How much Vitamin D do you take?

[Scrapr]

Yearly physical includes a blood test. My D3 has been trending down for a couple years. 30is the minimum. My February blood test showed it at 22. I've done a multi vitamin w 1k in and take a1k in supplement. Dr says take 2k iu. So I've bumped it to 3k in. I'm caretaking MIL and not always taking my vitamin regular. I may add another 1k to get me up to snuff. I'm in oregon on the wet side of the mountains. So I'm challenged

 

[Badger]

The bottle says 5000IU so I guess that is what I take assuming I remember.

 

[John Galt III]

Following blood work, one of my doctors told me a few years ago to take 1000 IU daily. I am taking 2000 IU every other day, which she said was fine.

I have been taking 2000 IU per day for 5 days in a row now. Not getting sad! (Had been reacting with sadness before, when taking Vitamin D. Not sure why I am OK with it now). I make sure to take it with some sort of animal or vegetable fat, since it is fat-soluble.

 

[easysurfer]

Just got back from a check up and was suggested that I take Vitamin D. Probably should as I'm not a sun worshipper and prefer to stay inside.

 

[EastWest Gal]

Are there any issues with increased blood clotting with K2 for those of us with CAD? I take a blood thinner as well as baby aspirin and STILL my blood "gels" when I get a cut.

Vitamin K1 and K2 are functionally entirely different. Vitamin K1 is a cofactor for several enzymes involved in the clotting cascade. Anticoagulants work by interfering with Vitamin K1, if you are on an anticoagulant, you need to keep the foods high in K1 at a steadly level in your diet. You don't have to avoid them completely but don't eat spinach daily. Seaweed is particularly high in K1.

Vitamin K2, is structurally similar, but vastly different in function. Along with Vitamin D, it regulates calcium metabolism, directing calcium deposition in bones and teeth while protecting your arteries from calcium deposition.

I take 2000 IU Vitamin D with K2 (I forget the amount-the bottle is upstairs) daily. My vitamin D levels have been steadily around 50 +/-5 for years. My doctor doesn't bother checking it as regularly now.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I've taken 5000i.u. per day for over a decade. I get it checked with other blood work once a year. I'm always 50ng/ml +/- 5. I spend a lot of time outdoors, Alaska in summer and Arizona in winter.

I never intentionally tan or expose skin to the sun, but I don't avoid inadvertent exposure. Supposedly 20 minutes in the Arizona sun shirtless is 25,000i.u.

Some of us would get arrested if we did that.

 

[sengsational]

I was on 4000 IU but the blood test wasn't quite up to snuff according to my GP, so he said do 8000. My blood levels went to the top of the range, but I started getting tennis/golfers elbow symptoms. I know there's no relationship, but I dropped back to 4000 and the elbow issues are gone. Yes, I'm nuts. It's probably a random correlation. But I think sun exposure is better, so I try to get outside every day.

There is a suggestion that serum vitamin D raised from ingesting vitamin D isn't the same as vitamin D from the sun. There's not the same vitamin D intracellularly. Years ago they noticed people who were healthier also had higher vitamin D (this was before widespread supplementation). But those people were outside more because that's where healthy people go. They tried to "control for" various factors, but whenever I see those words, my BS sense turns on. Epidemiology is so often misleading, and I'm not sure about this one, so the preferred source for me is the sun. And for those worried about skin cancer, if you don't burn and monitor, your mortality risk is higher by avoiding the sun! This, according to a big UK biobank study (yes, epidemiology again, sigh, but it's not a horrible study).

 

[engineernerd]

Vitamin K1 and K2 are functionally entirely different. Vitamin K1 is a cofactor for several enzymes involved in the clotting cascade. Anticoagulants work by interfering with Vitamin K1, if you are on an anticoagulant, you need to keep the foods high in K1 at a steadly level in your diet. You don't have to avoid them completely but don't eat spinach daily. Seaweed is particularly high in K1.

Vitamin K2, is structurally similar, but vastly different in function. Along with Vitamin D, it regulates calcium metabolism, directing calcium deposition in bones and teeth while protecting your arteries from calcium deposition.

