This is why your Neurologist isn't always the best source of information

For good reasons, your Doctor won't reccomend something that isn't yet proven. There is strong evidence that it markedly reduces relapses. Your neurologist may only now be considering suggesting you take a moderately large dose. Some of us have been supplementing VitaminD for years.

It takes a very long time in medicine for something to catch on. This can be good if the first evidence was not correct, but if you wait for everything to be accepted in the medical community, you may miss out. Of course, you have to do your own research and draw your own conclusions from other experts as well.

Here is a BBC article on how they have discovered a a gene in a family with lots of MS, which causes low VitaminD. To quote the researcher:

Prof Ebers believes that this new evidence adds to previous observational studies which have suggested that sunshine levels around the globe - the body needs sunshine to generate vitamin D - are linked to MS.
He maintained that there was now enough evidence to carry out large-scale studies of vitamin D supplements for preventing multiple sclerosis.

Are you going to wait for the large-scale studies before supplementing with VitaminD?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-16086004

[futurmil2b]

So we should be taking large doses of Vitamin D3 instead of DMD meds?

I take 2000 mg of vitamin d3 a day - sometimes 3000 if I take my multi vitamin.. it has 1000mg v d3.

I also started taking Copaxone today.. between the two.. hopefully it will keep the MonSter at bay and put it in remission where it belongs :0)

My last MRI (last month - Nov) a few lesions did decrease but a new one appeared which made me go ahead and try C...

Ms. Jay

[rdmc]

Just like so many things in MS it's a **** shoot. Vitamin D is helpful, and I take it regularly...took the mega Rx dose for awhile, now just take about 2,000 per day.

However, we've had the "polls" on this board as to where one grew up, i.e. northern climate versus southern, and there were plenty of us who grew up in the "sunshine" and still came down with the disease, so it's not cut and dried...nothing about MS seems to be. (I grew up in Florida, spent every summer at the beach, and as an adult lived for a few years in the Caribbean where there was more sunshine than in Florida ) But all that sun didn't scare away the MonSter!

[BigA]

OK, My opinions in the matter:

Ms. Jay: Why not do all you can and take both? At least till you find out where you are with the disease. Relapses are frightening, why not take that daily shot to help prevent one. But the VitaminD will possibly do even more and both together may prove unbeatable for you.

rdmc: Those polls are meaningless. Even if they are true, there are two reasons why that doesn't matter. 1) this study showed that this particular MS gene *prevents* people making enough VitaminD, so sunshine wouldn't help. 2) If you knew the exact average height of a group of people, there's bound to be a few very tall or very short people.

I'll add my own. I grew up around the 32nd parallel, in a sunny climate. Those are only average statistics.

Get your levels tested and aim for the high end of the range. With MS, it's not enough to be in the Normal range, which goes down pretty low and is only for not getting rickets. You should get tested, take between 5000-8000iu and aim for 50-60 ng/ml target.

Here's the best presentation on VitaminD.
http://www.direct-ms.org/Presentations/Vieth/index.html

I'll have to look, but there are studies which show lower exacerbations when you have a high level of VitaminD.

Important note: this does not hold true for people of African decent, I'm not sure why and if you are black, you should consult a Naturapath to find out.

[Jules A]

My neuro has had me on a prescription for Vit D for over two years.

[Bob698]

Even though they're suppliments, be careful.
If a little is good, a lot can be a poison.