when doctors see the 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is normal or high and tell their patients that they are OK, they are often vitamin D deficient.

from http://www.tonic.com/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-vitamin-d-frank-lipman/


So that's not the test to look at, and low Vitamin D levels (25-OH) can result in high 1,25 OH2 D measurement...


Further down the page, I can see the correct test was run, and there are 3 measurements: Calcidiol, D2, and D3. According to the Vitamin D Council,

Calcidiol

25(OH)D (25-hydroxyvitamin D). A prehormone in your blood that is produced in the liver from the metabolism of vitamin D3 cholecalciferol. When testing for vitamin D deficiency, this is the only form that should be tested for.

So I am ignoring the D2 and D3 numbers and just looking at my Calcidiol, which is 44 ng/mL. I was surprised it was that high because I had only been supplementing for about a week at that point! So... in a week or so I should get my follow-up test results back (blood drawn today) and if I'm around 70ish ng/mL I'll lower my dose (to about 4,000 IU/day maybe?) to try to "maintain" instead of raise my serum levels.


I hope that helps anyone who might be asking their doctors for a 25-OH serum test too... if you can get a copy of the actual test results it might be easier to figure out than just by going on what the doc tells you about the results... the doctors at my hospital don't know much about Vitamin D and the midwife I saw today also had no clue how to read it, so I just asked for a copy and figured it out when I got home.

[FlyNavyWife]

Just got my test back. I'm now at 71 woot woot.

Think I'll go to 6000IU/day now.


The doc I had today said they recently had a workshop on supplements and was surprised to see the D test in my chart so asked me about why I was taking it, etc. We had a nice talk and he was impressed with my knowledge on the subject.

He didn't know how to read the results though so I copied that page for him and circled the correct test/number to look at.


He was also impressed that I was taking fish oil too and said it was almost as if I had attended the workshop. Haha. Glad they are teaching the docs about this stuff

[Kasey]

what brand d3 do you take? I just got my results back before starting supplementing with d3 and they were really low. 72 nm/ol. It's the canadian reading, should be roughly 125-200. I'll get tested again in a couple months, see if the 5k/day is raising my levels or not.

[maba]

FNW, how long did it take you to reach the 71 level? I've been taking Vit D for about 3-4 months now and I started with 5000 IU but have been taking about 10,000 IU for the last 2 months. I'm not due for another test for another 2-3 months at Grass Roots action. If 4 months is reasonable time period for serum Vitamin D to reach optimal level, then I should consider taking only 5000IU now.

[FlyNavyWife]

Kasey. Will let you know when I get home and can check.

Maba. That was about 7 weeks at 8000IU.


Sry to be short. On phone and just got to lunch place. Starving preggo here.

[MichaelA]

Why take Vitamin D in a capsule when you can sit in the sun for 20 minutes in a tshirt and achieve better results?

[maba]

@MichaelA: Where I live, we have sunlight for only about 2 months

[Funkadelic Flash]

Well, MichaelA, I happen to live in Minnesota. During the Winter I supplement with vitamin D because during the Dec/Jan/Feb months the temperature is rarely above freezing and often-times well below 0F. When I go outside during the few hours of bleak sunlight I try to keep AS LITTLE of my body exposed as possible and be out there for AS LITTLE time as possible. Frost-bite can happen quite quickly with the winds.


I don't know if this applies to others posting on this thread, but it's my reasoning for supplementation.

[TriCiCi]

FNW - Nice work on the results and the explanation. I've been taking 2000 IU a day and am thinking I should increase that.


MichaelA - Ha! Right now I would have to flirt with frostbite to get 20 minutes of sun on bare skin. ;-)


Which reminds me. I need a vacation.

[Funkadelic Flash]

Which reminds me. I need a vacation.

AMEN to that!