I take 2000 IU Vitamin D with K2 (I forget the amount-the bottle is upstairs) daily. My vitamin D levels have been steadily around 50 +/-5 for years. My doctor doesn't bother checking it as regularly now.

While it's true that vitamin K2 is not the same as vitamin K1, both do enable clotting and both do reduce the effects of vitamin K antagonist blood thinners (warfarin). It's why they are both called "vitamin K," the clotting effect was what was first noticed about both compounds (and apparently "vitamin C" was already taken so they went with "K"). So I have read, anyway.

 

[engineernerd]

I was on 4000 IU but the blood test wasn't quite up to snuff according to my GP, so he said do 8000. My blood levels went to the top of the range, but I started getting tennis/golfers elbow symptoms. I know there's no relationship, but I dropped back to 4000 and the elbow issues are gone. Yes, I'm nuts. It's probably a random correlation. But I think sun exposure is better, so I try to get outside every day.

There is a suggestion that serum vitamin D raised from ingesting vitamin D isn't the same as vitamin D from the sun. There's not the same vitamin D intracellularly. Years ago they noticed people who were healthier also had higher vitamin D (this was before widespread supplementation). But those people were outside more because that's where healthy people go. They tried to "control for" various factors, but whenever I see those words, my BS sense turns on. Epidemiology is so often misleading, and I'm not sure about this one, so the preferred source for me is the sun. And for those worried about skin cancer, if you don't burn and monitor, your mortality risk is higher by avoiding the sun! This, according to a big UK biobank study (yes, epidemiology again, sigh, but it's not a horrible study).

I agree that skin cancer has been a bit of a tail that wags the dog for some time now. All that advice to avoid the sun and use SPF 50 sunscreen religiously has probably done a lot of harm to people's health.

A silver lining to the dark cloud that was the pandemic is how it drew attention to vitamin D (emergency doctors were telling us low serum vitamin D was strongly correlated to poor outcomes).

I did a deep dive into vitamin D after those reports about COVID-19 outcomes.

For some things like bone health and COVID-19, getting your vitamin D up is what seems to be important and it doesn't matter whether you use supplements or sun.

And if you expose your skin to the sun at the wrong time of year (winter in much of the US and all of Canada) and/or time of day (early or late even in summer), you get zero vitamin D. UV-B rays are easily scattered by the atmosphere so getting enough to trigger vitamin production requires fairly direct exposure with the sun high in the sky. UV-B rays also cannot penetrate glass. And finally, I saw some research saying people with dark skin need much more strong sun exposure to get the same benefit as white people, so if you have deep ebony skin you should probably test your vitamin D level even if you hang out outdoors in shorts in sunny Mexico all the time.

 

[djhep6]

Living in the Pacific Northwest makes vitamin D levels a common topic of conversation since the lack of sun for much of the year can be quite a challenge. It sounds like getting blood work done would be a great next step to see where your baseline sits compared to that 1000 IU daily dose

 

[RetiredAt55.5]

I agree that skin cancer has been a bit of a tail that wags the dog for some time now. All that advice to avoid the sun and use SPF 50 sunscreen religiously has probably done a lot of harm to people's health.

All that advice to avoid the sun and use SPF 50 sunscreen religiously without monitoring Vitamin D levels and supplementing has probably done a lot of harm to people's health.

 

[SouthernHeaven]

I'm taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily. Living in North Carolina means I get plenty of sun, but my doctor says my genetics make supplementation necessary.

Beautiful 77°F day today. Got a good dose of natural vitamin D while walking around the neighborhood lake.

 

[Sorcerer]

10,000iu daily.

 

[gauss]

My PCP had prescribed 2000 IU to get my blood levels into the normal range. During Covid I doubled it to 4000 IU.

-gauss

 

[SouthernHeaven]

10,000iu daily.

Blimey!

 

[engineernerd]

All that advice to avoid the sun and use SPF 50 sunscreen religiously without monitoring Vitamin D levels and supplementing has probably done a lot of harm to people's health.

Yes. There is developing research showing that sun exposure may have benefits outside of vitamin D, however. We are learning new things all the time...

 

[RetiredHappy]

I golf 4 to 5 days a week in direct hot Las Vegas sun year round but always wear long sleeves and wear spf 50. My Vit D test came back as 19. Hence I am now on 4000 IU with Vit K2. My Vit D is now in the 50-60 range.

 

[sengsational]

Yes. There is developing research showing that sun exposure may have benefits outside of vitamin D, however. We are learning new things all the time...

I was surprised by the suggestion that the people who had less severe COVID symptoms was because they had been outside a lot. Healthy people go outside a lot more than sickly people, I suppose. If the mechanism to be healthy is sun exposure and serum vitamin D was just an observed side effect, then supplementation is not going to do anything helpful. I haven't looked for RCTs that actually prove vitamin D is helpful, but it's cheap and probably doesn't have many side effects, so low risk. Besides, added to any real effects, we get the placebo effect, which is real.

 

[mountainsoft]

I was taking 1000 IU but recently increased that to 2000 IU. Primary doc wouldn't order a blood test without making an office visit. I'm kind of burnt out on seeing doctors lately, so I just made an educated guess and upped the dosage.

I was going to let my doc know I increased it, but when I saw my cardiologist they already had 2000 IU on my medical record. I don't know who changed it or when, but at least we all agree.

 

[martyp]

I have been taking 1000 IU for a couple of decades. Last year I was plagued by kidney stones. When "researching" causes of kidney stones, calcium came up as not a good thing. Most D vitamins are combined with calcium so I switched to a brand that was just D3. Next time I get a checkup I will ask for a D vitamin test.

I live in Thailand. I get enough sun, I think, without half trying.

 

[Jimq]

Most important part is to take k2 with it. Also buy good brand, as they say you get what you pay for. I am using the following brand you can buy it on Amazon.
Xymogen k2-d3. D3 5000, k2 Menaquinone-7 -90 mcg

 

[DEC-1982]

5000 IU and 1000 IU on alternate days.

This thread made me realize I should get my blood checked, and I will.

 

[Amethyst]

This thread seems to show how differently my doctors have treated me over the years, compared with some of you.

I have gotten a yearly physical and labs since the 1980's, yet 2026 was the first time a doctor thought to test my Vitamin D levels, which turned out to be extremely high (147!), due to supplements (long story why I was taking them, but I quit right away). I don't know what prompted this test.

And it seems as if most of you have been getting your A1C tested for decades, yet mine was only tested for the first time (and found to be prediabetic) in January 2025. Again, no symptoms, and I've always noted on my paperwork that my siblings are/were T2D.

I have to wonder what else my doctors have been missing. My current doctor does seem to be on the ball, though. Since I started going to doctors on my own, I've always noted the prevalence of heart disease and stroke in my family. This doctor is the first to order a Lipoprotein A test; haven't gotten results yet.

 

[engineernerd]

Amethyst, I too have had some minimal-effort PCPs. I wonder if it's partly due to their being acclimated to lots of patients on high-deductible plans WANTING minimal effort (and $$).

Anyway, the good news about vitamin D is that 147 is still much lower than has resulted in toxicity per my little googling expedition reported on in post #74. Those search results have me scratching my head about the conventional advice that 200 is dangerous.

 

[Amethyst]

Amethyst, I too have had some minimal-effort PCPs. I wonder if it's partly due to their being acclimated to lots of patients on high-deductible plans WANTING minimal effort (and $$).

Anyway, the good news about vitamin D is that 147 is still much lower than has resulted in toxicity per my little googling expedition reported on in post #74. Those search results have me scratching my head about the conventional advice that 200 is dangerous.

My doctor seemed a bit alarmed by the result. And I did notice, less than a week after stopping the high supplements, that certain annoying symptoms I had attributed to age (and therefore not mentioned during my exam) had...stopped. Once I thought about it, I recognized that those symptoms had begun after I started taking the high supplements.